At what stakes can you make a decent buck?

Hey all. Right now I'm in college and have a part time job which gives me 10 hours a week at $8/hour before taxes.

I'm just wondering... what kind of stakes would I have to make it to before I'm surpassing $8/hour and can just quit my job? I don't hate my job passionately, but it's kind of a bitch and switching over to poker to make a regular income (however small) is a dream- er, more like fantasy- of mine.

I know it would be winrate dependent but let's just say a "realistic" winrate if that makes any sense. What stakes but I have to make? I'm just trying to decide if it would be worth trying to grind a roll out from $50 on Pstars. Thanks.

With 50 bucks it will take awhile before you can "make a decent buck".

At 50NL and up you can make some money.

yeah i wouldn't quit your job until you have well established yourself in 50nl games. even then you may consider keeping it because you wont make that much more playing poker, imo.

And to expand on what these guys are saying, you need around $1000 before you're properly rolled for 50nl. If your starting point is $50 and you move up only when properly rolled, you'll need to sustain a great winrate for at least a few months before you've got $1000. That's not such a bad thing though...consider your time spent as your poker tuition.

Keep your job for now.

Everything Benny said, except I would say you need a BR of at least $2500 (50 BI) to be properly rolled at $50NL if it's you're only source of income. I would also add that you need a proven win rate at $50NL before you could confidently say it's a revenue source.

And, to reiterate, keep your job for now.

Bigslikk, weren't you playing on Bodog for a while?

I used to make about $8 per hour, 4 tabling $10NL on Bodog. (and I suck, I'm sure somebody else could do better)

whatever happened to working more hours??

Poker is not (no matter what the movie "Rounder" or ESPN will make you believe) is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
Hours and hours (more than 10 a week probably) would be required to "make a decent buck"
Also, how much do you love the game? Are you willing to make nothing and go hungry to chase your dream of playing poker?
More things to consider than "making a decent buck"

birdman

Originally Posted by bigslikk

what kind of stakes would I have to make it to before I'm surpassing $8/hour and can just quit my job? I d

I know it would be winrate dependent but let's just say a "realistic" winrate if that makes any sense. What stakes but I have to make? .

also depends on how many tables you are playing.
1ptBB/100 hands 1-tabling and you gotta be playing mid-stakes to be making your $8/hr.
16-tabling and it just got easier.

Play, build your roll, study, get better, play some more and quit your job when you've made your first $3k (minimum) from poker.

Originally Posted by birdman417

whatever happened to working more hours??

Poker is not (no matter what the movie "Rounder" or ESPN will make you believe) is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
Hours and hours (more than 10 a week probably) would be required to "make a decent buck"
Also, how much do you love the game? Are you willing to make nothing and go hungry to chase your dream of playing poker?
More things to consider than "making a decent buck"

birdman

i work about 10 hours a week and make a decent living...

no offense meant to you will...i guess i was prejudiced against the first post thinking about beginners I have heard with no skills wanting to make a living at poker....
I wanted to make sure he knew it wasnt just going to be gift wrapped for him..it might actually be difficult

Originally Posted by will641

Originally Posted by birdman417

whatever happened to working more hours??

Poker is not (no matter what the movie "Rounder" or ESPN will make you believe) is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
Hours and hours (more than 10 a week probably) would be required to "make a decent buck"
Also, how much do you love the game? Are you willing to make nothing and go hungry to chase your dream of playing poker?
More things to consider than "making a decent buck"

birdman

i work about 10 hours a week and make a decent living...

Also luls at "how much do you love the game?".. Poker is a yucky game the majority of the time imo. But I can make money and I would rather have days were I feel like shit because I lost $1k, than go to work as some busboy or fastfood cashier. So yeah... Poker is fine for now, even if I don't want to have sex with the game.

And... at 50nl you can easily be making >$10-$15/hr. Another thing to consider though is you don't really want to get stuck grinding in the micros. If you start withdrawing on a monthly basis at 50nl, sure you will make more money than you do now, but you will have a hard time keeping your roll headed upwards. And you won't be moving up to the small-mid stakes where you can really start making good money ($6k-$10k+ per month).

Originally Posted by birdman417

no offense meant to you will...i guess i was prejudiced against the first post thinking about beginners I have heard with no skills wanting to make a living at poker....
I wanted to make sure he knew it wasnt just going to be gift wrapped for him..it might actually be difficult

none taken. yeah you're right its a lot of work but speaking from experience it has nothing to do with love of the game. it has to do with love of making money.

have a goal higher than your minimum
100NL-200NL
gogogoggogo

Originally Posted by XxStacksxX

And... at 50nl you can easily be making >$10-$15/hr. Another thing to consider though is you don't really want to get stuck grinding in the micros. If you start withdrawing on a monthly basis at 50nl, sure you will make more money than you do now, but you will have a hard time keeping your roll headed upwards. And you won't be moving up to the small-mid stakes where you can really start making good money ($6k-$10k+ per month).

As one who does this, I figure I should add my thoughts. I have made thousands of dollars playing this game and should have a big enough roll to play (take shots) in midstakes games, like 400NL+ if I didn't have debts/bills/spend money on random shit. I chose to make poker at 50NL my part-time job while in college (currently) and it certainly destroys any hourly rate I would have made at any job I can think of locally. That's a huge plus. I can comfortably play very little hours admittedly and still make more (than double) of any of my friends right now. So it seems awesome. But, at 50NL, I am making a shit ton less than other people playing even at like 100NL and it's extra hard saving enough in my BR to pad it for higher stakes. This is greatly stunting my growth into the higher stakes. IMO, if you CAN, pad your BR as much as possible before thinking about taking regular withdraws out because the higher the stakes you play, ld0 the more money you make and the EASIER it is to move up.

This does make me curious on what my hourly is since doing this.

Its gonna take a while to turn that 50 bucks into a G-Note. Heres a good bit of advice......keep your job until going into work means your losing money........meaning until your making more money playing poker don't quit your J-O-B.