[Bud Light]

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The money doesn't enhance my life very much. I live underneath a laundromat, in an almost completely unfurnished apartment shared by me and a friend for $275 a month, and drive a 91' toyota. My life would be almost exactly the same if I didn't play poker.


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Your avatar is beginning to make sense now. You live like a repressed communist who secretly aspires to become a capitalist.

To the OP: At least a few of the kids from these boards who eventually started beating the high-stakes game come from families with some wealth. Thus, although they may have started from a "small" roll, they could always go to their parents and get more.

I remember reading a post from one of the high-stakes SnG players who described how his dad cut him into a real estate deal valued at $40K for only $10K. It was essentially a $30K gift from his dad.

It's tough to move up in stakes when you have to spend a portion of your roll on basic necessities. And, it's tough to take shots when you know that you will need to spend part of your roll next month on books and tuition.

While in college, I played low-stakes because I had to spend a substantial portion of my roll every month. Now that I have a full-time job, I feel more comfortable taking shots (currently at $400 NL). It's working out OK so far. Plus, when you play higher and have the potential to make more money, it provides you with a greater incentive to study and get better. I didn't really have much motivation to study poker while I was in college, because I didn't feel like I had the roll to move up anyway.

I suspect that tongni may have been one of the few who was totally self-financed with no parental cash to fall back on and that is why tongni continues to live cheap while most of the other successful poker players are blowing their rolls.