Going pro

[Entity]

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If I were in your shoes, I'd not go pro until I played 100k hands at 15/30 or higher.

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Either you have incredibly high monthly expenses or are just incredibly risk-averse.

I'm not a huge advocate for going pro, but 100k hands of 15/30 is insane. If you're good enough to amass 100k hands at those limits (and most aren't), you'll have earned well over $40k just during that time period, which is enough for most people to comfortable live for an entire year.

Rob

[Heisenb3rg]

This is only temporary.. I dont plan to play poker forever or even close.

1. I've only clocked just over 100k hands online throughout my time playing poker. I played my first game of hold em a little over a year and a half ago. It's almost always been on the backburner sinec ive started playing. I wanna see what I can accomplish if I set my mind to it. I have never been this obsessed with ANYTHING before... It stimulates me intellectually, It's a competitive outlet, it's flexibile, a challenge AND I make money doing it.
My winrate has also been well above the 2+2 "expected win rate" at 3.0BB/100 over this sample. I know I still have a lot to learn, and make plenty of mistakes but I have yet to feel "over my head".


2. I'm 23 years old and I want to travel .. bad. I never have had the flexibility to do so. Now is the first time that I do. Poker is something you can do almost anywhere. The better I get at it, the more I make when im on the road.

3. I'm planning on diverting my attention between limit and NL so I'll be prepared to jump ship if limit dies. I feel comfortable at 1/2 NL online, winrate at .50/1$ over a medium-small sample is pretty high and I've had pretty incredible results live @ 1/2 NL and donkaments.

4. I don't know what I want to do with my life

I have no desire to be a physicist. I do not want to take my masters/phd at all. My job experience is with computers. I have good grades for a tough degree from a solid university AND work experience.
I'm fairly sure it will not be too diffiuclt to get an entry level computer job if poker starts collapsing. I have a place to live for no rent in toronto with my parents should I ever fall off my feet.

5. I'm going to be keeping my eyes open for business/career opportunities while im traveling. Im sure I will meet plenty of people on the way...


I apreciate the advice/warning, but this is something I've thought a great deal about and need to see for myself.
When it comes to life decisions I am normally very risk adversive, I wouldn't take a coin flip for a dollar.
I have a great safety net and I'm confident in my ability to recognize when I need to pull out.

Also want to say thanks for all the support from everyone!

[jt1]

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I'm going to be keeping my eyes open for business/career opportunities while im traveling. Im sure I will meet plenty of people on the way...


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Good luck. This is the only part of your post that concerns me. I strongly recommend not looking for business opportunities while you travel. 9/10 people you talk to along those lines will just be looking to take advantage. And never consider investing any thing significant without completely knowing what your parents think of the idea.

[BrassMonkey]

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My winrate has also been well above the 2+2 "expected win rate" at 3.0BB/100 over this sample.

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Damn man, you should be alright! I'm living in Bangkok, playing full-time, making about 1.3 BB/100, and am totally fine. Like chezlaw, I left a 100K/year computer job that was crushing my soul. This life is pretty freaking awesome, I have to say (at least for now). Good luck, and let me know if you're busting to Thailand.

-Brass

[admiralfluff]

Hopefully you have living expenses saved up. Depending on poker to eat can be incredibly stressful. I played as my sole source of income for a little less than 2 years. I don't know what my combined winrate over that time was (I filled up several DBs) but I crushed the old party. My hourly earn has dropped significantly since the [censored]-storm, and I'm glad I now have a nice day job to eat up the insane variance.

Also, remember, that if you pay yourself 2BB/100, your winrate is not 3.5BB/100. It's 1.5BB/100. If you pay yourlelf 3.5BB/100, your winrate is 0, and without an infinite bankroll, YOU WILL GO BROKE SOMEDAY, or have to move down.

Anyways,

good luck.

[gehrig]

man ive been a pro since i was playing $5 SNGs and too scared to take shots at one dollar two dollar limit holla

[admiralfluff]

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man ive been a pro since i was playing $5 SNGs and too scared to take shots at one dollar two dollar limit holla

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This is pretty bad-ass.

holla chitown.

[gehrig]

admiralfluff are u from chicago?

i remember playing u on the party 10/20. im not sure if i ever won a pot vs u [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[admiralfluff]

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admiralfluff are u from chicago?

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From Portland, but live in Chicago now.

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i remember playing u on the party 10/20. im not sure if i ever won a pot vs u

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Man, I loved those games.

[Heisenb3rg]

[ QUOTE ]
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My winrate has also been well above the 2+2 "expected win rate" at 3.0BB/100 over this sample.

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Damn man, you should be alright! I'm living in Bangkok, playing full-time, making about 1.3 BB/100, and am totally fine. Like chezlaw, I left a 100K/year computer job that was crushing my soul. This life is pretty freaking awesome, I have to say (at least for now). Good luck, and let me know if you're busting to Thailand.

-Brass

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Are there any live games in thailand that someone who only knew english could play? Or do you only play online?

And yeah, my winrate at my current limit im sure is not anywhere near my overall win rate. A lot of those hands were with anal game selection @ 2/4 on party/ prime time stars... I miss party poker [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]