[Ansky]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"I probably should dedicate more time to reading/studying the game and players like some guys do. I just don't want to invest any more time into this stupid game than I already do."

Doesn't any good job require this anyway? This might be the worst few lines in any poker blog ever. Hes saying I really want to turn around my results, but I don't want to put in the time or the effort to become better.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree w/ this completely.

No offense to Shannon, I have heard he is quite good, but there are like 4 ppl in the entire world who can really make a living at online MTTs. There just isn't a enough high stakes volume available (and no, I do not think the 20r and 100fo is high stakes). If you could 8 table 215s then yea, itd be a good way to make a living, but you can't and it's just a terrible idea to be a professional MTT player.

[/ QUOTE ]

That people can expect this job to be so much easier than a regular job that you don't have to work hard to stay in business is an unfortunate result of the fact that winning money can be very easy in the short run, along with the fact that online poker was much easier to beat two years ago.

I'm sure Shannon is a good guy and a skilled poker player, but you have to treat this job like a job to be certain of success. This doesn't have to mean adhering to a strict schedule or being a perfect bankroll manager or being a total workhorse, but it does mean you have to work to improve, because other people are. If he doesn't want "to invest more time in this stupid game" than he already is, then he's probably better off doing something else. There's nothing wrong with doing something else, but that something else is sure to include stupid things that aren't fun to do. No free lunch, and all. Playing poker for a living is certainly mentally draining and even physically stressful, and there are plenty of reasons not to do it, but anyone who thinks poker suddenly isn't worth it because it is hard work has run too well to realize that it should be.

I'm not sure how Ansky is defining "making a living" at mtts, but there's no need for high stakes at all - one can make a living wage playing 60/45s or even 20/180s, let alone 22r/$50-$100 freezouts; I highly doubt there are only four people in the world capable of this. I realize he was exaggerating and that cash games are a steadier source of income (and that playing cash games is likely the better decision for the majority of poker players capable of both).

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I wouldn't want to play poker for a living if I wasn't making huge amounts of money... I mean I'm sure I could 25 table the 20/180s, or 16 table .25/.50 nl, and make more than most jobs, but it still wouldn't do it for me.

When I say 4 ppl... I mean ppl like menlo, imper1um, randal, sctrojans, whoever-- ppl who put in huge volume and are just fantastic poker players. I'm sure there are more who do it, but I imagine that shannon is expecting huge results when it just isn't attainable for almost anybody playing the schedule that he is playing. I may be wrong about the last sentence thought.