Play poker for a living? Doubt it. A great hobby to have though.

[Luzyfer]

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do any of you that are berating him win past 50 nl for more than 1-2 bb / 100 ?

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Yes.

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What an arrogant reply. Big fakin deal. Help those who are trying to do the same then. I play Div 1 tennis with a fakin scholarship and I probably beat the shet out of you at tennis because I have been playing it for like 15 years and I dont act that arrogant when someone asks me for help on tennis. Poker players are so naive, amazing.

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So, if I read 15 books on tennis, hire a great coach, will I get a div I scholorship in six months?? Then I will be able to beat you right?

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I understand. However poker is not a sport where learning technique and gaining a feel for the game takes a lot of experimentation and hitting thousands and thousands of balls everyday, which is hard to do (hitting so many balls) unless you are in a faking academy that has hundreds of balls just for you. Putting that aside, you can become a decent strategist in tennis within a year if you study the best books within a year.

However in poker you dont have physical skills, you only master mental skills. In one year, after studying and seeing thousands of situations in online poker you should be able to beat 2/4 Full Ring Limit. Perhaps I am wrong, thats just my point of view.

[Luzyfer]

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This post made my head hurt.

Ten hours a day playing online poker (or any poker for that matter)? Day in and day out? I'd kill myself (and others) if I had to do that.

If you can't beat NL50, you aren't very good. It's just that simple. That's not to say you can't improve, but you're naive to think you should be able to make thousands a month if you can't profitably play at this level.

And, as others have said, if you think LHE has less variance than NLHE, you're wrong in the head, brother. I can't even play LHE anymore because of the swings. It's a great game, but it's too nerve-wracking on me after the relative control I've found playing NLH.

I do tend to agree with your final conclusion, though. For the average (or even somewhat above-average) player, there are lots of easier and less stressful ways to make a good living than playing cards. There is nothing wrong with being a hobbyist -- playing the game for a living is definitely only for the few (and the masochistic if you ask me). I made peace a while ago that I can't do it, just like lots of folks couldn't do what I do for a living. Playing poker for a living requires a very specific skill-set, just like any other job. I probably can't do theirs, they probably couldn't do mine. That's what makes the world work.

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You made peace a while ago that you cant do it? Didnt quite understand your post? Did you quit playing for a living or not?

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I don't play for a living. I don't doubt that I have the skill to do it (I certainly am not good enough to play nosebleed stakes, but I could (and have) definitely beat midstakes NLH games online and live).

What I lack is what most people lack to be able to play for a living. I lack the will to grind hours a day, I lack the kind of emotional distance necessary to plow through the prolonged and brutal downswings that are inevitable with variance, and I cannot completely divorce myself from the value of money. In short, I don't have the temperament to gamble for a living. It takes a special kind of person.

Remember, there are (at least) two components to being able to play professionally -- one part is skill (which many on the 2+2 forums have), but the other is discipline and emotional toughness under financial extremity. Don't have that. And if you're freaking out over $600, you probably don't either. It's no knock on you -- not everyone is sick.

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So, again, can someone tell me what kind of person do I need to be in order to be a succesful gambler? I went up $900 and then down to $120 then up to $2000, yes its tough emotionally and financially. I just want to know if making a living at this involves not counting on money for the next month? Being broke most of the time? Is this what this is about? Since there is no guarantee of a monthly income (or at least the necessary to pay bills) how do you guys do it?

[Luzyfer]

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You just have to be a consistent winner, but even then the swings are ridiculous. You can tell from your comments you are very inexperienced at the game. Your jumping from bonuses, to NL, to limit. You dont seem to grasp that poker is ALL about wins and losses. Nobody wins every day...its just that the days we win add up to more than the days we lose. 600 bucks? thats nothing, but you cant go from NL to 2/4 limit and expect to win right away. Even experienced players are rusty when they come back....
Play for fun...life is stressful enough...if losing 600 bucks in two days hurts, forget about playing for a living....you could have losing weeks or months. But, the idea is the wins and losses should balance out if your good nad youl just break even. If you're a great player, you'll come out ahead. If poker was beatable by anybody and everybody, nobody could win.
BTW, I dont play for a living, but i do play as my part time job...been doing it for 11 months, and Ive had 3 of those months Ive finished down!!! Thats just how it goes!

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Sounds like a lot of people are not doing this for a living. I wonder why that is if a lot of the 2+2 are so skilled. Guess I am not the only "loser" here. No offense to you dude, at least you are being honest and not bullsheting me like most people in this thread.

[Luzyfer]

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Op can you clarify this for me:

"After lots 6 months I built my br to about playing NL25 and NL50 to around $1,200 but started having variance at NL50 and NL100 so I was unable to achieve any significant profits and my bankroll got stuck"

ARe you saying it took you 6 months playing 6/hrs a day to build a roll for 50nl, playing 25nl?

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These are the kind of arrogant claims that I cant stand about the guys on 2+2. As far as I know it took Chris Ferguson (with 5 fakin bracelets) more than that to get to $1500 so I fak off. http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/chris-ferguson-challenge

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He had A LOT less to work with. You're comparing apples and penguins. This is another sign of your less-than-basic understanding of the game.

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Not really. Look closely and see that it took him a lot of time to get from ~$100 to $2,000. This is another sign of you less-than-basic observation skills.

[Abbaddabba]

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However in poker you dont have physical skills, you only master mental skills. In one year, after studying and seeing thousands of situations in online poker you should be able to beat 2/4 Full Ring Limit. Perhaps I am wrong, thats just my point of view.

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Almost everyone you see at a 2/4 full ring has played thousands of hands. Plenty of people who read the books suck ass; some people are just slow learners.

The problem you are facing is that the cost of rake is too overwhelming for a mediocre player like yourself to overcome.


Either you should get a prop account on a lesser known site, or if you're as cocky as i hope you may be, jump to 15/30+ where the cost of rake is proportionately a lot less.

[davidlong14]

...at those stakes it's always hard to beat the rake, let alone deal with variance....

[scott2130]

It's not for everybody. Very few people can make a living at it. So YOU AND I CAN'T do it and have to work. Life goes on.

But why so negative and nasty to the ones that can or are still trying? Are you bitter because they can and you can't? And for the ones trying that won't be able to do it, let them figure it out on their own.

I think you are upset about something else and are taking it out on poker. I had the same dreams of being the next sbrugby but figured out on my own that $500 extra each month on top of my paycheck is still satisfying and more realistic.

[martijn]

wtf I left the house and started living off poker 6 months ago playing 50nl and a bankroll of 800$, havent looked back since.

[mce86]

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wtf I left the house and started living off poker 6 months ago playing 50nl and a bankroll of 800$, havent looked back since.

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LOL...How much is your mortgage?

[muxplust]

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However in poker you dont have physical skills, you only master mental skills. In one year, after studying and seeing thousands of situations in online poker you should be able to beat 2/4 Full Ring Limit. Perhaps I am wrong, thats just my point of view.

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Almost everyone you see at a 2/4 full ring has played thousands of hands. Plenty of people who read the books suck ass; some people are just slow learners.

The problem you are facing is that the cost of rake is too overwhelming for a mediocre player like yourself to overcome.


Either you should get a prop account on a lesser known site, or if you're as cocky as i hope you may be, jump to 15/30+ where the cost of rake is proportionately a lot less.

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definitely go to 15/30