Quitting my crap job to grind 2/5+ live??

[Fishhead24]

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many casinos offer GREAT video poker "deals" and coupons(mostly vegas) that can actually give u an edge)

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Modestly speaking, I have been one of the top video poker professionals over the past 10-15 years.

Bob Dancer is one to learn from greatly.........I've played on numerous plays/promos with him on occassion.

There are only a handful of video poker professionals.......

However, there are not nearly as many of the super profitable versions as in years past........but having said that one can always find a decent game that will provide an edge.

Near the very bottom of the rung is quarter full pay dueces wild(a game that can be leaned in 10 hours) that will provide 100.72% payback longterm not including the slot card extras and/or promotions. Just by learning this game and playing it for a few hours will enable one to gain some very valuable patronage with the casino in terms of comps and mailings..........even more so than what the $6-8 an hour one makes off the machine itself. As stated, this is a very novice beginning game to learn for the vp player that wants to begin learning the game and then one can move up from there to bigger and more profitable games by learning the advanced straegies of other games and getting to know other professionals to help you learn the game and seek out promos and best plays around the city, state, or country.

-FH-

[spino1i]

I think some people are overestimating how hard it is to make a living off of poker live. I think a strong 5/10 NL player, for instance, should have no problem making a living. 2/5 is pushing it though, and you will have to work long hours.

[Machmood]

playing for a living is MUCH harder then people think. When your winning everything is great, but what happens when u lose a few buy ins?? many people start chasing money, their game deteriorates, they completly lose focus of the rest of their life and focus only on poker and "winning their money back". a few tips i would give sum1 is as follows.

1. GO into the venture extremly over bankrolled. Your gonna take your lumps along the way, figure out your money managment, this will allow to take some loses and not freak out. Belive me this is VERY important, it will rleiv stress and let u just "play your game"

2. Dont be so result oriented. Just go into the casino and play solid poker. If your at the table for 8 hours and down 50 bucs, and feel like ur gettin anxious and frustrated go home and call it a day. a 50 dollar loss isnt really a bad day in the long run, but a tilt out -400 is.

3. Dont allow poker to take over. have hobbies, and other things you do with your time. I reccomend getting in the gym almost every day to relive stress and keep ur mental edge. This will keep u sharp at the table and ur brain focused.

4. enjoy every day. Remeber u made this choice because u love poker, and in reality it is easy money. Dont lose site that your doing what u love for a living. Some days r gonna be [censored], just keep it in perspective

[daveT]

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The truth is if you are smart enough to earn $40/hr with no health insurance in a 20/40 game, you can earn a lot more than that working.

nineinch

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I have read this statement to the point of irritation. If this is the case, please find me this job.

[otter]

Yes the variance is very high and you better be properly rolled for it

[pig4bill]

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Near the very bottom of the rung is quarter full pay dueces wild(a game that can be leaned in 10 hours) that will provide 100.72% payback longterm not including the slot card extras and/or promotions. Just by learning this game and playing it for a few hours will enable one to gain some very valuable patronage with the casino in terms of comps and mailings..........even more so than what the $6-8 an hour one makes off the machine itself. As stated, this is a very novice beginning game to learn for the vp player that wants to begin learning the game and then one can move up from there to bigger and more profitable games by learning the advanced straegies of other games and getting to know other professionals to help you learn the game and seek out promos and best plays around the city, state, or country.

-FH-

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I look at the video poker sites, and it seems like there are almost no +EV machines in Vegas. What few there are, are at hotels with no comps or quarter machines. Why make $8 an hour on video poker when a winning table poker pro can do much better? Even if he does get some comps, hotel rooms aren't going to do him any good since he lives in town. The food comps he gets he could get nearly as easily playing table poker.

[slipp3ry]

man the tables are always gonna be there bro... your youth isnt.

do something else..
go to school, play poker on the side like you are now .. the swings in 2/5 can be wicked. 15K isnt a big enough roll realistically to live off of like that. you can play beautifully and still run into a hell month or even week that ruins you.

go to grad school..meet a chick, fk the grinding life-- all i have to show for grinding from age 21-25 is some cash, wrinkles, a balding head, and pepto-bismol for breakfast daily.

[SirFelixCat]

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My $.02...

I'm also about to take my shot come Feb. 1, albeit in a different situation. I'm 32, but single (live-in gf though), no kids, no mortgage (yet). I will have 6 months living expenses as well as a $25-$30,000 BR on top of that.

I've been in my field (aviation) for 14 years now...started w/ USMC and have since moved on to general aviation and now, a government contract. Simple fact is, I'm burnt out. The money is decent (won't get rich, but more than enough), but the thing is, they could offer my triple what I make and it wouldn't change a thing. Not to mention I still wouldn't be making what I make playing poker.

I have WONDERFUL support from my gf as well as her parents, as they are also self-employed and fully support doing something that I love, not to mention that they have seen the results as well. I think happiness >>>>>> money, when it comes to your desired "profession" whether that be teacher, doctor, cop, or poker player. I just don't want to be 75 years old and look back on my life and regret NOT HAVING TAKEN MY SHOT...

So what if I fail (although I am determined to not let that happen)...I'd rather have taken that shot and failed than not have taken that shot at all. Regret is the ugliest thing in the world, imo. Much worse than failure.

I used to be like OP and hated playing online. I was a perpetual fish. But things changed a while back and I'm now beating 200NL and being coached as well. I still love playing live, but I really think the main reason OP doesn't like online is that it's a MUCH tougher game than live. Sure the human aspect is not there etc, but the amount of money that can be made, just from the sheer number of hands played (rakeback) is really missing value, imo.

I do think, though, that finding a good mix of live/online is key, though. Not only will it help stave off burnout, but it will allow you to mix both 6max and FR games in and allow you to play vs different skill levels.

Now, I'm not sure how OP is, but for me, poker is simply a passion. I don't care how ugly the downswing may be, and there have been a couple REALLY ugly ones, I'm still itching to play the next day (2 at most [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ). I do think that that fire, that burning desire to play and to improve is also quite vital to sustained success. If you don't have it, then, well, it just turns into yet another 9-5 type thing with no benefits.

The only reason I'm still at my job is I want to build myself a bigger security blanket before the switch. But still, it's a forgone conclusion. Also, moving to Vegas to make the availability of live play easier for me, for the above mentioned reasons.

Plus, all-in-all, if I fail, I have aviation to fall back on (14 years of experience) and know that I can ALWAYS get a well paying job, if I so desire. But the freedom/happiness is much more important to me than security.

GL OP and GL me!

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Curious to get some thoughts on my situation (not to hijack...but seems as good a place to put it as any, w/o starting any new threads....)

[daveT]

No matter what anyone says, Felix, you are going to do what you want to do anyways.

This whole thread gives plenty of perspective to think about, so saying yea or nay isn't really going to change anything, is it?

[ligastar]

SirFelixCat,

Good luck when you start your live play in February. Will you take any shots at playing in big main event MTTs?