What to do with $14000?

[Shazzy]

TY Tufat. This confirms that age is the not the underlying factor that determines one's maturity. Finally someone has decided to pause and read before making a comment. I was hoping I'd get some useful advice from those who were in my position once and have learnt something along the way rather than sheer sarcasm. The sarcasm in the replies to my questions suggest what I asked was idiotic and deserved such feedback. I apologize for treading on your valuable time and space and will think twice before asking for any help from the professionals that seem to nest in this forum.

[tufat23]

Just wanted to add that the OP has a huge advantage over 99% of people, in that he has a BR ready.
People like me grind the small (micro) stakes cos we're poor and cant afford the swings. OP can be 80% sure that he can beat levels before moving up, whilst I need to be 99% confident. This is because of the BR available. If he finds he's losing, he can move down.
He won't need to bonus chase (although i still advise it to keep you in the right mindset- i.e. moneymaking) and can save all his sign ups for rakeback deals which are almost essential if you want to make consistant long term profit (it helps with the monthly swings).
Everyone says put the money in the bank and you should, only because you'll be losing interest in the first couple of months otherwise. However it IS your bankroll, so as you move up, you won't have to log 40k hands or w.e at each level. You can log 20k, and be confident enough that you can beat the level.

Should definitely buy pokertracker and get all the add ons you can find.

Can only say gl and say hi if you ever find me at the tables.

[somapopper]

"Nobody thinks this will work."

"You've just described every great success story."

[el capitan]

[ QUOTE ]
Bet it all on black.

[/ QUOTE ]

Only if red comes up at least 5 times in a row. Then black is guaranteed to win!

[SoSo]

Red.

[talou]

OK, so, you're 20 and, with no apparent serious experience in poker, have decided to take $14,000 and devote it to playing poker professionally. Sorry, but if that's not idiotic, it's frivolous at best. You *did* get a lot of good advice; it just wasn't what you want to hear. And since we don't know each other, I can't be sure - you might be the exception, but the number of 20 year-olds I've ever met who had any idea what maturity was can be counted on the fingers of one hand. If you are the exception (and I would argue that the decision to take a significant amount of money and dive into professional poker is not a ringing commendation), I apologize for offending your delicate sensibilities.

I'm no professional (in fact, most people on this forum would probably classify me as a fish if they saw me play), but I enjoy playing and have had net positive results online so far (which doesn't prove that I'm not a fish) and have read quite a bit. My advice: invest most of it, and start getting experience with a little of it. You can use it as a bankroll when you get good, which will take a long time and a lot of work. Tens of thousands of hands. If you just start gambling over your head, you'll just lose it faster than you can absorb the lessons that actual play provides.

For what it's worth - my recommended books: Small Stakes Hold 'em, both Harrington books, Super System, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, The Theory of Poker, Hold 'em for Advanced Players, Caro's Book of Tells.

[boc4life]

There's no shortcut to becoming a winning poker player...It takes a lot of experience and studying

The people telling you to put aside 13k are giving you good advice. You don't need to grind it out playing .02/.04, .05/.10, and .25/.50 like some others do, but .5/1 is certainly a good place to start. This is assuming you want to play limit hold'em.

Bankroll recommendations range from 300-1000 BB's, or $300-$1000 at .5/1. I believe 300 is too small, but 1000 is overly conservative. 500-600 is ideal.

As others have said, take 55 bucks and buy Pokertracker. Post on here, read the advice on here. Everyone's poker journey is different...Personally it's taken me 2 years of learning the game and bankroll management to get to the point I am at now, which is still just a small stakes player, grinding out about $2000 a month

There's a lot of sarcastic know-it-alls on this board who don't seem to have any actual advice, and have forgotten the struggles of learning how to play winning poker...But it's pretty easy to figure out who those guys are.

If you're looking for more advice, send me a PM and we can chat

[RagnarPirate]

I'm going to tell you what I have done in the last 2 1/2 years. I got the free ten dollars at royal vegas and 7 sultans (no deposit no credit card). Then I played the micro no-limit 6 man tables (25c/50c) for about a year before trying any other limits, tourneys, etc. The players are of a level that relatively conservative play is readily profitable. They have even lower starting limits now. I also played every freeroll that I could. Grinding it out for a year or so is extremely useful in learning the game at no risk other than your time. You will have a great understanding of the value of money in poker when it takes you a year to earn 1500 bucks from 10 bucks.

I'm proud to say that to this day, I have never used my own money on the internet and am still playing from my original free ten dollars (although switched to ultimate bet and cashed out a few times).

The other incredible learning opportunity is the 1-5 dollar sit and go tournaments. They are extremely valuable in learning final table dynamics. To this day, I still play the 10 dollar sit and goes on Absolute Poker for fun (I like the 9 person tables and their reward points / bonuses / rakebacks).

The books are essential, but only make sense in combination with at least 2 to 3 thousand hands per month of experience for a couple of years.

I also highly recommend one game at a time (forget what you read about multiple tables) and never drink alcohol (or other mind altering substaces) during poker.

[Death Valley]

start with a $2k roll at 2-4 limit or 100NL

put the rest in ING Direct

[gusmahler]

[ QUOTE ]
The sarcasm in the replies to my questions suggest what I asked was idiotic and deserved such feedback. I apologize for treading on your valuable time and space and will think twice before asking for any help from the professionals that seem to nest in this forum.

[/ QUOTE ]

The question wouldn't seem as idiotic if you gave some details about your life and goals. As it is, your post says, "I have $14,000 and I want to play poker. What should I do?"

What are your goals in poker? Do you want to be a pro? Or are you just killing time before starting school in the Fall?

Do you have any experience playing poker? If not, why do you all of a sudden decide that you will take $14,000 and start playing on-line poker?

Anyway, since you apparently have no experience playing poker, if interested in Limit Hold 'Em, get the books Getting Started in Hold 'Em and Small Stakes Hold 'Em.If interested in tourneys, get Harrington on Hold 'Em vol. 1 and Harrington on Hold 'Em vol. 2. Play on one of the the two biggest sites: Party Poker or Poker Stars.

And I'll second the advice you've gotten elsewhere, start with only $500 and invest the rest. Once you get good, you can dip into the rest of your savings.

Or, if you want a frivolous answer, take $10,000 and play the WSOP Main event. With the rest of the $4000, enter the $1000 NLHE w/rebuy event and rebuy 3 times.