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  #41  
Old 11-29-2007, 09:05 PM
Trivial Trivial is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

i've been pro since june inasmuch as i have no intention of looking for a job while poker remains as profitable as it currently stands. i typically log about 100k hands a month which i guess requires 30-40 hrs a week of my time.

as far as sleep scheduling goes i seem to work on a 26-28 hour daily cycle which means i get around the clock every 8-9 days and have the joys of waking up at 6am, 9am, midday, 3pm, 5pm, 8pm, etc through the week. this is purely because i sleep until i wake up with no external influences such as alarms. i am getting a little fed up of it as i often see little to no daylight as a consequence. the effects on social activity are obvious.

i have up until now cashed out infrequently which i regret since it has allowed me to blow large sums while drunk (this stands as my number one leak at present) and once i rebuild a sufficient roll for my regular games i intend to cash out a fixed amount on a weekly basis to set a habit and supplement those cashouts semi-regularly with additional withdrawals if i hit a good spell.
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  #42  
Old 11-29-2007, 09:08 PM
SEABEAST SEABEAST is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

it's amazing how the first reply to an OP can really set the tone for a thread. someone could have easily mocked OP for asking a question that has been done 100 times before, but instead skier wrote a really good response and now we have a quality thread.

[ QUOTE ]
but in reality, the answer is truly what you make of it. If you keep a good sleep schedule that lines up with other things you would like to do with your life (I think this is very crucial) then it doesn't have to [censored] with your schedule. For poker playing at night is obviously best but when you find yourself needing to do something or buy something at a store and you get up at 8pm, you gotta do something about it. This causes you to move your schedule, or if you are visiting someone you have to flip right around. Constantly changing your schedule leads to lost days and many days of being tired and adjusting.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is bang on. i spend about as much energy just trying to balance my life as i do playing poker, especially now that i have started coaching. but it's completely necessary to do so, especially as you get further down the track.

i have been playing for a living/gaming hardcore for 5+ years now and as you get just a little older it becomes more and more clear that it won't matter how much money you end up making or how many people think you're a great player - if your entire life consists of spending time alone while the real world is asleep and you never get anything done IRL, you will not be happy.

it's fine/standard to go into sick grindermode for a while when you're young and obsessed with getting better, but it's not sustainable as a lifestyle when you move into genuinely playing for a living, and having a balance to your life becomes increasingly important.

personally i am quite content with the numerous facets of my life and the balance i have on paper, but i still really, really struggle with the sleep thing.

totally agree with what skier said about waking up too late to go run errands or do normal IRL stuff and how that can make you feel really alienated... so now i often tend to just stay up until the next day and do whatever i need to do then (whether it's getting a bunch of things done i've let slip for a few days, or catching up with a friend i havent seen for a while), but this is where the lost days thing comes in, and i'm sure i'm taking years off my life with all of this.
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  #43  
Old 11-29-2007, 09:24 PM
tannenj tannenj is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

i don't understand it when people imply that it's harder to have a social life playing poker than working a real job. supporting yourself via poker requires less hours and provides more flexibility.

op, one thing to keep in mind that i don't think has been mentioned is the importance of exercise. this applies to anything, i think, and not just poker, but it's no coincidence that guys like ivey and antonius keep themselves in such good shape. i'm planning to do the poker thing for a while after graduation and will probably put myself on a schedule in which i work out for an hour or two every day prior to playing a session.
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  #44  
Old 11-29-2007, 10:01 PM
JKratzer JKratzer is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

[ QUOTE ]

i don't understand it when people imply that it's harder to have a social life playing poker than working a real job.

[/ QUOTE ]

the best times to play often coincide with other people's social time.
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  #45  
Old 11-29-2007, 11:51 PM
SEABEAST SEABEAST is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

[ QUOTE ]
i don't understand it when people imply that it's harder to have a social life playing poker than working a real job.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
i'm planning to do the poker thing for a while after graduation

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah. it's a lot different when you don't have an enforced structure to your life. it's easy to theorise about still keeping a normal healthy well adjusted couple of hrs of poker/voluntarily structure the rest of your day in a healthy way even though you don't have to type deal, but in reality after months on end of setting your own hours and being able to do whatever you damn well feel like, and usually pulling in truly sick amounts of money in the process because you don't have to focus on other things as much, things change a bit.

i exercise a lot play in band have gf etc, but it's still hard to keep a normal existence, especially because even if you have a lot of spare time, other people usually don't - they can only socialise during certain days/hours of the week, in which time you could be in any sort of mindset because your life is so open-ended. so even when you do see people, maybe they are exhausted from a hard day of work whereas you've just woken up from losing $5000 the night before. this is why i'm in the stay in school camp even though i didn't myself.

i mean, if you can keep a normal sleeping pattern and set your life to a rough schedule even after playing for a living for 6 months or a year then that's awesome, but it can be tough.
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  #46  
Old 11-30-2007, 12:46 AM
ozdg3nr8 ozdg3nr8 is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

semi pro here with full time 50-60 hour week day job.
play around 35k hands a month 12 tabling.
hourly rate of around 300-400hr.
sleep schedule is fairly normal
social life is non existant but i am typically antisocial and a loner anyways. (i generally dont like people)
i dont pay myself with poker winnings, every dollar is invested for retirement.
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  #47  
Old 11-30-2007, 12:49 AM
rand rand is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

[ QUOTE ]
i don't understand it when people imply that it's harder to have a social life playing poker than working a real job. supporting yourself via poker requires less hours and provides more flexibility.

op, one thing to keep in mind that i don't think has been mentioned is the importance of exercise. this applies to anything, i think, and not just poker, but it's no coincidence that guys like ivey and antonius keep themselves in such good shape. i'm planning to do the poker thing for a while after graduation and will probably put myself on a schedule in which i work out for an hour or two every day prior to playing a session.

[/ QUOTE ]

tannen, i think one of the problems with the social life thing is that alot of people are going to new places but bc poker is so unstructured it is harder to make friends then if say, u got a job with Merrill and you went out for drinks with all your other fellow analyst for instance

so, on top of the lack on an institution thing, there is the backwardsness of your life that will, (often) despite your best efforts, not conveniently match up with everyone else's
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  #48  
Old 11-30-2007, 04:20 AM
LostMyCaseMoney LostMyCaseMoney is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

Sleep schedule is non exsistant. I'd love to get up by 11:30 everyday but it doesn't happen.

Play about 40 hours a week.

Make about nothing because I'm on permatilt. Make more then $100 & less then $200/hr In the last week I've played 3/6LHE, 5/10 2-73D & HORSE, 10/20Razz, 30/60 Stud8, $200 HORSE tournies, 1/2 NLHE & PLO, & 2/4 Uncapped Buy-in NLHE & PLO with 1500+ effective stacks. I've got range. Typically play 1/2 & 2/4NLHE though. Between 4-9 tables depending on what I'm playing and how hard I feel like paying attention.
75k hands a month?

Social life is kind of non-existant at the moment since I just moved across the country and you don't meet people as quickly as you would if you were in school or @ a real job. I also kind of moved so I could have a lot of alone time and focus on getting my stuff together since I had become kind of a mess thanks to the poker lifestyle. Not that it was it's fault I'm just young and immature. A lot of money, nothing but freetime, and a lot of friends doesn't make for the most promising future for someone out to just have fun.
I moved because I realized I wouldn't be able to discipline myself in that environment. Prior my social was nothing but helped by flexibility poker allowed.

I spend ridiculous amounts of money on whatever whenever. Actually spent more then I made year and took it out of my bankroll. Don't do that.
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  #49  
Old 11-30-2007, 04:45 AM
Dan Terra Dan Terra is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

[ QUOTE ]
i don't understand it when people imply that it's harder to have a social life playing poker than working a real job. supporting yourself via poker requires less hours and provides more flexibility.

[/ QUOTE ]

usually at a normal job youre somewhere not home, working with and interacting with other ppl. you make friends at work, meet girls, meet friends of work friends, etc. etc.

hard to do that when your "job" is sitting at home alone in front of a computer screen
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  #50  
Old 11-30-2007, 05:09 AM
skier_5 skier_5 is offline
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Default Re: Cash game pros - lifestyle (and numbers) questions

[ QUOTE ]
i feel like it has definitely affected my social life. its hard to relate to your college friends when you are making a lot of money and dont really have any commitments, its very unusual to say the least. i try to hang out with friends from time to time, but i feel like i just get along better with poker players who can relate to my own situation.

[/ QUOTE ]

so so true, I feel so akward talking about... life... its like im bragging when im talking about my latest purchase or my latest trip - I have no idea if they see it that way, but that's how I feel. I mean, obviously people brag about the TV they are getting and how they saved up for it and that's cool, but when I'm talking about the latest thing I got, it's like the latest in a string of large purchases or like they know it didn't take me long to get it or whatever.

Or like, talking about work or life in general can be hard too. Talking about the great job they have lined up for the summer that they might make 15k at and like sure I can talk about it, but it's really awkward when chances are I might have won (or lost) that amount the night before.
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