full time grinder in 2 years 8 months from now

[tosr 0]

I'm planning to quit my job in 2 years 8 months from now, move to Panama with my wife and 2 kids and derive our sole income from Poker.By now most of you (ok all of you) are ready to flame me., but hear me out.I currently work as a high school drama teacher in Indonesia and am sick to death of teaching, which I really need a break from.I own my own house (it's only worth 60k, I know you can't buy a tent for that in America, but this is indonesia).I've been playing for 26 months. In that time I've earned 10k, and never had a losing month. I've also been working full time, so obviously I feel I'd have earned a lot more if I wasn't working.My last 8 months have averaged $600+I play exclusively hu sit n go's at Bugsys Club. Basically I can win as much as I want. My win rate is about 80% (I can back this up if anyone really wants me to prove it).I have 17k in cash, so when I sell my house and move to Panama in 2 years from now I'll have a little over 100k (savings, poker earnings, house sale, car sale, etc).I need a little over 1k per month to survive in Panama (I'll have my own house and car there, so will just be paying for living expenses).So the plan is relocate to Panama, buy a place on the water with cable net, and earn my income from playing poker. That way I spend time with my kids, I'm at home, and I only have to work 4-5 hours a day (that should pui me on track for $1500 a month). If it all goes wrong I can always go back to teaching as I'm well qualified (IB MYP Language A teacher, Drama teacher, blah blah blah...So if you've read all that feel free to flame away. Even better if you actually had something constructive to add I'd appreciate reading it.

[charder30 0]

Good Luck man and How much are these sit n goes?

[HoosierAlum 0]

TP/MMAnd you don't cash in 80% of your sit and gos.

[Ryan_Sanders 0]

TP/MMAnd you don't cash in 80% of your sit and gos.

It's not possible.... I don't care how good you are.

[tosr 0]

TP/MMAnd you don't cash in 80% of your sit and gos.

It's not possible.... I don't care how good you are.

It's heads up. Only 2 players. Winning 80% is an extremely high win rate, but not impossible.

[neverwin 0]

Good Luck

[tosr 0]

Good Luck man and How much are these sit n goes?

I currently play between $15 and $50. But these are heads up matches.Just most sites put them in the sitngo category.

[Spademan 94]

I'm planning to quit my job in 2 years 8 months from now, move to Panama with my wife and 2 kids and derive our sole income from Poker.

Most obscure opening ever.Thanks for that.You don't win 80%.Good day.

[SinPies 0]

I've also been working full time, so obviously I feel I'd have earned a lot more if I wasn't working.

Or you'd have lost a lot more ... maybe?

[tosr 0]

I'm planning to quit my job in  2 years 8 months from now, move to Panama with my wife and 2 kids and derive our sole income from Poker.

Most obscure opening ever.Thanks for that.You don't win 80%.Good day.

Well I'll post my results for the last however many months you want, if you'll wade through them.re the opening, yup I'm a horrible writer.

[Spademan 94]

Well I'll post my results for the last however many months you want, if you'll wade through them.re the opening, yup I'm a horrible writer.

Heh, no, it wasn't horribly written, just really obscure.I'm not wading through anything.If you're 80% over a big sample you're probably the greatest player in the world, possibly in the history of the world.Get backers and challenge DN.Godspeed.

[SPADES21 0]

i would think this through. you say you have only been playing 24 months and only won 10k thats less than 500 a month and i dont think that will provide for your family so unless you think by increaseing the amount you play or your limits that you can make a couple of thousand a month than i wouldnt quit your job. but do what ever you want.

[Tommyhawkers 0]

$1k per month survive? I don't know about this. Surely, it has to be more. And that will be almost 3 years from now. Cost of living is likely to go up a bit. If that's all you need to live on, I think that'd be extremely easy to survive on. Heck, I might move there myself lol. You should study some NL strategy, build the roll, and play some NL. As it should be easier than heads up, and less frustrating.Will this improve or lessen life quality? Is Panama a nice place, and I assume you've been there before?Will income be taxed there? If so, at what rate? You should be making at least $1k a week or shooting for that if you plan on supporting the family. Hell my goal is $1k/day, but don't always make it and all I have to take care of is me and my dog. Up $1,400 toooooday baby, and the steamroller is still rollin.Will your children be educated well there? How hard is it going to be for them to be able to get back into the US once they become adults? Because that IS what they WILL want. Think about that last question.

[scarfire 0]

It sounds like you are taking a chance, but if you are that miserable where you are now then go for it. I have taken quite a few chances in my life and so far they have all paid off. My inspiration is the following Mark Twain quote:***Twenty years from now you will be more disappointedby the things that you didn't do than by the ones youdid do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from thesafe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.Explore. Dream. Discover***Good luck!

[jamthepot 0]

i don't recommend it. i've been grinding for the last 6 years. i left a six figure job to do so. 6 years prior to that i just played for fun and to supplement my income. it's not worth it. you have to give up a lot. i don'tplay online but i strongly advise against playing cards as the sole source of income. it's called a grind for a reason.

[dadall 0]

Well I'll post my results for the last however many months you want, if you'll wade through them.re the opening, yup I'm a horrible writer.

Heh, no, it wasn't horribly written, just really obscure.I'm not wading through anything.If you're 80% over a big sample you're probably the greatest player in the world, possibly in the history of the world.Get backers and challenge DN.Godspeed.

It's definitely not impossible to win 80% of hu sngs at low limits... at $5 heads up plo8 i win close to 85% and there are more idiots in hold em so i believe it's VERY possible

[tosr 0]

If you're 80% over a big sample you're probably the greatest player in the world, possibly in the history of the world.Get backers and challenge DN.Godspeed.

Well if you are playing heads up an "average" win % is 50%. So 80% is very good, but not like it's a 10 handed sit n go where that kind of % would be amazing.

[Tommyhawkers 0]

i don't recommend it. i've been grinding for the last 6 years. i left a six figure job to do so. 6 years prior to that i just played for fun and to supplement my income. it's not worth it. you have to give up a lot. i don'tplay online but i strongly advise against playing cards as the sole source of income. it's called a grind for a reason.

Wow man, you left a 6 figure job to play cards? And this was before the poker boom? Why'd you do this.. was the 6 figure job more stressful than poker? I'm very curious, as I'm sure playing cards for 6 years you would have a lot of insight. Thank you much.

[tosr 0]

i would think this through. you say you have only been playing 24 months and only won 10k thats less than 500 a month and i dont think that will provide for your family so unless you think by increaseing the amount you play or your limits that you can make a couple of thousand a month than i wouldnt quit your job.  but do what ever you want.

Well this is a thoughtful post and i thank you for it. The average is low over a 24 month span, however in my defense at the start I was still learning how to play, and during that time I've been working full time. I'm confident I can hit 1.5k a month long term if I don't have to work, but I have $500 leeway (I need 1k a month to survive) and I'll have some savings in case I need them.

[tosr 0]

i don't recommend it. i've been grinding for the last 6 years. i left a six figure job to do so. 6 years prior to that i just played for fun and to supplement my income. it's not worth it. you have to give up a lot. i don'tplay online but i strongly advise against playing cards as the sole source of income. it's called a grind for a reason.

I know a little about what you are saying. I played rubber bridge full time in Taiwan for 6 months. I did it all wrong and learned some valuable lessons. (I was playing 50 hours a week which is an imposible number for bridge where you need a very high level of thinking). As for me quitting to play poker, I think it'd be worth the pain to spend time at home with my family. If it gets too bad I can always return to teaching.And btw, respect for grinding it out for 6 years. I have no real idea what you've been through as i only lasted 6 months playing bridge, so I simply say, respect.

[Chiggleslap 0]

The average is low over a 24 month span, however in my defense at the start I was still learning how to play, and during that time I've been working full time. I'm confident I can hit 1.5k a month long term if I don't have to work, but I have $500 leeway (I need 1k a month to survive) and I'll have some savings in case I need them.

Don't you have a wife and two kids? $1,000 a month is really scraping by when you have a family to support. If you were single and paid low rent or already owned a home, that would be fine, but that doesn't appear to be the case for you. You don't want to have to dip into savings just because you made a bad career choice.

[tosr 0]

It sounds like you are taking a chance, but if you are that miserable where you are now then go for it. I have taken quite a few chances in my life and so far they have all paid off. My inspiration is the following Mark Twain quote:***Twenty years from now you will be more disappointedby the things that you didn't do than by the ones youdid do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from thesafe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.Explore. Dream. Discover***Good luck!

Thanks scarfire.

[tosr 0]

$1k per month survive? I don't know about this. Surely, it has to be more. And that will be almost 3 years from now. Cost of living is likely to go up a bit. If that's all you need to live on, I think that'd be extremely easy to survive on. Heck, I might move there myself lol. You should study some NL strategy, build the roll, and play some NL. As it should be easier than heads up, and less frustrating.Will this improve or lessen life quality? Is Panama a nice place, and I assume you've been there before?Will income be taxed there? If so, at what rate? You should be making at least $1k a week or shooting for that if you plan on supporting the family. Hell my goal is $1k/day, but don't always make it and all I have to take care of is me and my dog. Up $1,400 toooooday baby, and the steamroller is still rollin.Will your children be educated well there? How hard is it going to be for them to be able to get back into the US once they become adults? Because that IS what they WILL want. Think about that last question.

Wow a good post. As for how much you can live on in Panama all my net research (Panama expat forums, checking house prices in online Panamanian newspapers as an economic indicator, Panama retirement websites) suggest that 1k is a liveable amount of money. 2k is luxury. Currently I live in Surabaya and let me tell you, there aren't many cities which could offer a lower quality of life for my family and I (check lonely planet if you want to find out how lowly this city is rated). As for NL, that would be a good idea. The problem with me being a HU specialist is that if Bugsys ever folds, I'm ****ed. It really wouldn;t hurt me to diversify. The advantage of what I currently do is that its guranteed money.My kids are currently Indonesian citizens (my wife is Indonesian and we lied on the paperwork to get them Indo citizenship), so Panamanian citizenship is a step up for them. (You can have citizenship after 5 years there).and well done on the 1.4k.. thats huge!

[tosr 0]

The average is low over a 24 month span, however in my defense at the start I was still learning how to play, and during that time I've been working full time. I'm confident I can hit 1.5k a month long term if I don't have to work, but I have $500 leeway (I need 1k a month to survive) and I'll have some savings in case I need them.

Don't you have a wife and two kids? $1,000 a month is really scraping by when you have a family to support. If you were single and paid low rent or already owned a home, that would be fine, but that doesn't appear to be the case for you. You don't want to have to dip into savings just because you made a bad career choice.

I'll have 100k when I move, which will buy me citizenship *forestry concession) and a small house... so I hope 1k will be enough to survive on.

[jamthepot 0]

no, actually my job was pretty stress-free. my hours were generally from 10 a.m. -4p.m. i was self-employed and could make my own hours. but my poker sessions started running into the early hours of the morning(3-5 a.m.) and i was averaging $4000/week playing when playing at least 5 times/week, which was more than what i was making at my job. sometimes, i'd make a lot more and sometimes less, of course. these factors, along with other work related drama which i could get into if you want to know the details played a role in my decision. i worked in the medical field so i could always go back if i wanted. i still paid my liability insurance and fulfilled my continuing education units and kept my licenses up to date.(still do.) but living the life of a player wasn't always what it seemed. when i was working a "normal" job, my checks were consistant and i lived a care-free life. but i noticed that even though i made a crap load of money playing cards, i wouldn't spend the money for fear that i might need it if i went on a bad run. my drawer would be full of tens of thousands of dollars that i wouldn't spend. i found myself getting angry a lot easier. i lost my faith in God, which may not mean jack to others but i means a lot to me. i stopped hanging out as much with my old friends because i was constantly playing. this is just the tip of the iceberg of what the "life" does to you. it's not all that it seems. that's why i advise people to work a "real" job and play on the side. hell, if most pros admit to getting broke because of this game(negreanu, greenstein, etc...) what's the "life" going to be for normal guys like you and me?