General Rules

[JJJohnson 0]

I plan to start playing poker full time as soon as I finish school. I'm trying to make it like a job and want to plan everything out. I would just like to hear some of the golden rules when trying to play full time. I plan on playing 1/2 no limit holdem live.For example, should i record every session, should I make notes on the players since its the same gang at thsi place and stuff.Anything would be greatly appreciated.Thank you

[CrookedLink 0]

Yea, don't forget to bring your friend along for collusion.2 post and I already dislike you a whole lot dude.

[Metternich 0]

Only 1 important rule IMO:start out with a day job and don't play full time until you know you can support yourself.Other than that just do anything and everything that will make you a better player.

[TrueAce13 18]

Yea, don't forget to bring your friend along for collusion.2 post and I already dislike you a whole lot dude.

Besides that, I would say fast food hires rather quickly, but amazing people like you, you won't even need to interview.

[Zach6668 513]

I plan to start playing poker full time as soon as I finish school. I'm trying to make it like a job and want to plan everything out. I would just like to hear some of the golden rules when trying to play full time. I plan on playing 1/2 no limit holdem live.For example, should i record every session, should I make notes on the players since its the same gang at thsi place and stuff.Anything would be greatly appreciated.Thank you

If you have to ask these questions, you're 100000% going to fail.Good luck.

[KoRnholio 2]

Don't do it dude... Treat it as a hobby for a few years and see how it goes. Chances are you will have days where you finish down 3, 4 or even 8 buyins ($200 each at 1-2 NL) and be very, very glad you didn't try to play for a living.

[KingJames 11]

NL for a job is a joke... IMOPlaying for a living needs to be done with a deep bankroll and in Limit games... 10/20 limit and above could net you enough to survive if you're good but 1/2 NL wouldn't be very lucrativeGLJames

[TravisG 0]

play online..... it's more comfortable imo.

[Zach6668 513]

NL for a job is a joke... IMOPlaying for a living needs to be done with a deep bankroll and in Limit games... 10/20 limit and above could net you enough to survive if you're good but 1/2 NL wouldn't be very lucrativeGLJames

Are you high?

[RabidTortuga 0]

NL for a job is a joke... IMOPlaying for a living needs to be done with a deep bankroll and in Limit games... 10/20 limit and above could net you enough to survive if you're good but 1/2 NL wouldn't be very lucrativeGLJames

Um...what?

[RabidTortuga 0]

Oh, and OP, read Phil Gordon's Poker: The Real Deal, Barry G's Ace on the River, or even the small section in Stox's book on going pro. Not only will these answer your question, but they'll likely convince you to learn how to play before you ruin your life.

[jmbreslin 0]

I think I'm going to quit my job and play professional golf for a living, but I have a few questions. When do I use an iron instead of a driver? If you hit the ball in the sand, do you get to try again?Sound silly?

[AimHigher 0]

I think I'm going to quit my job and play professional golf for a living, but I have a few questions. When do I use an iron instead of a driver? If you hit the ball in the sand, do you get to try again?Sound silly?

GG sir.

[KingJames 11]

Not high...1/2 NL LIVE for a job?Buy in for $200 5 nights a week...If you avoid huge beats from low limit NL and you can win every night...Double your stack everynight and you make 50K a year... minus taxes minus expenses and that's one hell of a hard way to make an easy living...Then if you only double your stack 4 nights and get felted one... just about 30K a year... minus taxes minus building your bankroll...I think this kid is high for thinking he can make 1/2NL a job instead of playing a good mix of poker and especially incorporating a limit game in his arsenal... grind out that rent money...

[Zach6668 513]

Not high...1/2 NL LIVE for a job?Buy in for $200 5 nights a week...If you avoid huge beats from low limit NL and you can win every night...Double your stack everynight and you make 50K a year... minus taxes minus expenses and that's one hell of a hard way to make an easy living...Then if you only double your stack 4 nights and get felted one... just about 30K a year... minus taxes minus building your bankroll...I think this kid is high for thinking he can make 1/2NL a job instead of playing a good mix of poker and especially incorporating a limit game in his arsenal... grind out that rent money...

lol, I'm not sure you 'get it'.Poker is poker. Telling someone they can't make money at NL, and should stick to Limit is dumb as balls. And I'm an LHE > NL guy. If he's not good at LHE, telling him to do that is plain retarded.And you're comparing two different games and two different bankroll sizes, etc. You clearly have no clue.And you talk about trying to win every night? Double your stack? Do you understand how poker works? You won't win everynight, and it's 10000% the wrong attitude to think you will win every night. It will make you play horribly trying to lock up a win. Some nights you win, some nights you lose. We measure our winrates in hourly or per 100 hands, not by the number of sessions we win.I also think he's high for thinking he can make 1/2 NL his job when he clearly doesn't know a thing abotu poker, but that doesn't mean your advice is not awful, and shows a clear lack of understanding of the game.

[TravisG 0]

but seriously, how sick do you have to run to make a living @ 1/2 LIVE, unless you play like 12 hours a day? i don't even know if making a living at 1/2 online (with multitabling, faster hands and so on) would work.

[ff7bigfan 0]

Notes would definitely be important, as well as keeping good records, as it will give you a good idea of your average winrate, once you have a decent sample size. Notes on other players will allow you to exploit some of their bad habits. Like others have said, it's very unlikely a living can be made playing this level live. Perhaps try out for a few weeks, and incorporate some online, along with your live play. Record every session you play, total hours, total hands, overall winnings, etc. Assess again in a few weeks, see if you think you can actually handle playing 40+ hours live each week, every week, and analyze how much you are actually winning per hour. I'd say you would need a few hundred hours to get an accurate picture of how you would do overall. Factor in that certain times of day you may do better than other times (ie playing a tuesday afternoon vs. Friday night), as this will affect your total calculations.

[Actuary 3]

Zach got some attitude

[KingJames 11]

lol, I'm not sure you 'get it'.Poker is poker. Telling someone they can't make money at NL, and should stick to Limit is dumb as balls. And I'm an LHE > NL guy. If he's not good at LHE, telling him to do that is plain retarded.And you're comparing two different games and two different bankroll sizes, etc. You clearly have no clue.And you talk about trying to win every night? Double your stack? Do you understand how poker works? You won't win everynight, and it's 10000% the wrong attitude to think you will win every night. It will make you play horribly trying to lock up a win. Some nights you win, some nights you lose. We measure our winrates in hourly or per 100 hands, not by the number of sessions we win.I also think he's high for thinking he can make 1/2 NL his job when he clearly doesn't know a thing abotu poker, but that doesn't mean your advice is not awful, and shows a clear lack of understanding of the game.

I understand what you're saying and it was late and I was not communicating effectively what I am thinking.I go to school... I don't play for a living... so maybe I don't get it, but I think it's ridiculous to think that you can just start playing for a living and playing 1/2 NL Live.I understand that poker is not results oriented per session and that we look at the big picture.IMO I think that if a person is going to start a "I'm playing for a living" thread I'd like to suggest compiling a bank roll and playing LHE at a limit high enough that a few big bets per hour will actually make them some money

[Zach6668 513]

I understand what you're saying and it was late and I was not communicating effectively what I am thinking.I go to school... I don't play for a living... so maybe I don't get it, but I think it's ridiculous to think that you can just start playing for a living and playing 1/2 NL Live.I understand that poker is not results oriented per session and that we look at the big picture.

Yeah, this is all fine. We both agree that someone who's asking questions that are this dumb clearly isn't ready to play for a living. The truth is, most people aren't. Most people just see it on TV, win a few play money SNGs and think it's easy, etc. It's not. It's not an easy living, as they say. At least not as easy as most people think. I'd still take it over a 'real job', anyday.

IMO I think that if a person is going to start a "I'm playing for a living" thread I'd like to suggest compiling a bank roll and playing LHE at a limit high enough that a few big bets per hour will actually make them some money

This is where you lose me. This statement just doesn't make sense. Sure, someone who is good at LHE and has a bankroll big enough for 30/60 live can pull in 1 big bet per hour or 2, or whatever the case may be, but why does that mean that someone who is good at NL can't pull in some sort of hourly rate playing 1/2 NL? or 2/5 or 5/10, etc? I don't get the Limit vs NL argument you're trying to make. The two games are different, and while the basic poker theory remains the same, they tend require some different skills. [i have lots to say on that subject, so I won't go into it, lol, but I'm an LHE guy, as you might know, so I'm not underestimating the importance of learning LHE as it applies to the rest of the hold'em games].But anyways, it simply boils down to, if a person is going to start a "I'm playing for a living" thread, they shouldn't do it. :)But overall, someone who wants to play for a living, and in this made up case, we'll assume he knows that he's a winner at a certain game, he should play that game. If he's a proven winner, and can make $15-20/hr at 1/2 NL, and that's what his BR will support, why would we be telling him to play LHE? With that BR, he'd be playing 5/10 or 6/12 LHE, and make $10-20/hr. Of course, we'd prefer someone to have a huge BR before they turn pro, but in the real world, $15-20/hr is much better than grinding a min wage job, if you're good enough to do it, and you'll move up into higher pay ranges much faster, again assuming you're a winning player, and smart enough to manage your money properly (which you should be if you're a pro).Sorry if I came off as harsh, or with an attitude in the previous post, it wasn't my intention, and I'm glad you replied without getting mad at me.

[TravisG 0]

[i have lots to say on that subject, so I won't go into it}

SAY!

[KingJames 11]

Once again I agree with you... If you're a proven winner and you have the bankroll you should play the game in which you have the biggest edge.

[Actuary 3]

.

[copernicus 0]

the limit vs nl discussion is silly. A very good NL player has a much bigger advantage over average players than a very good limit player does over average limit players. BR requirements for similar hourly win rates might actually be lower for NL than limit. There is a section of Mark Blades book on win rates/br requirements for different games. I'll pull it out later.

[RISEorFall 0]

what is a decent BR for NL?for some reason I have 6 buy ins stuck in my head