Hello every1,

A lot of you know me as Spliffis and many as Jer and many more as Jez, lol. I have been playing poker for many years now but it has always been for fun as a hobbie if you will.

I have always tried to win obviously but I was never devestated if I didn't! As of lately and mainly due to this forum my game has improoved a great deal! I have not been working for awhile now and do not plan on going back to work due to daycare expenses.

My wife and I have talked and it has always been a dream of mine to play poker to make a living. I believe that this is possible as many do it daily now! I was looking to get some feedback on how to start and where to start doing just that.

I have read many tips and stradegeis posts and have used most to my advantage. Such as BR management, playing within it and many others. I am looking for hand tracking info and game history tracking tips and just general info from any1 but especially from the ones that have taken 1000's of $s out of here and continue to do so.

I plan to start small cause my BR is not that huge just want to make sure it gets HUGE!!!

Any feedback will be appreciated!

Jeremy AKA Spliffis

sorry i can`t help you with this,me geing a beginner an ol,but I wish you success and lots of wins 

Turning pro is incredibly difficult. I really can't express in words how much work you have to put in. And for most who try it, the attempt ends in disaster.

You cannot even begin to consider taking poker up full time until you've won enough money consistently to allow you to have a fall back option should you hit a downswing. It's an incredibly volatile and stressful "job" and much tougher than it looks.

If you want to pursue the idea, I'll be happy to offer advice but I generally try to dissuade people from taking it up full time as there's such a small percentage of people who have the necessary attributes to succeed long term.

hi mate,

I definately agree with David (L67C)

there are posts here on bankroll management, read them

it's one thing to take the wife out if you get a nice cash, it's another thing to try to get your mortgage payment, man, this has stress & trouble written all over it

i suggest you play your normal limit, if you make some money, fine build your bankroll, after a couple of months, if your cashing consistantly, move up gradually

it doesn't matter how you feel after a loss now, as you say it's no big deal, you have to have the same approach as a pro, or you will tilt yourself

let poker come to you, don't try to make it happen

I have talked to a lot of people, who have "made it" and most of them tell me they lost upwards of 50k, before they had consistant results

remember, this is from named professionals, although I hit a huge win, I still consider myself an amateur, I try to qualify on-line for live events because you will go broke playing the circuit

this week I am at a small tournie in Calgary and it still cost me about 6k

good luck, but please take your time

cheers,

papa 

Jeremy AKA Spliffis

Nobody can truly understand the grind of the life from the outside. The glamour of it is so misleading. The freedom of schedule and the Travel is great. Without a doubt. But the uncertainty of when your next rent cheque is coming is absolutely crippling.

Jack's lucky. Not because he has the $$$, but because he skipped the part that separates "the men from the boys" (for lack of a better phrase). He's doing the smart thing now by still trying to qualify, but the safety net is firmly in place.

For most of the people who choose this life, the majority of the life is spent grinding bankroll and working through tough spells. Fancy trips and TV time are few and far between.

A particular piece of advice that is often given is "make sure you have enough money saved that you can live for 6 months in advance without cashing out any poker winnings."

Let me tell you, that's not enough.

If you're going to play full time, and that means pay your bills with your poker money, you're gonna need at least a year ahead already in the bank. And that DOESN'T include your poker bankroll. You can't be touching rent money for poker playing.

How much is that? that depends on the person. If I recall you have a family etc. So a year of costs will be different from say mine for example, single with a roommmate.

How much do you need as a bankroll to play poker with? Again, relative to how much you need to make weekly/monthly/yearly.

I can tell you, I did it once starting with a $20 000 roll. That wasn't enough. If I had to support a family, I wouldn't feel comfortable playing with less than a $100 000 roll. But that's me, being conservative having already spent 4 years of the grind.


So basically what I'm saying, is before you should consider "going pro," you should have enough money already set aside to sustain yourself for a year should you suffer a cold streak.

Then you should have a large enough bankroll that you're playing games that will generate substantial income so you can bank some, and build the BR.

There aren't many (if any) people who are living off 1/2 NL tables ($200 buyin). Sure on other sites there are the grinders playing 12/15/18 tables at once, and they probably bring in a fairly consistent income. But there is no growth. It's either cashed out for profit, or recycled into BR, not both.

I can also tell you, players like Idi0, who have a good job, enjoy this game FAR more than people trying to make a living solely from poker. And then in turn, have better results since they approach the game with a better frame of mind.


/rant (hope there was something useful in there)

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Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo

Aaron I really enjoyed reading your post!

The advice that has been offered from all has been fantastic! I welcome anymore that any1 has to offer!

I am mainly looking to just steadily build my BR for now and then see where things go! I am really looking for some opinions on studing my hand history and pin pointing my mistakes! I know a lot of my problems already and have been working on them but still manage to play really silly sometimes!

I would like opinions on how to study my oponents through their histories or just by watching them play!

My game itself gets better everyday as far as the cards I play and so on. My biggest problem is going to big against the guy that will call anything and then hits everytime! How do I avoid these people or is there really a way to avoid them besides taking a bad beat or 2 and then making a note of it and waiting for a monster hand!

Anyways I will end it for know and see what comes next! Thanks very much to all that have offered their views already!

To the Canadians that replied or are reading, I hope to see you all in Niagara in January! I will be there whether I play in the game or not!

Jeremy AKA Spliffis

To the Canadians that replied or are reading, I hope to see you all in Niagara in January! I will be there whether I play in the game or not!

I'll be there for sure. Almost went tonight.

I talked about the games available on the blog most recently.

I'll be buying into the 1k, try to stake into the 2.5, and satellite into the 5k.

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Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo