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What stakes/games were you playing when you decided to start playing full time?

I doubt I'm qualified to answer, as I'm only a semi-pro (that is, half of my income is related to poker) but I'd say if you have the stamina to put in 40 hours a week at 4 tables on avg and are capable to beat the games for 2 ptbb/100, NL100 should yield a monthly salary of $3000:

4 tables = 300 hands/hr = $12 hourly + 27% RB + another ~10% bonuses = $16.44

I was playing 100nl at the time, would recomend you to have some sort of extra income tho, games are alot harder now. The most important thing tho is to put in the time, alot of players i coach think its enough to grind 15-20h a week but that isnt nearly enough when you start out as a pro.

I played like 70-80 hours/month the first like 4 months when i went pro and i barrely got what i needed for rent and food, it was when i really realized i had to do more that things started to happen. I spent 200+ hours one month and 160h the month after that, that means only playing.
Then i watched at least one vid a day, usually 2 or 3.

Gl

Pontus

I've replaced poker for my part-time student job last summer. At that time I was playing 3/6 - 5/T LHE 6max but quickly transitioned to HU.

Im now playing full-time for the summer but I plan to get a job in the next few months

Don't bother before like 200, and even then being a poker pro will probably destroy any chance of you having a professional career in the future. The game is so much more enjoyable if you just treat it as a hobby that makes money, and you'd have to be making a lot of money before you should give up a career.

Way, way too many kids are "turning pro" and completely fucking up their lives before they understand the consequences IMO. I pretty much sigh every time I see somebody with a 3k roll and no living expenses set aside or suplimentary income "grinding" out a life. Most people don't even have the work ethic to work for themselves, let alone some 20 year old drop out.

Way, way too many kids are "turning pro" and completely fucking up their lives before they understand the consequences IMO. I pretty much sigh every time I see somebody with a 3k roll and no living expenses set aside or suplimentary income "grinding" out a life. Most people don't even have the work ethic to work for themselves, let alone some 20 year old drop out.

I agree, I think there are a ton of unsuccessful pro stories that we never hear about.

200NL, poker is an awesome job if you treat it right (which most people don't)

<- 21 year old uni dropout

Thanks for sharing guys. Guess I should have been clear that I'm not planning on making the leap anytime in the near future. While I do have a decent career, all my work is freelance based, so I usually have at least a few weeks during the year that I am unemployed and decide to amp up the volume to see what I could expect. It is amazing how frustrating the game can become when the money made or lost is significant, and again, I always have the prospect of a new job coming up. I really respect the people who make it work, and appreciate that you very rarely hear from the people who took a leap of faith and end up with nothing.

I appreciate the words of warning though, guys. I would never consider it until I had at least 6 months living in the bank and was making at least 1.5 times what I could working... which ain't happening anytime soon! LOL

Good luck at the tables!

I appreciate the words of warning though, guys. I would never consider it until I had at least 6 months living in the bank and was making at least 1.5 times what I could working... which ain't happening anytime soon! LOL

I think you need to make much more than 1.5 times the job alternative. Im making 3.5x per hour and even now I find it hard to build my bankroll for bigger stakes.

2/4 and 3/6 6MNL! My last year of college was a pretty nice springboard/safety net though, so it worked out well for me.

I spent 200+ hours one month and 160h the month after that, that means only playing

How many hands when you play 200h monthly?

We have some good and honest posts in this thread Thats really cool

NL100. However, I had made myself comfortable for a very, very long time via sports betting before this. You want a healthy BR that's separate from your poker BR before you consider it.

How many hands when you play 200h monthly?

We have some good and honest posts in this thread Thats really cool

well i have no idea cause i didnt use HEM or so back then (2 years ago) but i was 6 tabling for the most part, and i remember that i was up 20bi after first week, lost it all in 2 days but grinded it all back to a monster + thats when i decided i could do this!

Imo you just have to set you mind to a goal and sacrifice some things for the moment and the return will be so so much more worth than the things u offer along the way. ( drinking beer and playing videogames for example. )

pontus

We have some good and honest posts in this thread Thats really cool

Agreed. Very refreshing to get so many differing perspectives.

I guess you could say I made the 'leap', but really I had 8 months off between my undergrad and going back to school so why not, right?

Took off at 100nl with 80+BI and the premise that I would go by month. If at any point at the end of the month it wasn't fun or I lost money overall, I would get a part time job and only play poker on the side. January was great, feb was rough, which led to me taking most of march off. Came back with avengeance in April and now all is well.

It really is a good life. I had to wake up at 7am this morning to catch a ferry and it really made me value my sleep schedule while playing poker. The flexibility to be able to drop everything you are doing and go play a game of pickup soccer or take any day off and plan a trip to the beach is amazing. For me, the money is secondary to the flexibility poker can afford you.