Poker Part time living?

[diamon879]

hello, just wanted to know some tips on playing poker for a living part time. or in the mean time

from me looking for a job after i get my degree? anyone know what a poker player should do to get

started? i wish to play 1/2 no limit, i live in new jersey. im new to this forum. thanks

[beanfacekilla]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
As for your question: People write entire books to answer this. Perhaps you could tell us what skill level you are at right now. Do you know alot about poker? Just a little? Playing poker for consistent income is very difficult. I think only 10% of all poker players are players that actually profit in the long run. Tell us a little more about yourself, and I am sure someone will give you some tips.

I will give you just a few general guidelines that I believe in:
You want to play $1/$2, you should have no less than $4,000 for a bankroll, to survive the swings (variance). Also, you should read, read, read, practice, read some more. Learn everything you can about poker... You should know general odds for any situation you might find yourself in. My advice, read... alot.

This post is my opinion, I am not chris ferguson. Hope it helps.

Nice to have you here at the forum, welcome. Peace.

[Poker Orifice]

Welcome.

I'm assuming you're referring to playing $1/$2 nlhe 'live' cash table?

I'd suggest (if you don't already) play some low buyin level online cash tables (10nl.. yup.. 5c/10c) as the play on them is comparable to $1/$2 live games.

[Dan Abnormal]

I agree with both of these and Youd probably want to make sure besides that nice bankroll, you already have a few months of money to live on just in case the live learnign curve shows to be a little tougher than you think

[rgchan]

Are you prepared to possibly lose a huge bankroll ?? Like mentioned $4,000 for $1/$2 games ? It,s not that easy to do so I wouldn,t advise it for some-one to just jump into it after reading a book.I would suggest getting a job and looking as poker a the Part Time job after work.And maybe playing at smaller games to see how you do.
Rg

[Peteyweestro]

In poker as in life you got to crawl before you walk, feel me ?

[fndrbndr79]

Disclaimer: If you're asking how to play poker for a living, you've already missed an important question, namely WHETHER to play poker for a living. If you're just starting to build a bankroll, it's not time to make that kind of decision yet. What follows is my attempt at an answer assuming you've done your due diligence on the question of WHETHER to play poker as a source of income. This is not an assumption to be taken lightly. That said:

I've made money part time playing poker. I offset the cost of my wife's anniversary present last year with poker winnings(an old motorcycle beyond the means of my summer job flipping burgers), and paid for part of Christmas this year by cleaning out my pokerstars account. I'm not a pro, and am really only a slight-above-average poker player with enough discipline to lay down when I have the worst of it and push with the best of it, accepting that I will sometimes get outdrawn. I only had time to play high-stakes ($1/2 NLH-it's high to me, as a college student, lol) over the summer, and stuck to very low stakes online (in the 2nl to 5nl range), so my winnings were about $1500 last year, the vast majority of which came from my summer nights at the dog track playing live. However, I can tell you a few things. Part of this is based on mistakes I've made, hoping you can avoid some of the pitfalls I've discovered. All of it is written on the assumption that you're already a strong player. If you're not, then my advice is simply to play poker with money you would have spent at the movies/bar and enjoy your wins when they come. If you're a +EV player, though, your biggest skill is money management. In no particular order:

1. Never clean out your bankroll. It's hard as hell to start back up again. Not being sufficiently bankrolled, I've left the live game, and am just grinding the [expletive] out of low-stakes NLH tables to try to rebuild a bankroll. In fact, if it can be helped, never spend your bankroll. On anything. Ever.

2. Have a large bankroll. Maybe this should have been #1, but I said "in no particular order" for a reason. Someone else mentioned $4k as a good $1/2 NLH bankroll. While the exact number varies depending on what you read, that's probably a decent bare minimum. And remember that this isn't cash on hand; this is the bankroll. This is venture capital that won't be spent on anything but chips for a little while.

3. Have a couple months' savings socked away, or since you said part-time, be able to meet all your obligations with your other job, even if you have a poor month at the tables. One way to do this is to have a good job. The other way to do it is to keep your obligations low. If you're serious about this and have a car on which you still owe a payment, try to get out from under that and buy a good beater if feasible. If you're carrying any other debts, the same idea applies. Go Dave Ramsey on that ****. Even if the poker thing doesn't work out, it'll make the next fifty years a lot less stressful.

4. See a LOT of hands. And I mean A LOT. Even if it doesn't feel like it, if you're a +EV player, you're essentially getting paid by the hour. Sure, some hours you make $100, and some hours you lose $50, but over the long haul, you're still making $25/hr. As such....

5. Don't forget about online poker. Online, you can see almost twice as many hands per hour as in a live game, and you can play multiple tables. I'm not the multitabling psycho some of the folks here are, but I can play six tables at a time relatively comfortably. By doing that, I'm seeing nearly 12 times the number of hands per hour online that I see in a B&M card room. This insulates me from variance, since I'm (hopefully) taking the good end of 12 different gambles over a given time period rather than one. I can also buy in at lower dollar amounts but still have a similar win rate. You might find that you can make more playing six tables with a 25-cent big blind that you can playing one live table with a $2 big blind.

6. Be prepared for swings. If you've worked in sales, you know about the feast-or-famine lifestyle. Poker is that much worse. Even the best pros go through brutal stretches where they lose time after time, despite playing "correctly" the vast majority of the time. I discovered that I can't go to the card room, lose $400, and come home and hug my wife just as happily as if I'd won $100 (about what I'd make on average playing 8 hours at $12.50/hr). If this describes you, and you like having friends, keep poker as a profitable hobby rather than a part-time job. Similarly, I have in the past foolishly felt that just because I won last week, I'd win again the next week, and ::gasp:: spent the money in my pocket. I don't know whether the upswings or downswings hurt more, but both can bite you if you're not careful.

7. Keep careful records. This may be important for your legal well-being as well as your poker career. You need to know how much you're actually making and when you're making your money. Last summer, I was busting my tail to get out to the card room early in the day to get in as many hours as possible. After looking over my records, though, I found that I was only really making money in my night sessions. After that, I picked up more day shifts flipping burgers. When I got off, I'd go home, shower, enjoy a late-afternoon or early-evening meal with the Mrs., and head off. I was playing five hours instead of 8-12 hours, but making about the same money. It would be misleading to say I gave myself a raise (I played fewer hours, but made about the same money), but I made a little more because I picked up a couple of extra day shifts at minimum wage. Also, if you're paying your bills with poker winnings, it's probably time to consider filing that on your income tax return. In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't done this, so I'm not exactly practicing what I preach, but if I get to the point of cashing out monthly, it will become necessary.

Well, that's not everything (not even close, in fact), but that should at least give you an idea what you're getting yourself into. Assuming you're +EV, the crucial skill isn't really poker ability; it's money management. I hope this helps, and one way or the other, best of luck.

[beanfacekilla]

Are you prepared to possibly lose a huge bankroll ?? Like mentioned $4,000 for $1/$2 games ? It,s not that easy to do so I wouldn,t advise it for some-one to just jump into it after reading a book.I would suggest getting a job and looking as poker a the Part Time job after work.And maybe playing at smaller games to see how you do.
Rg

RG this is a good point. I didn't mean to go read a book and spend $4k.

The OP asked "hello, just wanted to know some tips on playing poker for a living part time. or in the mean time from me looking for a job after i get my degree? anyone know what a poker player should do to get started? i wish to play 1/2 no limit, i live in new jersey. im new to this forum. thanks."

I was simply saying to the guy what you need to play poker for profit. If you have no bankroll, you won't make it far. My eaxact words were "I will give you just a few general guidelines that I believe in: You want to play $1/$2, you should have no less than $4,000 for a bankroll, to survive the swings (variance). Also, you should read, read, read, practice, read some more. Learn everything you can about poker... You should know general odds for any situation you might find yourself in. My advice, read... alot."

The OP asked a very broad question, and I gave - what I consider to be - general guidelines to play poker for profit. Your suggestions are good RG. Practice at lower limits. But if he were to take $400 to the poker room (2 buy-ins), how long do you think that money would last? I know how to play poker, but I don't have $4k, so I don't play poker live. I don't want everyone to think I said read a book and go dump 4 grand on poker. That is not what I said.

Also, another direct quote from my post "As for your question: People write entire books to answer this. Perhaps you could tell us what skill level you are at right now. Do you know alot about poker? Just a little? Playing poker for consistent income is very difficult. I think only 10% of all poker players are players that actually profit in the long run. Tell us a little more about yourself, and I am sure someone will give you some tips. "

The comment above -about people writing entire books- was meant to explain it would be difficult to learn how to do this by reading a few posts on a forum. It could be misleading, and I just thought of that. It was not meant to say, hey read a book! everything you want to know is in a book! I was just trying to explain how long it would take to answer the question fully.

I just posted this to let you (and everyone else) know that I don't recommend just jumping in either. OP asked what he needed to do to play $1/$2 for part time profit. If that is what he wants to do, he needs a BR and a heck of alot of knowledge on how to play poker. Even this doesn't mean he will profit.

Anyways, perhaps the OP should play for fun for a while, and get used to the game. But if he's going to play live primarily, he shouldn't play online for practice (my opinion), as these are two different worlds of poker (my opinion). Online poker will help a live player with their game, but I have seen many online players get destroyed live. Didn't daniel negraneau have a hard time with online poker? There aren't any live games I could ever find with stakes lower than $1/$2. Perhaps limit poker, but OP said $1/$2 no limit. Anyways, OP hasn't even been back since, so who knows if he even read any of this. Peace.

[Peteyweestro]

The OP saw all this talk about thousands of bucks to get started as a bankroll, he probably ran for the hills,lol

[rgchan]

This is without a doubt one of the most Honest POSTS I have read in a long time.!! And if nominations were still in order by Post signifigance well this is a winner.!! I,m so happy to have read it.

Disclaimer: If you're asking how to play poker for a living, you've already missed an important question, namely WHETHER to play poker for a living. If you're just starting to build a bankroll, it's not time to make that kind of decision yet. What follows is my attempt at an answer assuming you've done your due diligence on the question of WHETHER to play poker as a source of income. This is not an assumption to be taken lightly. That said:

I've made money part time playing poker. I offset the cost of my wife's anniversary present last year with poker winnings(an old motorcycle beyond the means of my summer job flipping burgers), and paid for part of Christmas this year by cleaning out my pokerstars account. I'm not a pro, and am really only a slight-above-average poker player with enough discipline to lay down when I have the worst of it and push with the best of it, accepting that I will sometimes get outdrawn. I only had time to play high-stakes ($1/2 NLH-it's high to me, as a college student, lol) over the summer, and stuck to very low stakes online (in the 2nl to 5nl range), so my winnings were about $1500 last year, the vast majority of which came from my summer nights at the dog track playing live. However, I can tell you a few things. Part of this is based on mistakes I've made, hoping you can avoid some of the pitfalls I've discovered. All of it is written on the assumption that you're already a strong player. If you're not, then my advice is simply to play poker with money you would have spent at the movies/bar and enjoy your wins when they come. If you're a +EV player, though, your biggest skill is money management. In no particular order:

1. Never clean out your bankroll. It's hard as hell to start back up again. Not being sufficiently bankrolled, I've left the live game, and am just grinding the [expletive] out of low-stakes NLH tables to try to rebuild a bankroll. In fact, if it can be helped, never spend your bankroll. On anything. Ever.

2. Have a large bankroll. Maybe this should have been #1, but I said "in no particular order" for a reason. Someone else mentioned $4k as a good $1/2 NLH bankroll. While the exact number varies depending on what you read, that's probably a decent bare minimum. And remember that this isn't cash on hand; this is the bankroll. This is venture capital that won't be spent on anything but chips for a little while.

3. Have a couple months' savings socked away, or since you said part-time, be able to meet all your obligations with your other job, even if you have a poor month at the tables. One way to do this is to have a good job. The other way to do it is to keep your obligations low. If you're serious about this and have a car on which you still owe a payment, try to get out from under that and buy a good beater if feasible. If you're carrying any other debts, the same idea applies. Go Dave Ramsey on that ****. Even if the poker thing doesn't work out, it'll make the next fifty years a lot less stressful.

4. See a LOT of hands. And I mean A LOT. Even if it doesn't feel like it, if you're a +EV player, you're essentially getting paid by the hour. Sure, some hours you make $100, and some hours you lose $50, but over the long haul, you're still making $25/hr. As such....

5. Don't forget about online poker. Online, you can see almost twice as many hands per hour as in a live game, and you can play multiple tables. I'm not the multitabling psycho some of the folks here are, but I can play six tables at a time relatively comfortably. By doing that, I'm seeing nearly 12 times the number of hands per hour online that I see in a B&M card room. This insulates me from variance, since I'm (hopefully) taking the good end of 12 different gambles over a given time period rather than one. I can also buy in at lower dollar amounts but still have a similar win rate. You might find that you can make more playing six tables with a 25-cent big blind that you can playing one live table with a $2 big blind.

6. Be prepared for swings. If you've worked in sales, you know about the feast-or-famine lifestyle. Poker is that much worse. Even the best pros go through brutal stretches where they lose time after time, despite playing "correctly" the vast majority of the time. I discovered that I can't go to the card room, lose $400, and come home and hug my wife just as happily as if I'd won $100 (about what I'd make on average playing 8 hours at $12.50/hr). If this describes you, and you like having friends, keep poker as a profitable hobby rather than a part-time job. Similarly, I have in the past foolishly felt that just because I won last week, I'd win again the next week, and ::gasp:: spent the money in my pocket. I don't know whether the upswings or downswings hurt more, but both can bite you if you're not careful.

7. Keep careful records. This may be important for your legal well-being as well as your poker career. You need to know how much you're actually making and when you're making your money. Last summer, I was busting my tail to get out to the card room early in the day to get in as many hours as possible. After looking over my records, though, I found that I was only really making money in my night sessions. After that, I picked up more day shifts flipping burgers. When I got off, I'd go home, shower, enjoy a late-afternoon or early-evening meal with the Mrs., and head off. I was playing five hours instead of 8-12 hours, but making about the same money. It would be misleading to say I gave myself a raise (I played fewer hours, but made about the same money), but I made a little more because I picked up a couple of extra day shifts at minimum wage. Also, if you're paying your bills with poker winnings, it's probably time to consider filing that on your income tax return. In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't done this, so I'm not exactly practicing what I preach, but if I get to the point of cashing out monthly, it will become necessary.

Well, that's not everything (not even close, in fact), but that should at least give you an idea what you're getting yourself into. Assuming you're +EV, the crucial skill isn't really poker ability; it's money management. I hope this helps, and one way or the other, best of luck.

I,m just home after seeing a good Rock concert and then going to a Bar specializing in Blues Music where a Host musician invites all there fellow musicians to join/accompany them onstage.And that was the best part of my night.The un-rehearsed not knowing what your going to hear music and not knowing the 8-12 different players that you don,t know getting up to play.Sorry in a sense off topic.I think i know what I felt about this Post.I only personally play Forum games to support the forum owners.I like to support the forums and do try to get to know the players which can make it more fun.But its a hobby to me where I,m not expecting to go out making a living at it.I enjoy the game and the players and I,m not interested in making it a full time job.!


"After looking over my records, though, I found that I was only really making money in my night sessions. After that, I picked up more day shifts flipping burgers."

That is so brutally honest though that just rewards an award in itself.I love this.!! I would love to know what your time Zone is though.I suspect its where your about 8pm and the drunkards are about 1am !! (And hey I,m one of those probably) lol
Bravo ...
Rg ,,