God would that be nice. For anything really.(The four monitors.) I hope to play to support myself one day. But I can tell you it won't be one day soon.
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 36 (M)
Posts: 6669
If you are asking if we play poker and live out of it the answer in my case is no, i do not live out of poker.
I think you need to reach a pretty high level and constant revenue out of poker before leaving your daily job/take a job if you did not had previosly...
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 56 (M)
Posts: 4675
G'day mates
I can tell you from personal experience it is NOT easy at all. Poker was my only source of income back in 2006 & 2007. For 18 months I played poker 10-16 hours a day everyday. I was by most people I know considered a "Pro Poker Player" I did survive and keep all my bills paid up to date. It started out as my dream job but in the end it was my job. The grind does eventually get to you, at least it did get to me. I no longer only play poker to survive, thank God. I love the game and play a great deal of it but not like I did before. be cool
Joined: Jan '14
Location: Netherlands
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 508
To make even profit is very difficult, because of the rakeback percentages and rake... And you need to play it a lot like RoninHarper said, but it's still kind of a dream for me. I am not very good at cash games, at tournaments I usually finish at 25-8% but unfortunately often like 12% get paid.
Joined: Sep '13
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Age: 38 (M)
Posts: 1564
im still a newbie at online poker but i did make over 4,80$ last month from poker alone. Im gonna use that money to buy a coke.
seriously now doubt that many people here consider themselves a 'pros' which is essentially someone who has poker as his main job. But im sure how one day, maybe, ill get there ! Just give me another 5-10 years, or maybe even less than that because im a fast learner!
Joined: Feb '11
Location: Germany
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 1859
I tried it last year, unsuccessful. I had very easy circumstances, I was still living at home with no commitments except 180€ I had to give as "cost money" (don't know what it's called in english, could be equal to rent I had to pay). The first 2-3 months it was alot of fun, so much free time during the day and all that stuff. However, I got lazier and lazier month to month, have put in less volume the longer it got.
To use poker as your only source of income you either have to look at it as pure business or play at least midstakes and crush the games. I was playing lowstakes at max, mainly microstakes, and simply didn't have the right mindset for it. I did make profits as usual and my winrate remained the same, but I simply played less overall, even less than I did before.
I had dreams about poker as well of course. Before I even started using it as my only source of income I had dreams about going to thailand and move into a sick poker house with fellow grinders.
However, I really prefer as it is now. I go to job training and make sure about my future, and make a few hundred dollars extra money that I can spend freely. The motivation to play has also come back if you don't have to force yourself infront of your screen day by day. It's surely a dream many people have, but it's ALOT harder than it would seem to anyone who hasn't tried it.
I hope Jovi will share his sight of this in this thread as I know he's playing professional.
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 56 (M)
Posts: 4675
G'day mate
You are correct that it is a lot easier when you first start out. It was for me at least. I think it is because in the beginning you she it as living the dream. I was full of hope and had dreams of going to the absolute moon with my poker. I then realised to my utter surprise that what I really wanted was to just be able to win consistently. I do NOT want to become famous or instantly recognizable. If I could become a millionaire without anyone knowing I would love that option. I do not want to be on TV or even in magazines. I would like to be a completely unknown success be cool
Joined: Nov '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 68 (M)
Posts: 3362
Posted by RoninHarper: G'day mate
You are correct that it is a lot easier when you first start out. It was for me at least. I think it is because in the beginning you she it as living the dream. I was full of hope and had dreams of going to the absolute moon with my poker. I then realised to my utter surprise that what I really wanted was to just be able to win consistently. I do NOT want to become famous or instantly recognizable. If I could become a millionaire without anyone knowing I would love that option. I do not want to be on TV or even in magazines. I would like to be a completely unknown success be cool Ronin
aw c'mon mate,if you won a $million you just have to come on here and let us all know,we wouldn't spread it around honest.
Joined: Mar '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 41 (M)
Posts: 1277
It is something you should strive towards. We are at work more than home, to be happy we need to have some sort of enjoyment in that time. Work is never stress free though. My current job makes me happy but i wish i made more money. Any job where you feel useful, where you help others some how is fulfilling.I wouldnt swap my job for a £4k upgrade at a worse workplace.
Joined: Aug '12
Location: Slovakia
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 688
It can looks like a dream, to be proffesional poker player but I think its not If you are online grinder.
I mean, I have enough sometimes after 2-3 hours of play. I cant imagine that I would play 10 hours almost every day and I actually like poker a lot Then Its huge pressure, cause you have to make money, your life depends on it lol.
But its different If you are good live MTT player. I would take that
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 56 (M)
Posts: 4675
G'day mates
The cool thing is right now I actually got the time to devote to grinding online full time. I do not however got the health needed to do it any more. I get a monthly disability income which covers all my current bills So the stress of needing to make money grinding every day would not be there. I am currently considered by several of my friends who all play poker to be a semi pro player. I do like the idea of it but not the true amount of time I should be devoting to it. be cool
Joined: Feb '11
Location: Germany
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 1859
Posted by noonlion: It is something you should strive towards. We are at work more than home, to be happy we need to have some sort of enjoyment in that time. Work is never stress free though. My current job makes me happy but i wish i made more money. Any job where you feel useful, where you help others some how is fulfilling.I wouldnt swap my job for a �4k upgrade at a worse workplace.
That's a very good post actually. I felt that playing poker as your source of income, it's a very isolated workplace. Over the time you try to earn money you have no social contacts at all, unless you skype with someone duzring your sessions or something, but that's not the norm. Of course it depends on everyone's personality, but for me it's just not the thing I'd want to do. I go to job training now and want to do a social job afterwards, I'm indecided yet wheter it's with children,older or even disabled people. I don't know if that wish comes from having been isolated for several months (don't get me wrong, I still had a lot of social contact, went out with friends in the evening etc., but over the day it's a very lonely activity), but I'm rather working at a useful and fullfiling place in the future. This job-goal for the future is surely not about the money, because it's not very well paid considering the work you have to put in (you can expect a salary that you can live on without worries, but not much more than that). The only fullfiling thing about poker is the higher hourly rate you earn over working at a normal job.
Joined: May '13
Location: Mauritius
Age: 33 (M)
Posts: 2688
Hey mobster nice topic by the poster , i play recreational and does have a job so not much poker and i heard playing poker tired is going downhill and will lose you money, so can't play much as i am tired everyday anyway, hope there are lots of full time mobsters and who make lot of money here.
In some countries playing micros and winning at it can make you like like a baller!!
