PokerAcesAcademy Online Forum

350zpower · Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 85

If you are a normal college student or like me and spend more than you make Cool

then you are probably short on money. And if you're a normal poker player then the thought of whether or not you can win it is always on your mind. Can playing poker be a viable way to supplement your income?

There should be several factors which affect your decision. The first is how much can you win at poker, and what kind of bankroll do you have to do it with. What is your expected value for an hour of poker play? The easiest way to figure that out is to get a stat tracker such as Poker Tracker (http://www.SellShareware.com/ProgramInfo.asp?AfID=<26432>&PrID=66156 )and import several thousand hands into it. If you don't already have Poker Tracker then I recommend that you get it, as it will pay for itself with just a few pots. After you import your hands you can see what your BB/hour is. Multiply that by the limit you are playing and how much are you making? $2/hour, $5, $10, $25? You also need to consider whether or not you usually multi-table. Playing three tables could triple your hourly rate, or it might stay the same. How well can you focus on multiple tables? Do you start making bad bluffs and bad calls? Or can you walk away a winner from all the games.

After you have some hard data about how much you can expect to make the decision should become easier. If you are pulling in $2/hour at poker, stick with the job. If you are making $30/hour, then you have probably made your decision before you opened this article. But lets assume that you have been averaging a respectable $10/hour at poker, or you can take a job for $10/hour to help pay the bills, which should you do? In this case what you need to consider is whether or not you can play for an extended period of time without losing your edge. It is one thing to sit down for an hour, beat the game and leave. It is another to sit down for 6 hours and consistently leave $60 richer. You also need to consider whether or not needing to win in order to pay the bills will affect your game. It is always a bad thing to play with scared money, and if you have a losing streak for a couple of weeks will you be ok? Can your bankroll handle the volatility? If the answer is no then you might want to consider keeping the job and using your winnings to build up your bankroll to the point where you would feel comfortable depending on it. After that you can try your hand at it.

I will be the first to admit there are some intangible benefits to using poker as an income source. For instance pants. In the real world they require you to show up with them. If you go to work with out them you generally get a talking to or perhaps a firing. If you are playing at an online poker table you would be just one of the five or six pants less people there.

Acidjoe · Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 71

I make extra money playing poker. It has allowed me to pay for my daughters rep volleyball, buy christmas gifts and pay for my vegas trip.

I also know that I win at a rate of 4.75 ptBB over 80K hands.

I also know despite suck outs my AA wins 78.9% of the time too..... LOL

edit: It also allows me to pay for my g/f's poker too....

GoingGray · Joined: 03 Dec 2005 Posts: 23

Most of my poker winnings are used for one thing primarily...to play poker! I promised the wife when I started this 'hobby' that I would never spend money on it that was needed for something else, like mortgage, hydro, gas, kid's needs, etc, so when I started, it was only a piece of the 'excess' cash. Now that I am winning more often, anything I win simply finances my poker playing, and I don't have to touch any other household monies to support it.

I'm happy...wife is happy...kid is clothed, feed, and educated...all is good.

qazwsxwsx12 · Joined: 20 Nov 2005 Posts: 12

Anyone else see the flaw in that logic. If you are making a profit on poker you should have the money you play with plus the profit. Where does the rest of it go?

GoingGray · Joined: 03 Dec 2005 Posts: 23

Goes into the bankroll for playing poker only. It's still there. But I don't use if for anything other than to play MORE games. Higher limits, more tourneys, and if I start sliding abit, I simply lower my playing down to lower buyin, lower limit games until its built back up again. If I ever have to reload the bankroll, I make sure it's from those excess funds I mentioned.

It's way too easy to get hooked into throwing household money every week into the games without being able to know if I am winning or losing. Losing money is something I can't afford to do, so I monitor it very closely. Profit is nice, but it's still highly fluctuating, and until I can maintain a consistent growth of profit, I will NOT be taking any of it out to TREAT myself to other things. That way I will can control my poker budget without it interferring with the household budget, and I still enjoy playing the limits I am comfortable playing in.

I would never consider myself a good enough player to expect it to support my lifestyle in any way other than for increased recreation. To assume that it could become a part time income is just too risky for me, and I cannot rely on it. Even the best players have down swings in their game, and I simply can't afford to have a part time job that ends up costing me money.

Blindfury · Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Posts: 6

I play poker parttime, I just make like 1000 a month (odv it's not allways 1K). I think the key to this playing against people you are better than. I use to think I could sit at a 2/4 cash game and chrush everyone that sat down. That is just not how it works.
When I set limits for myself and goals everything became a lot easier. Don't try to make 100.00 a night, set a goal od 30 to 50 bucks a night. Now when I sit down at a sng and play for 11.00 if I win I reached my goal. I can play more but will not let myself leave with less than 40 to 50 bucks.