[USCPHILLYGUY]

If anyone's either in or going to the philly area I've been destroying it at the $1/$2 tables at SugarHouse. Been averaging about +$500 for a 4-6 hour sitting. Had a +$1500 day last week.

[daneblazer]

Pretty awesome win rate & congrats on the big score. That said, an $80/hr win rate playing 1/2 is unsustainable. So don't get frustrated if you fall a little back to Earth soon, just make hay while the sun is shining.

[USCPHILLYGUY]

I agree Dane. Lots of young college aged kids playing recently (I'm assuming some type of college break?). Plus I've been getting some amazing hands.

[onerous]

niiice!!!!! i wish there was a casino closer to me to go mess around on my of days

[thetrinity]

dane is right variance will kick in pretty soon, although i have been to philly and the play there is pretty loose and bad especially at the 1/2 games.

[SharpAngles]

Nice hit USCPG. And I'll be the one to disagree about win rate. Unless 1/2 is the only game available in your room, or it's like LA rooms with a $40 buy in, you should be achieving similar numbers over the long run. You suck at poker or are bad at game selection if you're not. Obviously variance will show up and kick you in the nuts but the level of play is usually so low the other players mistakes will make up for it.

[daneblazer]

An $80/hr win rate at 1/2? That's 40 big blinds an hour. Phil Galfond wouldn't even do that at the worst tables for an extended period of time. You're looking at about 25 to 30 hands live an hour with a dealer. At some point you are going to get cold decked, coolered, outplayed by a good or better player, have some bad beats, etc. 5bb to 9bb/hr ($10 - $18 an hour) playing 1/2 is good especially after rake, tips, and any other costs associated with playing at a card room/casino. Anything more is great. $80/hr just isn't happening for a long duration.

[SharpAngles]

For the most part, the worst players play the lowest games in a room. If you can't stack one of them an hour while keeping your mistakes to a minimum, just stop playing poker. If you're being outplayed at a table like that, just stop playing poker. Bad beats happen but that doesn't mean you need to pay them off. The hardest part of winning poker is knowing when you're beat and laying it down. When I'm playing 1/2 in vegas I'm not happy unless I'm doing 50/hr which is not hard when they play so bad.

[USCPHILLYGUY]

I'm sorry. Wasn't implying that every time I've played their I've walked out w 5-6-7 hundred after 5 hours. I agree we all go on runs and I'm pretty sure I'll be posting soon about some bad beat. Just enjoying the ride

[daneblazer]

You can get win rates like that in short spurts, like there may be a 4 hour period a week where it's achievable, but it's not sustainable for a long period of time.

$80 an hour 40hr/week is 1.3 million a year.

Maybe it's time to move to Phille

[spider]

You can get win rates like that in short spurts, like there may be a 4 hour period a week where it's achievable, but it's not sustainable for a long period of time.

$80 an hour 40hr/week is 1.3 million a year.

Maybe it's time to move to Phille

something wrong with the math.

$80 x 40 hr/week = 3200 /week x 52 weeks = $166,400 per year.

[SharpAngles]

I understand your point Dane. You're definitely correct. All I'm saying is that if you've got the card skills and MOST importantly the game selection skills, along with a big fish pond like vegas, its achievable.

And as for making over a mega/yr playing 1/2...the guys that could do that more than once in a lifetime are way too busy playing real stakes. Why grind 50+hrs when you could net the same money in a quarter or half of the time?

[daneblazer]

something wrong with the math.

$80 x 40 hr/week = 3200 /week x 52 weeks = $166,400 per year.

Yep...not sure what I did there Even better

[tatddy]

I understand your point Dane. You're definitely correct. All I'm saying is that if you've got the card skills and MOST importantly the game selection skills, along with a big fish pond like vegas, its achievable.

And as for making over a mega/yr playing 1/2...the guys that could do that more than once in a lifetime are way too busy playing real stakes. Why grind 50+hrs when you could net the same money in a quarter or half of the time?

This isn't 2005. Very few have the discipline, patience, and ability to make a living playing ring. And no matter how good the OP is in those areas that win rate is unsustainable over time.

Hope he keeps winning though.

Signed,

A guy who has lost more than his fair share of 1-5k pots as a 70+ % fave when the money went in.

[SharpAngles]

Ability is relative to who you're playing against. Discipline and patience are the problem for almost everyone who has the skill. I can't speak for anywhere but LA and Vegas and it's probably not possible many other places, but double digits bb/hr at least are attainable if you properly game select a deep player pool and know what you're doing.

A living is another relative thing. I know plenty of guys who grind low stakes games for 30, 40 or 50k. They're not balling by any means, especially in LA, but they're doing something they love and not working for the man. I also know more than a few who pull in ridiculous $$$ playing as low as 5-10. It's not 2005 anymore but that's a good thing. Live cash games had their own boom after Black Friday and there is still a lot of dead money that would've been on poker stars or UB out there. Granted we're talking about probably 10% of the poker players as a whole with the rest breaking even or losing but I highly disagree with very few.

[SharpAngles]

Signed,

A guy who has lost more than his fair share of 1-5k pots as a 70+ % fave when the money went in.

Trust me I feel you there. I'd be doing about 4k a month for 2015 if I ran like my EV chart. It's no joke that it's a hard way to make an easy living. It's also really cyclical though. I get my money back from bums 10 times but that 11th sickout is the one bleeding my roll lately.

[daneblazer]

Yea, "double digit bb/hr" and $50-$80/hr are two different things. Don't doubt someone can grind out a living playing 1/2 with good table selection & discipline.

[Triple_D_Bet]

Dane and tat right on here...don't see how that winrate is sustainable in bb/100 terms alone; factor in time spent on table selecting and hourly is going to drop even more. I ain't as sharp as I used to be, but I just don't see how any combination of things is going to land you a large number of hours averaging a bb per hand

[SharpAngles]

Yea, "double digit bb/hr" and $50-$80/hr are two different things. Don't doubt someone can grind out a living playing 1/2 with good table selection & discipline.

He said ring games so that's what I was referencing. Nobody that I know grinds 1/2 for any living because of LAs stupid $40 cap and high rake. There's probably a lot in Vegas with the $100 buy ins and lower rake. I'm just saying that kind of win rate is sustainable, not recommending that someone capable of it should play that low.