Dream to become professional poker player

[ridindirty]

im American, but I'm currently living in Europe. So moving money is no issue. Anywhere you guys would recommend out here? I know most of you wouldn't really know, but if some know of legitimate poker sites out here please let me know.

Forget playing online man. Just pretend that doesn't exist. The amount of bad beats you will experience online compared to live is, well, you will just loose interest in the game.

Just go to a local casino and play there.

[Ballerholic]

yea it does seem like there are more bad beats online, but I mean are these sites rigged or does everybody have a fair advantage?

[SteveKerrsJunk]

Some excellent advice here. Honestly, if I could go back to 22 and quit poker then I would do it in a heartbeat. You weren't really of legal age when the poker boom exploded back in the early 2000's, but for those that were they can attest that it was just an insanely booming time online for poker. If you were already an excellent player back then you could absolutely clean up and pick apart people's games as the games were mainly a joke as everyone was really just learning the game, all the casual players anyways. During 2003-2008ish I would say the games were still relatively beatable online, but now you need a ton of dedication, because the only guys that stuck it out are at least respectable players, even at your lower level stakes. You need to put in a ton of tedious hours and read all the books by the greats just to take your first legit step. I also hope you enjoy numbers and crunching them constantly, as you need at least basic odds/probability for hundreds of situations unless you want to be making extremely -EV plays.

And if you want to be good and stay sharp you have to play all the time, that includes online and live, you need to review hands and mistakes and constantly shore up your game. The long hours spent at a casino or online by yourself are also exhilarating. I usually have multiple orgasms when I make that 3,000th click of the night. Poker is also a great side-time job because you can lose not only your money but hundreds upon thousands of hours of your time. At least if I drop $ on a game I don't have to watch one second of it and can have sex during it!

It is completely and utterly draining in every aspect of life if you have high expectations in poker. And you need a cool temper, you can play like people have said for 9-10 hours in a multi online, or even days in WSOP events only to knocked out on the bubble by a 1-2 outter, can you handle that happening more than you think it should? Also, tough to be healthy when you're constantly around the tables or at your comp. GL in your endeavors, but I wasted a lot of years on that silly pursuit, home games with some beers/bud/buddies is as far as poker goes for me now. That shit will eat you up and it's a constant grind. You will never want to see another poker hand in your life once you get your fill, or actually are the .001% that strikes it rich in the poker scene.

[SteveKerrsJunk]

A guy that I used to play some home games with in Champaign ended up going pro. He's an insane player, never afraid to make any moves on people. No fear, he smells the scared $ and attacks relentlessly at every turn, only pumping the brakes when he surely knows he's beat and his opponent will not fold to any bet. He makes calls and folds that I would never dream of either. Makes raises and re-raises with rags constantly, even out of position, ultra aggressive but lays them down when he knows it's over.

[SteveKerrsJunk]

[SteveKerrsJunk]

Faraz Jaka.

[jjgold]

Faraz Jaka.

another broke guy...he does not even have a home and lives in and out of hotels

[Jayvegas420]

JJ Gold is on point in this thread.
Very sharp posts!

[jjgold]

JJ Gold is on point in this thread.
Very sharp posts!

[Ghenghis Kahn]

im American, but I'm currently living in Europe. So moving money is no issue. Anywhere you guys would recommend out here? I know most of you wouldn't really know, but if some know of legitimate poker sites out here please let me know.

I'm pokerstars? Not sure how the games are nowadays but if you can play there, give it a shot.

[Ballerholic]

[ATTACH]82741[/ATTACH]

haha the guy looks like he gives zero f*cks

[rm18]

he just cashed for over 100k yesterday

[Jayvegas420]

Which event?

[jjgold]

Stop reading books thinking it could be you

[Auto Donk]

JJ... go play the hi dollar slots at The Orleans.... risk up to 5k in the $100 machines, max bet.......

you will have $100k by noon today!!!!

[MeatWad]

Sites aren't rigged, but the online games are absolutely horrible compared to 04-11'. If you want to play in the summer, it is also the very best time to be in Vegas playing. The WSOP tourneys run all summer and are about like an online tourney with 1/100 the buy in, WSOP $1500 like a $15 online (slight exaggeration).

Like any business poker players rake in the cash if they are motivated to do two things, work on their games but more importantly finding profitable games, which are obviously much rarer these days as well. Follow the money ( rich people, especially businessmen and drug dealers and rich cities like LA/Miami Beach) if you want to make the most money.

[MeatWad]

Also for free lessons just watch something like Twitch or Gripsed on youtube. There are guys on Twitch who have 7 digit winnings and basically show you their standard ranges and thought processes if you observe closely.

[SharpAngles]

Sites aren't rigged, but the online games are absolutely horrible compared to 04-11'. If you want to play in the summer, it is also the very best time to be in Vegas playing. The WSOP tourneys run all summer and are about like an online tourney with 1/100 the buy in, WSOP $1500 like a $15 online (slight exaggeration).

Like any business poker players rake in the cash if they are motivated to do two things, work on their games but more importantly finding profitable games, which are obviously much rarer these days as well. Follow the money ( rich people, especially businessmen and drug dealers and rich cities like LA/Miami Beach) if you want to make the most money.

QFT! The least developed skill of most players out there is game selection no doubt

[Ra77er]

Really good posts in this thread. You guys are all over it.

[TheAntFather]

If you're American you've lost before you even started. Moving any decent money is too difficult in the current environment. Maybe move to Nevada and grind wsop.com if it has to be online.

Or, I heard you can go to Nevada and get a VPN from there; then go home and play on wsop.

[MeatWad]

QFT! The least developed skill of most players out there is game selection no doubt

Its definitely matters more than any of them if you are truly worried about your bottom line. There are rich people who play poker recreationally and finding them is way more important than knowing exact range vs range equity calculations. I made a lot more from poker when I was actually a worse player than I am now, because I happened to be around even worse players with money.

You can apply the same concept to dealer's choice event or home games. Don't pick the games you are best at, but rather the games our opponent plays poorly as your edge in these will be much more substantial even if you play your favorite game perfectly, more money is made off the mistake of other's than perfect play.

[SharpAngles]

Meatwad dropping knowledge

[jjgold]

Moving money like angles says is too hard for USA players

[SharpAngles]

Or, I heard you can go to Nevada and get a VPN from there; then go home and play on wsop.

Of course, but WHEN they find out your cash belongs to them


P.S. I'm shocked you would come up with such a caper! Doesn't seem like you at all

[SharkAA]

Poker and Pool are games that both involve skill and luck (just like golf and a hundred other sports/games). The element of a stake is totally irrelevant to that, with the grand exception that almost no one will take the hours and years of practice to be good at either unless their is some potential for financial benefit.

If you don't think there's a LOT of luck in 9-ball, then you don't understand pool that much. I can beat a better player in a race to 7 in 9-ball, and even get hot and beat him a few races in row. But if we play every day, he''ll always win more than me at the end of the year. Poker is no different. I can play an inferior player in HU sit and go's and lose 5+ of 10 games 1/3 of the time, will lose 50+ out of 100 occasionally, but if I play an inferior player 1,000 + times, I'll win every time.

This bullshyt again... How is it possible that Tiger Woods won 3 majors in a single year, Mcllroy and Spieth both won 2 in a year, but there's not 1 poker player, who won 2 or 3 EPT Super High Rollers in a same year?
You fail to realize that poker involves much more luck, than skill as opposed to golf and tennis.

[blackHIPPY]

im profitable if I play 3 n 5 dollar sngs

I get beat in cash games

my agro play doesn't work because you can just sit n wait

[radialjoe]

If your patient, tourneys are great. I used to grind tournaments very successfully, however cash games, patience does not work as well..

When I say patience, I mean playing only the strongest hands and staying near the average stack.. no need to take risks in long games unless you're short stacked

[nyplayer33]

The game is full of scams n bots online..in my view it will be dead online in 2 to 3 yrs...live is a longgggg haul..online in 2006 thru 2010 was it..now it's dead

[BiTeMe UsAdOj]

The game is full of scams n bots online..in my view it will be dead online in 2 to 3 yrs...live is a longgggg haul..online in 2006 thru 2010 was it..now it's dead

You are aware there's life outside the good ol USA, right?

Pokerstars/Tilt about healthiest dead sites you'll ever see.

They won't be going away anytime soon.

And if the US politicos ever get their collective heads out their asses (a big IF) and legislate poker/gaming properly... well, another boom would soon follow.

[vividjohn45]

I heard most guys that are good at poker are there because they want to be close to other guys...it's a twink thing. How else could you explain sitting around a table staring at dudes for hours on end?

i play online. no twinks there

[vividjohn45]

poker is so lame and boring though


anyhow GL if that is the career you pursue

bear. nl poker is not boring. duh...

[vividjohn45]

Here is all you need to know most poker pros end up flat broke

Who only see players winnings and not how much they have lost

A rare few with big endorsements make money...its a game of chance and you have a way better shot betting sports

jj. its not a.game of chance. its one.of.the few games u can come out ahead on. quit shoving all in with JJ. and you will do better

[vividjohn45]

It's an absolute grind. Play a few small tourneys first and see how tough it is to cash consistently. You can be chip leader when it gets close to the bubble then get beat by the all-in festival that happens at every cash level. You can play at the top of your game all day and all it takes is a few bad beats and you get squat. Cash games are the way to go but you need at least 10 buy-ins to cover the swings in luck. And it takes a lot of time. In other words, if you want to be a poker pro, forget about having a life outside of poker.

you can bet sports. and play poker.. duh...

[vividjohn45]

So guys, I'm currently at the ripe young age of 22 and I have a dream....to become a professional poker player. I don't think SBR poker is a good indicator of talent, and I doubt low cash .50 cent antis on bet365 are either. Anyway, I know a bunch of you guys are a bit older and/or are talented and knowledgable about the poker world. How would you go about this dream? I know it is an unlikely goal, but I want to be at least good enough to make side income. I'm a sport bettor during NFL/NBA/NCAAF/NCAAB, but I should never be allowed to touch an MLB game. During summer would be a nice time to play poker.

Also a couple more questions. Are most poker sites rigged? and are professional poker players really raking in cash because they are good at poker or is it all a facade?

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

on twitter. the last few weeks. ive been posting my all in hands in nl cash. im like 12-1. there. so you can learn a few things maybe. vividjohn1 on twitter. stead of listening to these jackasses

[Jayvegas420]

We could lean much more if you posted complete hand histories.
Post your last 5 sessions here.