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Author Topic: Road to being a pro  (Read 139813 times)
KingPush
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« Reply #480 on: December 04, 2016, 10:23:01 PM »


Have followed the diary for a while. Should of posted more before but haven't so apologies...unless what I say is rubbish and if so, you are welcome for me not posting more!

You need to think seriously about what you want. You seem to think of extremes. A 9-5 job means you dread it from day to day and cant wait to get out the door. That is bollocks, that means you have the wrong job/are in the wrong industry. You can be just as passionate about the right job as you are about poker. However if you think the path to get where you want is easy you are kidding yourself whether that be in poker or in a job. You are young and with whatever you do you are the bottom of the ladder. There isn't a magic formula apart from be passionate in what you want to succeed in and work hard at it. You seem quite driven in one post then in another you talk of working hard and doing 60hrs a week. 60hrs a week if you are passionate about a future in something is the kind of commitment you need I would say. Gone are the days were you can do very little and make a chunk from poker. Winning mirrion aside from an MTT, the only way to make a go of poker is to grind your arse off and constantly increase your roll and slowly play bigger and increase the amount you make. There isn't a sensible quick fix.

Yeah I honestly think this post is what I was trying to communicate. When I say fuck the 9-5 I do not mean, every job where you work for someone else etc it is just my way of saying to myself do not do something you hate. I saw ny Dad get up at 5.30 in the morning and coming hope at 8 doing something he hated for over ten years until he finally quit after an emotional battering. I do not mean fuck every "real job". And yeah the posts probably do change a lot when theres a 9 month gap haha

We're both in a similar situation I think.

As mentioned, we are both 10 years too late but are far too stubborn to give up something we've sunk so much time and effort into. It's frustrating to think about how you could have got on in poker if you know what you do but it was 2005 again. Like you watch old EPTs or WSOP on Youtube and think "Jesus I would be printing money if I could go back in time".

We probably both have days where we think this is going to work out after all, and then we get cruelly reminded that poker is a massive soul crushing grind a lot of the time unless you're one of the super-elites.

I stopped having an interest in become a 'pro' a long time ago. You don't need to be the piss bottling, hoodie wearer with 3 monitors on the go to enjoy poker and make a few quid out of it.

If your BR is £500 per month, and it never increases much even if you win because you dip into it to pay for living expenses - then you need to find another source of income for a while. If only to keep you sane when someone gets there in a big pot against you and you don't feel you need to cash your remaining money off so you can eat more than instant noodles that month. Get away from poker for a couple of months, save a bit up, go out and explore. You might find that you prefer it this way.

When I got back into poker about 4 years ago, I was jobless with no real direction. Just split up with my girlfriend I was living with, and freshly moved to Bedford because I had nowhere to stay back in Cornwall and my family moved up here. I got ~£110 in jobseekers each fortnight. Saved up £300 of it and put it online, and then LOLpunted it because I hadn't played poker for 3 years and the 10NL crowd owned my soul $3 at a time. I developed an obsession with it as a way to get my mind of my shitty situation in general, and after getting a job a couple of months later I had a nice floating bankroll that I could replenish if I had a bad month. Because there was no real financial burden on me, I could experiment with different things in poker and not stress if it went badly.

About 3 months into that, I really wanted to do it for a living. Until I actually tried to. I had decent results, but it felt no more liberating or free than working a normal job. I used to see people on the tube in London with their suits and briefcases all miserable because they have to spend their lives in the corporate office bubble. I used to really look at them and think they were stupid, and that I've found the greatest life hack in the world in poker. 21 year old me thought he'd never be a suit with his head buried in paperwork from 9-5, and that it was the nut worst situation in life for anyone. I thought that until the 'grind' became a grind. Instead of being buried in paperwork, I'd be buried in hand histories all day. I'd go days without speaking to anyone, living off cheap energy drinks and Dominos pizza. Stuck deep for a fortnight before getting out of it and back to even. If those people on the tube saw me they'd be the ones laughing I reckon. I was free in the sense I didn't have to clock in and report to an overbearing, micromanaging boss, but the reality of it is I was stressed, not sleeping and neglecting myself so much for the poker dream that I was slowly going mad.

---

There are always going to be mutants in poker that show up on the EPT having just turned 18 and seem to win the world within 6 months, and it's tough not to compare yourself to them and get a bit down about it because you've been at it for a while with bugger all to show for it except GoldStar and 15000 Starscoins.

It's easy to tell you to get a job and take some time off, but if you're anything like me in 2012 then taking time off would make you feel like you're drifting further and further away from what you want. I think it might be what you need though. Some steady income, something else to focus on for a few hours a day.

If you're as like minded as me as I think you are, then I think it could be just what you need.

Superb post. I will follow it up if you don't mind Smiley

Serious slowroll going on!
for real, this better be aces
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muckthenuts
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« Reply #481 on: December 05, 2016, 02:34:07 AM »

What have you chosen to study if you don't mind sharing?
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SuuPRlim
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« Reply #482 on: December 05, 2016, 05:55:12 PM »

Hey! Sorry ransom, tbh your post was as good if not better than anything i could have done  but i'll throw my two lil pennies in the ring!

It's very easy to say to people "this is a terrible idea" or saying that they defo shouldn't do something, and people do this using the information that they have - what you tell them. So many of my school friends told me that poker was NOT a career and that i'd just lose eventually, even at the height of my success my best "real world" friend practically begged me to quit or buy a house or something. I try to really steer clear away from saying to people DO THIS, or DON'T DO THAT etc. The one thing I've said for years though to lots of younger guys coming up is that poker full time really really should be a fun recreation that falls into full time...

When i think back to my days 18-20 when i started out in poker, one thing just stands out in my mind... it was so much fun, honestly SO MUCH fun, I was young, constantly broke, never gave a f**k, stomping around the UK with my mates, no idea about BRM, no idea about ranges etc just having a go, I don't think i really expected to win as much as I just dreamt that I would. I never really felt that much pressure if I had £500 great, £4000 even better span the roll up to £10k amazing. It really actually breaks my heart a little when young guys starting out are just packed into their bedroom scraping by playing 3000 hands of day of 10p/20p hating life, that's just not how it's supposed to be!! The truth is at the start of playing you've gonna have so many leaks and donk off a lot, if you dont enjoy it at this point you'll just struggle and even worse than that you'll have had a miserable time failing.

I know i'm lucky because I grew up in a different time to today, but same thing applies.

Magic makes a great point, I was guilty of this too when i was younger, the "real world" (cringe - we used to call people muggles lol) is actually great, just as the poker world was to me when i was a full time member of it, I think to really make the best of life you just need to be open minded to opportunities as they arise and be passionate and enjoy whatever you do, otherwise you're just a working fool, whether it's 9-5 in a shoe shop or high stakes poker.

My experiences are that poker is a brutal tough cookie to crack, single moments of fortune shape entire careers, once you fall it's very hard to bounce back and probably the biggest risk is when you shoot and miss at poker you're often left completely empty handed, which as a young guy can be very demoralising, often in other endevours when you fail you're left with something to show for your effort. It's a dangerous choice because the nature of the beast is very compulsive, and the line between dedicated pro and obsessed addict is a pretty fine one, throw other things into the ring like ego, pride, "image" and its a potentially slippery slope made even moreso by the very secluded personal nature of the game.

This is not to say never try, of course try poker is amazing game, but be realistic to the risks you take and if EVER you don't enjoy it then stop and do something else, don't be driven to poker by an ideal you have of the top pros crushing the game, so many of the guys you can easily idolise have played nothing but poker for a decade+ without two coins to rub together. You've made a sensible mature decision and hopefully you're rewarded for it by finding something else that you really enjoy whilst continuing to get pleasure from poker, one good piece of advice I would offer though is when you are leaving from full time defo best to take a nice period of cold turkey, otherwise it can have some negative affects on your motivation.

GL MATE, always on skype if you need anything.
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POWWWWWWWW
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« Reply #483 on: December 05, 2016, 06:53:01 PM »

I think to really make the best of life you just need to be open minded to opportunities as they arise and be passionate and enjoy whatever you do, otherwise you're just a working fool, whether it's 9-5 in a shoe shop or high stakes poker.

That sums it all up!
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acegooner
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« Reply #484 on: December 12, 2016, 06:16:01 PM »

I have come across you a few times on SP, whilst you are a good player I would restate everything that has been said on the last few pages of this thread. Make a life plan, if the thought of working for someone else does not appeal then consider getting some skills that will allow you to run your own business. It may mean working for someone else for a while, but use the motivation of doing your own thing to work hard and reach your goals. Never ever put all your eggs in one basket and give yourself options. Poker will always be there, and having another source of income will take the pressure off you at the tables.

One thing that poker players never consider is what will happen to them when they are older. You can't get a mortgage playing poker, you won't get a state pension either. Most poker players have no financial plan outside of their bankroll, and as you get older that is a ticking timebomb.

Sorry to be so harsh but I have seen quite a few people go "pro" on Sky Poker over the last five years. Not many of them are around today playing any sort of volume. Today I was looking at the sng lobby, I am not going to mention the players name but he is very well known with a WSOP ME cash under his belt and he was crushing high stakes cash when Sky Poker TV was in it's prime. He was playing £5 sngs this afternoon. Although there may be many reasons for this, it just goes to show how humbling poker can be.





« Last Edit: December 12, 2016, 06:23:28 PM by acegooner » Logged
KingPush
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« Reply #485 on: December 19, 2016, 06:17:20 PM »

Cheers for all the replies and interest.

Realised that playing poker and your ability to do so at any decent level really does just come down to what you are thinking at that time, which can be super hard to accept especially with variance involved. I would guess that I have done far more work off the table theory wise than most mid stakes players and yet I am not at those stakes due to my inability to concentrate during sessions and my issues with tilt, especially in creating my own downswings, and volume. Think knowing what to work on is half the battle in a lot of ways. But yeah haven't been playing much and doubt I will for a while with uni stuff and the inevitable boozing that comes this time of year.
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KingPush
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« Reply #486 on: March 22, 2018, 01:55:52 AM »

Jesus, what a shit show. Way too embarrassed to read back through this


https://gyazo.com/65831fd6a3f245bbf8aa2a04471fba22

Still got it though #ijustwantobebillybob12 #aq101runslikeagod
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baldock92
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« Reply #487 on: March 22, 2018, 03:38:07 AM »

Any updates? Enjoyed reading this from the start, what's happened the past year or 2?
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Magic817
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« Reply #488 on: March 22, 2018, 09:26:50 AM »

Stars is very good for game ecology and there frequent player/rakeback system is the best out there but if you're not playing enough volume at sufficient stakes then you wont feel the benefits - perhaps consider going to an ipoker skin where you can get a decent RB deal - that way even playing B/E poker you will be able to make a few hundred a month relatively risk free.


David

How times change
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Magic817
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« Reply #489 on: March 22, 2018, 09:29:55 AM »

Any updates? Enjoyed reading this from the start, what's happened the past year or 2?

KingPush it would be good to get an update, if you could give some advice to 2104 you. What would it be?
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KingPush
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« Reply #490 on: March 22, 2018, 07:24:21 PM »

Stars is very good for game ecology and there frequent player/rakeback system is the best out there but if you're not playing enough volume at sufficient stakes then you wont feel the benefits - perhaps consider going to an ipoker skin where you can get a decent RB deal - that way even playing B/E poker you will be able to make a few hundred a month relatively risk free.


David

How times change
looollll
Any updates? Enjoyed reading this from the start, what's happened the past year or 2?
haha cheers mate, mental to think people have read this from the start. I'd like to think I've sorted my life out a fair bit since then but realistically if I look back at my 2018 self in 2021 and don't think I was a mug I'm probably doing something wrong

Any updates? Enjoyed reading this from the start, what's happened the past year or 2?

KingPush it would be good to get an update, if you could give some advice to 2104 you. What would it be?
Jesus, the reality is that I probably wouldn't listen to it. If you've ever tried to help someone when the solutions seem really obvious to you but not to them then you realise how hard it is to change anyone's view on anything but I tell myself that nothing external is permanent and to drop all the shite you're still carrying around and that it's really not that serious.
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SuuPRlim
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« Reply #491 on: March 26, 2018, 09:15:19 AM »

Stars is very good for game ecology and there frequent player/rakeback system is the best out there but if you're not playing enough volume at sufficient stakes then you wont feel the benefits - perhaps consider going to an ipoker skin where you can get a decent RB deal - that way even playing B/E poker you will be able to make a few hundred a month relatively risk free.


David

How times change

Haha like I had a fucking clue anyway Tongue
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KingPush
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« Reply #492 on: November 01, 2018, 06:18:13 PM »

Been playing super inconsistent recently. All results this year been at husng. Think it's pretty easy to rise up the ranks on sky as most regs bumhunt as rake is high. Only battles you'll get is at hypers and turbos and just avoid benc haha
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KingPush
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« Reply #493 on: January 09, 2019, 01:44:04 PM »

Looking for affiliates and staking. Hmu
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