[Closed] Ask for pros: How did you manage to become pro?

Indeed, you are likely to lose in the beginning but you must view this as an investment. Like you stated before, you cannot learn proper poker at play money tables. That's the great thing with PokerStrategy: They give you $50 with which you can start playing real money games for free.

Well I had to choose between playing poker and blowing old men for a living so after some considerations decided to go with poker, the rest is history per say

OP should check out www.pokerstrategy.com imo

I watched pretty much all videos and read all articles there were at the time before I sat down at a table at all (took about a month I think), it was worth it

You can always try freerolls, that's how i started with real money. But unfortunately pokerstrategy doesn't host freerolls on pokerstars ever.. when they do have freerolls they are often very nice $25k ones.. but too bad they are often many months apart. They sadly don't believe in hosting freerolls frequently to attract new members

Although if you can afford to deposit then that's alot easier.. you might have to redeposit a few times.. But grinding back up from a very small bankroll is very time consuming..

Well you don't have to lose money at start, especially if you stick to BRM. You can learn a lot of theory from ps.com and then try it out on the tables.

Humm, the freerolls is something that interests me, i'm playing it frequently, my best score so far was 37th out of 526 players and i won $1..
The problem about the freerolls is that you can only win a decent ammount if you win at 1st place, btw, if i score 1st place in a freeroll, it will mean that i have some skill at poker i guess.

Thinking bout setting this as a goal.

Thank you for the replies guys

A wise man once said: "It is the easy to become a professional poker player - just quit your job"

The level u need to live of poker really depends. In some places u can have a good quality of life playing nl25 and in others u need to playing nl200

Originally posted by Vepof

The problem about the freerolls is that you can only win a decent ammount if you win at 1st place, btw, if i score 1st place in a freeroll, it will mean that i have some skill at poker i guess.

No

Originally posted by jecis4

Originally posted by Vepof

The problem about the freerolls is that you can only win a decent ammount if you win at 1st place, btw, if i score 1st place in a freeroll, it will mean that i have some skill at poker i guess.

No

Well, the freerolls are usually just going all-in with semi-premium hands all the time. One could argue how much skill is required to win a player, but as with any MTT, there's one main thing: You have to run very hot. In my opinion, the less that people go all in, more skill is involved. Since in freerolls there are loads of all-ins preflop, There is really rather little skill involved, it is mostly luck. Freeroll can hardly be compared to a real money MTT though.

SF

Stop farting around thinking about freerolls. Go crush some donkeys.

It's nasty not to be able to beat the next limit since you'll loose more money than you're used to, but there should be worth the effort if you try.

Think this way: in poker you will make more money then at your job. That is because your job is relatively safe whereas poker gives variable income.

In other words you have MORE RISK for MORE MONEY. The bigger the risk the more money you CAN (but not automatically DO) make.

But i guess this thinking is for players going towards the middle stakes, rather then micro.

How am I trying to make some money out of poker? (i guess my title would be semi-pro player but it feels arrogant to say that):

1. have a fixed minimum no. of hands/tournaments to play daily. Mine was 10sngs.

2. you only need to know what your bankroll is at the end of the month, when you withdraw half of your winnings. A minimum withdraw size is also nice to keep you motivated - that is take money out even if you loose (it should be small however).

3. Go for serious multitabling. At least 9 tables is a must. (not for FL/PLO).

4. Post the hands you are not sure you played well. I think i have 2-5 such hands per 20 sngs. Should be more i guess.

5. Read books, articles, watch videos, practice with ICM trainer for sngs.

6. It's very important to table select. Search the players to see if they make money. If they do avoid them. Take notes on them.

7. Aproach the game on a long-term view. Think that the best hedge funds make for their clients about 50% per year. A low/mid stakes poker player can make 200-300% per month. No need to rush.

Think a lot about ROI or bb/100h at your limits. Go for 1000games/50k hands and see if you crush your limit. If you do then go up and see there. (for low/middle stakes).

Good luck!

Well...the fact is:

Freerolls are the best way to build my bankroll, and probably the ONLY ONE. I live in brazil. 1 dollar costs like 1.70 reais.
My montly sallary is 400 reais and i am married, 5kg of rice costs 10 reais. You get the ideia...well i am not complaining.

Btw, i got some valuable information here, mainly about the SNGs, i didn't think bout that before...

thxs for replies fellas

Well I had to choose between playing poker and blowing old men for a living so after some considerations decided to go with poker, the rest is history per say

Hah, i work in a fredge and i don't like it at all.
All that bad smelling meat and that cold place...sucks.
I think poker is good.

Originally posted by Vepof
Well...the fact is:

Freerolls are the best way to build my bankroll, and probably the ONLY ONE. I live in brazil. 1 dollar costs like 1.70 reais.
My montly sallary is 400 reais and i am married, 5kg of rice costs 10 reais. You get the ideia...well i am not complaining.

It's been said before, but why dont you apply for free starting capital on pokerstrategy? That's the best and easiest way of getting a roll.

5kg of rice costs 10 reais. You get the ideia...

am I the only one who has no clue at all how much rice costs in my country?? lmao

But imo just enjoy learning the game and have fun playing... This money orientated attitude will probably not help your poker career

In Slovenia, one of the cheapest rice sorts costs 1,87€ per KG. The price can however get to up to 10€ per KG for special sushi rice or red thai rice. I hope that my information somehow contributes to this thread. It must be hard to live with $300 a month, I really wish you good luck at poker. $300 a month is not that hard to make and I hope that you will be able to win it ;).

Best regards,

SF

those special rice sound kinda balla!!!

My montly sallary is 400 reais

- Here that's the minimum salary. Average is twice that so i'm in about the same situation.

That's exactly why you need to play serious poker. In one of my best days i made almost your salary (~200$) while i had my coffee in the morning. In a very good day i make 100-150$. Or i won 590$ in a 180man 12$ MTT (in 2 hours).

The purpose of bragging here is to make you unconfortable enough so that you start to play!

Go search for a thread called "Poker Brothers" or something similar, 2 brothers making a living in Brazil by playing poker. You need motivation.

There are a lot of players here who will tell you 2000$/month can be done and you don't need to be a mad genius for that.

But if you have a family don't depend (for now at least) on what you earn by playing poker. So go do something sir!

becoming a pro player isn't:

-easy
- for everyone

becoming a pro player requires:
- time, LOTS OF IT
- effort, LOTS OF IT
- study, LOTS OF IT
- talking, LOTS OF IT
- reviewing, LOTS OF IT
- playing, LOTS OF IT <eventually at least >