Can a Recreational Player be profitable?
Poker has been a hobby of mine on and off since I was 16 (I am now 36). I love studying the game. However, I have a full time career and a young family so I cannot play as much as I’d like.
I just started getting back into poker for the last 2 months. I have re-read modern poker theory, watched/read/listen to many of the free poker education content creators and started studying some solver outputs from the free version of GTO wizard. I probably study about 90% of the time and play 10% of the time. I have no idea if my current form is profitable due to extremely small sample size.
I am a very analytical and obsessive person by nature. I have to acknowledge the addictive nature of poker and the potentially infinite money pit if I am a negative EV player.
If I am going to commit to this being a serious hobby, I plan to buy access to solver solutions and outline a study plan. I play a fairly tight pre-flop RFI range with a 3-bet or fold strategy unless on the BTN (against passive blinds) or BB. I have countless leaks post-flop and I think working with solver data will help me develop better post-flop heuristics.
I am just a bit fearful that I will invest this time and effort on a hobby just to become a mark at my local casino. I just won’t be able to put as much time and effort as some of the young kids and pros.
The game I have mostly been playing is $2/5 8-max max buy in $1000. I will play $1/3 max buy in $400 when I feel I am in the bottom half skill wise at the $2/5 table. Both games have 10% rake (max $5) with $3 jackpot drop (at $10,20 and $50). I strongly prefer the $2/5 game compared to the $1/3 dynamic. I am not trying to build up a bankroll, so I am not very interested in grinding at $1/3 unless you all think there is a lot of educational value in playing that game structure.
So do you all think a recreational player can become at least break even?
Of course they are, I was referring specifically to the ones who's wives are the real bread winners or the ones who live at home with little or no bills.
A lot of these guys barely win even though they play almost every day.
A professional poker player should be defined as someone who plays poker "for a living", meaning all his bills and living expenses are paid out of his net poker income. Someone there playing every day doesn't automatically give them the golden pro status.
Let's take poker out of the equation.
I know someone who is a school teacher. They make a middling sum of money, but they spend summers traveling the world because they inherited a large sum of money. If someone asks what they do for a living, they say they are a teacher as that is literally the only thing they work at.
I know an engineer who makes at least $200k a year (probably way more), but they have several hobbies that result in them spending far more than that per year. They make up the difference by selling bitcoin. Do you consider them a professional engineer?
My point, is if someone plays poker and makes a decent sum of money doing so and supplements that amount through other means does that not make them a professional poker player?
If someone spends most of their time doing something that earns them a large portion of their income, isn't that their profession?
Let's take poker out of the equation.
I know someone who is a school teacher. They make a middling sum of money, but they spend summers traveling the world because they inherited a large sum of money. If someone asks what they do for a living, they say they are a teacher as that is literally the only thing they work at.
I know an engineer who makes at least $200k a year (probably way more), but they have several hobbies that result in them spending far more than that per year. They make up the dif
Dont use the term professional engineer. That has a very specific legal meaning. Similar to using CPA or MD, PE has nothing to do with making money at it.
Dont use the term professional engineer. That has a very specific legal meaning. Similar to using CPA or MD, PE has nothing to do with making money at it.
How do you discriminate between someone who engineers as a hobby and someone who does it for a living, but doesn't have the PE certification?
If you do it as a hobby, chances are between ultra slim and none that you're a true engineer.
The title 'engineer' means something, formally.
Engineers are so touchy. Choo, choo!
Ha ha, you have a fair point.
I'm not an engineer myself (only a humble programmer lol), but there's some parcells of truth in your statement.
how on earth has mlylt not popped into the thread yet?
