1/2 NL For A Living- Settle A Debate Please

He plays a normal amount. Less than a full time job. He is married with no kids and very low expenses. They live with her mother in law, and if they pay for housing it is not much. She has worked at farms and brought home plenty of produce and he had maybe 1/4-1/2 a bitcoin from playing online when BTC was part of that process. They drive a 1994 Camry with around 250,000 miles. He is a nit who used to sit out the 5 card double board bomb pots until I convinced him how much bad money was going in on those pots.

Not sure how much he brings in in a year, but probably what you would expect based on what I outlined.

Even if one makes $20/hr at poker and one can live off a $20/hr job, that win rate at poker is not the same as that wage at a job. Living off that poker income requires more than just poker skill. One would also have to be very disciplined about money management.

The thing to remember is that a $20/hr win rate at poker is an AVERAGE. That does not mean play an hour, get $20. Play 10 hours, win $200. Sometimes you will go through stretches where you will make $100/hr or more. Then you will go through others where you lose $10-20/hr. You will have an income with a high variance.

However (at least everywhere I’ve ever lived) your life expenses have zero variance. You owe the same rent or mortgage every month. Your landlord or bank don’t care that your AA has been getting cracked by some moron who shoved Q9 pre and spiked two pair. Your utility bills will continue to be due each month regardless of how you are running at the table. That’s why one must be disciplined at money management. When you’re winning that $100/hr don’t go out and buy a fancy new suit or go to an expensive dinner. Put that extra in the bank to cover the inevitable downswings. Only by being disciplined can one actually make a living at poker long term.

One of main things I learned after playing professionally for 1 year ... it's ****ing hard to put in big volume consistently. Poker is mentally taxing - especially if you go on a downswing.

You need to be winning at least $40/hr unless you want to be living at the casino (or be always grinding online) ... even winning $40/hr you're still going to be at the casino a lot.

$20/hr is barely enough to live off for a single person these days ... and you're not going to be able to take much time off. I'm sure some people can do it, I did it for a year ($20/hr was about what I made online) ... but it wasn't fun and it's really hard to move up when you are spending as much as you're making (or more).

Don't try to go pro on a tiny bankroll or without another income source, so that you don't have to worry if things go badly.

After what I've learned - I'm changing my approach to poker. I will be much more aggressive with my BRM (10 buyins for cash - moving down to the last stake if I drop to 8 buyins) since I will have employment to cover my living expenses - and you can always lower stakes if necessary to reduce your risk of ruin (essentially the same effect or better as having 20 buyins for a stake). This could allow me to permanently go pro much sooner than trying to grind up from the bottom.

Ive been running 40 an hour short term on 1/2 which is above avg. But i think longterm 1/2 should run 20-25 an hour which is the equivalent of a low level job.

A dude looking like John Salley told me he makes a living at 1/2.... I said "where do you live? in your car?"... then i braced for impact but did not get punched...luckliy he laughed.

My problem is if i go up $300 in the first 45 minutes I don't want to leave and this is a leak i need to fix.

Decide what is a bullet to you.

When you have made profit take a break and bank the profit by hit and run/going south

This is frowned upon, but so is being poor.

In craps or in the stock market, it is critically important to bank and take your profits.

If i left the money in there without taking profit I would be a dumb broke loser. But instead I bought a 4br house by the water, a boat and an RV in 1 year of sun running the market.

Apply this to poker. All-in your 1 bullet up to 2.5 bullets.... then go take a 30 minute break and buy in another table w 1 bullet and start over.

Youre welcome

Professional $1/2 NLHE....... lololol

Sure. If you live with your parents, pay no rent, borrow your dad's car, and don't chip in with groceries and other expenses, then maybe you could make it work and build your bankroll. You're 1000% better off having a real, stable job that pays well and playing on the side during weekends. The stress is virtually non-existent, and psychologically you'll be in a much better headspace when things start to go bad.

but why should you stop at 1/2?

Anyone who can work their way up from the micros up to 1/2 has at least the basic requirements to successfully develop further

I think its better to play a "little" 1/2
so 15-25% of your play time

the rest online 5/10 cent or 10/25 cent and see like 500,000 hands and get in reps

then goto 2/5 table with 3 bullets

continue day job and take shots at 2/5

This!!!

If a person is playing $1/$2 for a living, there is a really good chance they would do better dealing (at least part time), and playing on the side. Dealing would very likely (depending upon the area) offer the same hourly rate with zero variance.

Yep

dealers at shro make like 45 an hour so that is twice the rate of a winning 1/2