A clueless noob reaches 1000 hours of live 1/3 NL

What did he mean by this?

What’s the difference between making $120K from playing 1-3 on Saturdays for a decade and making $120K from say bartending on Saturdays for a decade at a place where 90% of the customers pay with a credit card?

Assume the logistics and enjoyment derived from both activities are the same.

Talking about this specifically...

No tax on gambling winnings. Duh

I've got the worst f***ing accountants

So there are poker rooms in the US/Canada where if you buyin for $100 at the counter and then cashout for $750 six hours later they give you a tax form? In the US that’s like another 20% rake.

In the us, no, but you're responsible for reporting your own income. In Canada, I believe poker winnings are not taxed, but I am not sure about that.

is impressive tbh

Also the case in UK and Aus. No tax on any gambling winnings

Hence why most of the German and Scandy high rollers live in London

i did a lot of GG style open limping premiums at 1/3 today with a 65-100 bb shortstack. of the 6 or so times i open limped EP with premiums i got to LRR once and won a 40 BB pot. but i also didnt get stacked wtih premiums either because the pots were tiny. so im still on the fence about it. i can see the appeal when you are running bad, counting every dollar, and always think you will lose at showdown. if you are a confident player though, i dont see how this is a good strategy.

I think a lot of it has to do with game conditions. GGs game seems loose and aggressive preflop, and tight post. I'm more used to a loose passive game (pre and post), so I'm not confident my premiums will get raised if I limp them, and I am pretty confident of making money in a raised pot with TPGK+, so I'm happy to just open with premiums.

I think it is suboptimal, but that's different than a bad strategy. The results speak for themself.

I always pay my taxes!

A good mindset for sure. If youre making $10/hr and not enjoying yourself, youre doing worse than someone losing $20/hr and having a blast. The first guy is doing the equivalent of working a menial labor job, the second guy is doing the equivalent of paying to go to the movies.

Very expensive movie.

Not anymore. A few weeks ago my wife and I went to the casino, and then a movie on back to back nights. The movie was more expensive by far, and I didn't even play poker at the casino, just slots with the wife.

Odd random bump?

GcluelessthreadbumpingnoobG

Not really random tho, bc I'm sure there are many of us who, upon waking up with a premium hand in early position, think wwggd? You have a strong brand in this community.

Lol, the latter happens sometimes. No biggee, we folded the best hand in a small pot; it's a mistake, but not a large session-defining one.

Last session out, I LRRed AQs against the newish terrible reg. He called fairly shortstacked with KQo. Terrible regs are just gonna do their thing.

But I don't need the better players to "fall for it" (i.e. call the LRR with worse) to do ok. Them putting in a large raise (or even a 3bet) before it gets back to me in the weeds and forcing them to fold all their equity and postflop skillz isn't a great outcome for them. Plus they're put in a horrible spot with middling pairs. Plus I can still win some off them in limped pots with a passively underepped monster (and sometimes even "cooler" them for gobs with hands they would have folded preflop). Meanwhile I avoid the spots I suck at (very multiway offering fine IO to the world with a handcuffing SPR).

And no, I never get too out-of-line; mostly just big pairs / big overs, and tightening/loosening somewhat depending on raiser / callers / table.

Gclueless"fallforit"noobG

My guess is the original question was more in tune with the above response, but I'll answer it honestly anyways.

When I reached the 1000 hour mark of 2/4 Limit, I think I was at like a $1.50/hr winrate. Clearly just playing for a good time at the table and a shot at winning a back-then-easily-winnable BBJ (which I did in fact win a year later). But I asked myself whether I could foresee myself playing this virtually unbeatable game decades down the road nearing retirement or whatever. And I concluded that I probably could see myself passing some of my time doing that (as one of many hobbies I would have).

Fast forward to a decade ago, 2014. I've been playing 1/3 NL for a few years and booked some good hourlies (much much much better than 2/4 Limit). I hit my first huge downswing in 2014, but bounced back fairly nice for the year overall. But I never really asked myself where I would be in a decade regarding poker, because I knew I'd still be exactly where I am today: playing the smallest game in the room for entertainment purposes. Course, the smallest game in our room also happens to be the biggest game in the room 99% of the time.

Where I will be a decade from now regarding poker is an interesting one. I mostly think I'll still be at the only ~steaks running = lowest steaks = highest steaks game in my room. Although I highly doubt it will be a 1/3 NL game at that time, and that the steaks will eventually be raised up to 2/5 NL (just as our 1/3 NL game replaced the 1/2 NL game prior to that).

But the real question is where I'll be in a decade and whether I'll even have the opportunity to play. I spent last week in a hick town that, like the overwhelming vast majority of our province, has no poker game available. There are lots of pros and cons to where I live now versus other places, but one pro is that I can sit in a poker game whenever I want with ease. Whether it becomes one of the factors in deciding where my wife and I eventually end up (if and when we ever decide to relocate) remains to be seen.

GcluelesscrystalballnoobG

Regarding taxes, there are no taxes on casino / lottery / gambooling winnings up here.

I'm not a tax expert, and there may perhaps be something about if you're doing this as a job / sole means of income / etc., but I think (?) even Duhamel got away with not paying taxes on his Main Event win (could be wrong, I know there was a court case and I'm too lazy to research). But if they ain't getting it from the guy who won $10 milly or whatever, they're certainly not getting it from small fry like me.

GbutifI'mwrong,obviouslywholethread+statswithinisallperformanceartforentertainmentpurposesonly,ldoG

My whole reasoning of my strategy is in post #630. If your game and/or skillz set vastly differs from mine, then by all means do whatever works best (or even manageable) for you.

GcluelesscatskinningnoobG