Can it be done

[jimmym]

The thought of playing poker online full time as a living is not everyones cup of tea, but a thought that really sounds nice to me and my wife.
Due to our work commitments I really only play socially and at this stage too much and many little tournaments, and because I work permanent nights 10pm-6am I miss most of the bigger events.

Making a decision to pack in a job with a guaranteed income of £28.000 per year to play online poker would be stupid unless I knew I would atleast match that loss of steady income.

I have had a few brief discusions with a few players online and have been given some advice, last night an online player who plays full time told me that my first year is the year I could really build and should not make a loss if investing correctly and playing with bonuses and re-loads and ofcourses placing and winning in a few reasonable tournies.

Can this be done? playing 5 nights a week for around 8 hours per night at different sites? and with $10.000 to invest.

I am looking around searching different sites looking at sign on bonuses ect and there are so many it must be possible or is it?

Any advice would be helpful apart from the advice that says dont do it. I am planning on a date of 01 January 2007 but would delay but to no later than 2008.

If you guys could do this were would you start spreading the money around just to pick up the bonuses ect, I would be looking to gain maximum bonuses so how hard and realistic is it.

TPs lists of sites are excellent, but I feel by talking to other online players that there is something extra to be gained by maximising the outlay when joining these sites.

Any info will be great from you guys and I would really like some from TP if possible when he gets back.

When I do decide to do this I will throw a private tourny for our forums members as a way of saying thankyou.

[HEwong]

well i assume your saying 10k. well. it can be done just dont deposit at all theses new sites just for deposit bonus cuz you need to play alot of raked hands just to get the bonuses, just keep your money between 2 or maybe 3 sites that your most familiar and comfortable playing at.if you have some on stars like 3k or so. start playing mtts like $5-$50 buyins, and play some of the $3 + rebuys sattillite for the $215 tourney and play that if you win a seat. for cash games though with 3k you should start around 1/2 nl and move your way up. also play some sngs. but i dont think you will need to play 5 days a week 8 hours a day unless you are doing really well in all teh mtts you play(cuz those can last up to 7 hours or more). gl if you decide to play full time.

P.S. in order to unlock the deposit bonuses and be able to use the moeny to play . most sites require you to match the bonus amount in rake before you can unlock it. some time this will be 500+ hands. and some sites give you some of the bonus as you collect raked hands. but dont go depositing somewhere with a great deposit bonus unless you know the site and a=you are comfortable with the software.

[BlibbityBlabbity]

Well I think you need to address a couple of other issues:

What limits are you thinking you will be laying to generate this income (or what are you interested in)?

What kind of PROVEN success have you had (and at what limits/tourney levels)?

You will want to get PokerTracker immediately and start tracking your play.

Is there a possibility for part time work for you (personally), if so, you can start building up a bankroll that will cover your current salaries for a YEAR or two to give you comfort and confidence that will allow you to play your best game and not be concerned of "losing the rent money" during the play of a hand.

There is a book, I am about 3/4 through it, which IMO is EXCELLENT in walking you through this decision....

Professional Poker: The Essential Guide To Playing For a Living
By Max Blade

If you haven't read that I would suggest starting there.

In short, the answer to your question is YES, it is POSSIBLE. I think now you need to decide if it is the right thing for you.

Good luck

[HEwong]

lolgood point. how much do you need ytobe making and how often is very important too. forgot about that part.

[jimmym]

,,,,,

[jimmym]

Please note, I am not asking for your advice in wether I should do this, because at some stage I am.

Spreading 10k around different sites what bonuses can this generate if utilised correctley. Can a proactive player make money from apart from playing spreading cash to collect bonuses.

[BlibbityBlabbity]

I am not saying you should not do it, I am just saying if you are going to do it you should find a way (limits, tourneys, hours, bonus whoring, etc) that there is a 99.9% chance of you succeeding in it. That will require some introspection and preplanning on your part.

I think bonus whoring can be a way to boost your income at the lower limits (1/2 fall in there) and give you a buffer to runsof bad beats. This will be especially helpful for you to get a jump start with $10,000 to start.

You and your wife are both going to be playing? That is a cool idea.

The biggest question would be, can you HANDLE if she starts raking in more wins that you do?

Again, good luck with this. I am also interested in having poker be at least a component of my own income. I think for myself that will be a part-time component.

[Talking Poker]

FYI - I see this thread and will post my thoughts when I have a bit more time. PM me if I don't reply by the end of the week...

[jimmym]

Cheers TP any info from you about how to spread the $ around to gain max bonuses and revenue would really be appreciated.

Gl TODAY...

[sjay2k]

what are your present results?? (e.g. PT screenshot)

[jimmym]

No disrespect, but I am not asking you for advice on me playing full time due to my results. please read the thread.

[sjay2k]

You need to be a consistent winner if you want to play 40 hours a week for 50-odd weeks a year; even with bonus whoring.

Your original post is so convoluted that it's hard to know what advice you're seeking. You asked for "Any advice would be helpful apart from the advice that says dont do it." You're not seeking advice so much as confirmation.

Sorry to be harsh, but if your "cash play is not so good" it would be a huge, huge mistake to put 10k cash online. If I'm wrong and indeed you are skilled enough to be a long-term winner, why not start with a lower amount ($500 should be more than enough) and build that up?

[jimmym]

Yep ok. thanks for your advice......I wouldnt tell you how much I win/lose ect, please read the thread if you have got some advice on how to get the best out of bonus whoring with 10k then it would be appreciated I regulary place $600 on pokerstars to take advantage of there bonus worth $120max.
My play and turning online full time player is not in question it is how to get the best from my initial outlay.

[PShabi]

Well, every bonus possible is listed at . I really don't think many "pros" are bonus whoring for a living though. I could be wrong.

I know if I played 450 hands / day at 5/10 6-max. I'd "only" make 28k if I was winning at 2bb/100.

Have you ever played 8 hours in one day? Doing it 5 days a week for 52 weeks out of the year would make me want to kill myself. Not to mention, I'd have to by a new wardrobe to fit my fat ass from all the weight gain.

First thing you need to do, is figure out how much you have to make to live. Compare that to the limits you play and find out what your winrate would have to be over how many hours.

Also, in addition to bonus whoring (or maybe instead of, depending on your limits) I would look to set up rakeback accounts at sites I have not played at before. Rakeback + bonus is available at sites like FT, UB, Interpoker, etc.

The last thing in the world I would want to try to do is to break into "professional" poker as a tourney player. A long drought and the added pressure of making the rent would make that miserable and your chances of success are slim. (I'm defning 'success' as making a comfortable living).

I wouldn't even think about doing this unless I was playing cash games full time.

[Talking Poker]

Ok, I'm caught up.

I'll be honest with you... Chasing bonuses is NOT the way to make a living from online poker. Simply put, it's not worth it. There come a time in everyone's bankroll (when they are winning a lot of money) that they realizes bonuses are effectively nothing. Ok, if you chase them ALL, you may grab an extra $2000-3000 per year or something.... maybe even $5000. But what is that at the end of the year? It's nothing.

In order for someone to become a professional player, $5000 a year needs to be nothing to them. It needs to be a good night... or a decent week... AT THE WORST, an average month.

I don't NOT take bonuses when they are offered to me, but I don't play elsewhere to chase them any more. I most definitely DO think that players at lower limits and with limited bankrolls SHOULD chase bonuses, but what I'm saying is when online poker becomes your primary source of income, chasing bonuses will be the last thing on your mind. You'll be focusing on finding the best games and sticking to them, whether there are bonuses available on that site or not.

[nflchad]

First of all I have a really strong feeling that you haven't played nearly enough to know how much of a winner you really are, much less how this would relate to you making enough money to help support your family. Saying things like "lately I've been succesful" leads me to this belief, I could certianly be wrong. Keep in mind that win rates don't solidify in cash games for around 50k hands and for about 1500 sng's.

The general consensus is that you should have 3-6 months of bills/living expenses outside of your bankroll. I'm with Pshabi here in that bonus whoring is unlikely to be a majority of your income, rakeback would be far more adventageous if your going to play that many hours. Not to say that you couldn't still take advantage of the bonuses but you won't be able to play on a bonus for 40 hours a week, so you need to make outside income when your not playing off those bonuses. I think how much you plan to make a week is another important thing to look at, if you want consistent money then you shouldn't be playing many MTT's and certainly not $5 ones, you should focus on SNG's and cash games instead.

Just looking at rakeback on turbo sng's lets say you get 25% rb and four table the 33's lets say they take on average 40 minutes to either get elimanated or win. You would make .75 a sng's you played and since your four tabling this would be $3 an hour in rakeback, 8 hours a day 5 days a week is $120, or $6240 a year. Combine that with a good ROI of 18% and you would be making roughly $27 an hour (I'm too lazy to convert), or 56k a year before taxes.

Another thing that Pshabi touched on was being able to play that much, I have a really strong feeling that you would HATE poker if you played that frequently especially if you absolutely had to play.

Good luck and I hope that you make it, be sure to keep us updated.

[jimmym]

Thanks nflchad, TP and shabi.

fantastic thoughtout comments, and lots I will take on board. I feel I may have gone around the houses with my original question. We have planned me doing this next year or the year later at the latest.

I feel I can make most playing SNGs and tournies, I am not a real lover of cash games but will invest a small amount of time and money into playing these, probably at a small level.

I play as most know mainly on Pokerstars and very little on Ladbrokes, and was told by an online player that I really should take advantage of bonuses, so rather than placing 10k into My pokerstars account I really was looking to take advantage of bonus whoring the rakeback mentioned by nflchad is a start and something I will take advantage of when I look into it.

To be perfectly honest, I am intending to only deposit once , lets say at pokerstars $600 and turn this into thousands, will this work well time will tell but its nice to be able to do this and with the backing from my wife. But with a starting bankroll of 10k I really feel I should exploit and rake in some free cash.

Shabi thanks for your comments that site looks good for what I want and again thanks TP for your time whilst you are away (the sign of a great person who still finds time during his own time).

Am not the greatest player in the world but we do really feel this is something we must do now in the next couple of years,I know I could match my current wage just by playing like I am now, I just need to put in the time. as for sitting 8 hours infront of a pc this is what I do now at work all night 40 hours a week and look at my pic am not fat ...........................Yet.


ps- recently after my car crash I played 8hours a day and 5 days a week for 4 weeks, I won nearly treble my monthly wage $5400 playing in SNGs , so I know I can do this.

[PShabi]

Best of luck to you JimmyM.

[jimmym]

TP we were thinking investing 10k on your comments do you reacon 60k would be the amount needed, the very most we could afford to lose in the year if worse was to happen would be $20k £15000, before I would have to return to work. Personally do you think this is enough. Obviously I would be looking into having a planner up and running of what tournys schedules ect to enter play in ect.

Who knows we may meet in a wsop in coming years.

[JDMcNugent7]

I personally think u will HAVE to learn to play and consistantly win at cash games if u want to do this professionally - and at decent limits too - unless u are just a crazy good tournament and SNG player - cash games it is very possible to win a good, and consistant amount of money , this can't be said for MTT's - and i guess SNG's u can win at a pretty consistant rate, but cash games are where the consistant money is at.

[2Tone]

Sorry man, I know this is not what you asked for, but …

Don’t do it.

Take the advice of Phil Ivey
(, the other posters on our forum and 2+2, and re-consider.

If poker is enjoyable now, it won’t be if you are doing it 40 hours a week. Even if you did enjoy playing for 40 hours a week, knowing that paying your bills depends on not getting sucked out on could ruin that fast.

If you want to play more poker, that’s great – go for it. Take a two week holiday, and put in 80 hours in front of your laptop if you want. Or join a bunch of us at the WSOP – I’d love to buy you a beer. And if you want to take a shot at higher limits, 10k would certainly allow you do so as well.

But putting the pressure of earning your living playing poker, especially without a long and proven track record, is most likely a mistake. I don’t mean to be discouraging, but it would be irresponsible to advise anything else.

That said, I would also imagine that rake back would be much more lucrative than bonus clearing at the volume of play you are talking about. The only bonuses that might be worth it are the massive ones at HollywoodPoker, which you’d basically have to play full time to clear anyway. You might also want to check out occasional TP poster O Doyle Rules, who is trying to organize some benefits for extremely high-volume players.

Best of luck, and I look forward to hearing about how it goes no matter what you decide.

[Boobie Lover]

It should be noted that to take advantage of bonuses, you will be forced by most sites to play cash games. The exceptions are Pokerstars, Full Tilt, Bodog, and PokerRoom network. Pokerstars is doing the VIP thing, so don't expect a bonus, um, ever.

I agree with the sentiments of the above posters that at some point bonus whoring just does not make much sense. I would recommend reading post on bonus whoring and why they become futile once you move past micro limit play.

[eejit101]

I agree with TP when he says bonuses are not worht going after. However, i see noone has mentioned rakeback... There is a site offering 45% rakeback on all tables over 0.50/1, and if your playing for a living then this is surely the way to go? This rakeback isnt my making, its something i know someone is doing, and its on the prima network.

Surely that would be a big factor in playing for a living? correct me if im wrong

[Boobie Lover]

For a player to make a living they have to play on the big sites. The Prima network is the home of the biggest cash games on the net (watch mahatma sometime), but the majority of the mid-high limit games, are basically non existent on that network.

I would say the only poker room that offers rakeback that has some game selection is UB

[PShabi]

Don't forget about Party Poker!!!!!

You just gotta know where to look.