Online Poker - Gambling? Addiction? Or Income Possibility?

[Dave Hounddriver]

Remember "lovestowinalot" a former member?

 

I do remember he enjoyed poker, but I also remember that his problems, (related to how he is doing), were not related to poker (unless he poked her with a poker to kill her).  :cheersty:

[Paul_QLD]

I used to play A LOT online about 6-8 years ago.

When I woke up first thing in the morning I'd play for an hour or so before I went to work. Come home at lunch, get another hour in, home straight after work and play until bed time, 10 or 11pm most nights.

Did I make any money ... Nope!

Did I have a lot of fun ... sh&t yes!

 

I'd deposit $50 once per month. If I lost that early in the month I would put another $50 in otherwise this $50 usually lasted anywhere between two weeks and a couple of months. Most times I'd win a few games here and there usually trebling or quadruple my bank roll over a week or so. Two weeks in, I'd usually hit a bad spell (because of my built up confidence) and drop most of my bundle over a night or two. It would take me a week or so to get bored enough that I would wanna try risking another $50 and repeat the same process over the next month.

 

The $50-$100 I'd lose each month or so didnt bother me as the ten years previous I was drinking $200-300 most weekends so the way I looked at it I was about $1000 ahead each month!

 

If I was to do it again, and wasn't employed I would try to treat it like a real job instead of a hobby. i.e. I would I would play for 2 hours x 3 times per day. I found after this 2 hours I would get tired and begin to make mistakes or chase hands. But more often than not I would have made a profit in this first two hours so playing after this time I was more likely to lose my buy in.

 

I would set some personal guidelines as well like either play for two hours, win lose or draw and quit. Or as soon as I trebled my buy in pot quit as well and come back a few hours later and start again.

 

Had a mate who would play online for 1-3 hours x 4-5 nights per week and for 18 months consistently withdraw $400-700 per month. He now follows/bets on sports and doesn't play poker so much now except for the occasional home game with friends, I get him each night we play ... his game was much more mathematical than mine, hence I had the edge on him in live play :)

 

So plan A is if I ever get to Phils long term and have a stable internet connection is try my 2 hours three times per day theory for the first 6 months and see what happens - I haven't got a Plan B. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

built up confidence

 

I totally understand that part.  It has been my undoing in my second week of trying online poker.  Thanks very much for your input as it is important to see how others are doing before we can understand if there is any practicality to playing 'professionally'.  If others are doing as you did then I suspect it should be easier to win money in the first week of the month than the last week as those who are playing 'for fun' put in cash at or near the beginning of the month so by the end of the month only the sharks are left.

 

I realize now it is important to stick to what I did in my beginning week, that is only play the top 10 opening pairs and fold the rest.  Experts will do much better but if the goal is to conserve the bankroll then it is not easy to do long term.

 

Fortunately there are free online tournaments for us poor folk.  I just won 40 cents after playing a free tournament for 2 hours.  Whoop de doo.  Lots of learning to do if I am to continue with this.

[Paul_QLD]

I should also state that my mate I mentioned above uses what he calls the 10% rule with all his gambling (Sports betting as well as online Poker) and that is he never bets with more 10% of his bank but if he loses 10% of his bank, he drops back to the lower level he just migrated from until he perfects that level and upgrades once again.

 

i.e. His bank started at $10.00 so he started sitting at the 1c/2c tables with a $1.00 buy in.

Once his bank went above $110.00 he sits at $10.00 buy in table.

Once his bank gets above $220.00 he than can afford to sit at $20.00 buy in tables tables.

Once his bank gets above $550.00 he sits at $50.00 tables buy in tables.

 

If he takes a hit and loses a bit of capital (bank), he drops back to the lower level and grinds it out again until he masters that before he leaps further up in buy-ins.

 

When he was playing 25c blinds was when he started to make enough money to start making withdrawals. He tried going up to the next level, but his success wasn't consistent so settled with the 25c tables which were most profitable for him so didn't worry too much about building his capital, but withdrew it instead!.

For me, I just went straight to the 25c tables as this is where the best return was short term and if you had a win it was worth while. But I was playing for enjoyment and not for profit and taking larger risks!

I also read a story of a Uni student who started playing freerolls for fun and never made a deposit into his online poker account. His small wins on freerolls slowly built his bank up in a similar way to what my friend did. However after 6 or 12 months this guy was earning thousands per week!

 

Keep persevering with your freerolls, you never know, you might be the next online gambling success story I hear about.

 

But as always, don't play with more than you can afford to lose!

[jpbago]

I'd deposit $50 once per month. If I lost that early in the month I would put another $50 in otherwise this $50 usually lasted anywhere between two weeks and a couple of months. Most times I'd win a few games here and there usually trebling or quadruple my bank roll over a week or so. Two weeks in, I'd usually hit a bad spell (because of my built up confidence) and drop most of my bundle over a night or two. It would take me a week or so to get bored enough that I would wanna try risking another $50 and repeat the same process over the next month.

 

I do similar to this also but if I lose it all, then I wait until the next month. Sometimes, it lasts more than a few months but never enough to withdraw. I was playing the $3 and $5 Spin & Gos, .5/.10 Zooms, then .5/.10 cash games both Hold em and Omaha and some tournaments with buy ins of under $5. I find the tournies too slow, even four at a time as after 3 or 4 hours, I get bored and make mistakes or shove in too often. It takes discipline to win, as you said, your friend played mathematically. Some that use programs, look mainly at the others HUDs. Lately, I have done better at the .10/.25 cash games, 4 tables at once so I can fold until I get a hand. With one table, I get bored so try to play average hands. Check the time zones as a good time to play is Friday/Saturday nights (Russia time) when the Russians are drunk.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Guys, I entered a blog writing contest on the poker site I play at.  Here is the link.  Any poker player are encouraged to go there and give me a thumbs up to help me win the $200 monthly blog writing prize (but only if you think its a good story).

 

If any other members have stories in the competition then let me know and I'll give you a return thumbs up (but only if its a good story LOL)

 

http://my.888poker.com/davelight/blog/?message=WW91ciBwb3N0IGhhcyBub3cgYmVlbiBzdWJtaXR0ZWQh

[deevey]

I personally know 3 people who exclusively play online poker after its income far surpassed their day jobs - like anything its a skill and to do it right you'll end up working a 40 hour + week.

 

One of their tips to me was to case as many tables as possible initially and take notes of any decent and terrible player and try to completely ignore playing the odds against the mediocre ones who rely on lucky hands. 

Edited April 26, 2015 by deevey

[Dave Hounddriver]

Update:  Poker is not a way to get rich unless you are extremely good at it.  But I did just confirm that 5,000 pesos was deposited to my bank account from the poker site.  Not much for 3 1/2 months of playing but its a plus.

 

Most of it comes from perseverance at the free rolls.

[earthdome]

Update:  Poker is not a way to get rich unless you are extremely good at it.  But I did just confirm that 5,000 pesos was deposited to my bank account from the poker site.  Not much for 3 1/2 months of playing but its a plus.

 

Most of it comes from perseverance at the free rolls.

 

Another 50 years of winnings and you could buy that new dream car.