*yawn*
So, yeah. I'm not programming anymore, I'm home for Easter break, and I have no PC to play poker on. So I'm breaking this bad boy out!
But really, I haven't played poker for two solid days and I'm freaking. I guess it is an addiction. Friends and family keep asking me what my plans are for life after TAC. "You seen rounders? Eh? That's me, baby!" Most of my friends wouldn't care if I told them that, but I clearly can't say it to my family. But at what point do I tell them I'm making a living playing poker? I suppose I'll deal with it when I've actually been "unemployed" for several months, and am not living on the streets *kock on wood*.
It's interesting reading forums like http://www.twoplustwo.com, and reading over posts by mid-limit ($15-$30 through $30-$60) players. They really don't seem to have any better of a grasp of poker theory than I do, and in most cases less. They've just been playing a long time, have moved up the limits, and found through trial and error a winning approach. They understand the basics of pot odds and position, but many of their plays indicate fairly large flaws in their playing style. Most of these flaws involve over-agression on the later streets in hold'em, and not properly taking into account the playing style of their opponents. The number of hands they're able to play an hour online allows them to overcome these faults, and maintain a livable BB per hour rate (1-2BB/100 for most players averaging 150-200 hands/hr
A moderately successful player on Party Poker who plays four tables of $15-30 at a time and manages 200 hands an hour at 1 BB/100, thus has an hourly expectation of $60/hr. There are guys who are making +3BB/100 at these games, and clearly making upwards of $200/hr. Contrast this with a live professional, playing say $20-40, and making 3BB/100. A fast mid-limit table probably averages 33 hands in an hour. So a decent live professional makes little more than $40. The best live professionals can utilize their ability to read their opponents for strength, and make +2BB/hr. So a very good professional can make around $80 an hour at $20/40. Little more than a fairly average online player can make at $15-30. Live players only start having an advantage at stakes around $50-100, where they can make over $100/hr. But even a player at an average $300-600 table only rates to make around $200/hr. (acc. to Gambling Theories and Concepts by Mason Malmuth).
Why then aren't more people playing and making a living online? Because most poker players can only sustain a BB/100 rate this high under optimal conditions. Tilt and boredom are such huge factors that most people who are prone to these at the table turn from moderate winners to (sometimes big) losers. Boredom is the doom of most live players, and tilt of most online players. Internet poker allows for many more hands an hour, and when playing four tables at a time at a faster individual table rate of any real casino table, there is little problem with getting bored and playing borderline hands. But most internet games are far more aggressive than live brick-and-mortar games. This leads to far greater variance. I just read about a very successful live player who recently switched from $30-6o to four tabling $15-30 online. He lost $10k in his first few days. That's over 300BB. A pro should normally maintain around a 300BB bankroll. Yet when he went for help on the website I mentioned earlier, he learned that even the top internet professionals experience swings this large. For the most part, internet poker is far more aggressive than live poker, and hence a winning player must play many more marginal situations which then adds greatly to their short term variance.
When internet players win, they seem to play decently. When they start losing significant amounts of money like they're bound and supposed to, they self-destruct and stop playing winning poker (winning poker in the long-term sense of the word). Eventually they hit a hot streak of cards, and bounce back, but they lose far more than they should. This happens on a much smaller occasion to these players on a daily basis as well. Say they have three winning hands rivered by inside straights or flush draws on different tables at the same time. They get pissed off, and obviously aren't able to judge properly in the following hands. They don't pay attention to player reads or positions, and play borderline hands. Winning online professionals are able to ignore these beats and downswings and maintain their best game at all times.
But really, I haven't played poker for two solid days and I'm freaking. I guess it is an addiction. Friends and family keep asking me what my plans are for life after TAC. "You seen rounders? Eh? That's me, baby!" Most of my friends wouldn't care if I told them that, but I clearly can't say it to my family. But at what point do I tell them I'm making a living playing poker? I suppose I'll deal with it when I've actually been "unemployed" for several months, and am not living on the streets *kock on wood*.
It's interesting reading forums like http://www.twoplustwo.com, and reading over posts by mid-limit ($15-$30 through $30-$60) players. They really don't seem to have any better of a grasp of poker theory than I do, and in most cases less. They've just been playing a long time, have moved up the limits, and found through trial and error a winning approach. They understand the basics of pot odds and position, but many of their plays indicate fairly large flaws in their playing style. Most of these flaws involve over-agression on the later streets in hold'em, and not properly taking into account the playing style of their opponents. The number of hands they're able to play an hour online allows them to overcome these faults, and maintain a livable BB per hour rate (1-2BB/100 for most players averaging 150-200 hands/hr
A moderately successful player on Party Poker who plays four tables of $15-30 at a time and manages 200 hands an hour at 1 BB/100, thus has an hourly expectation of $60/hr. There are guys who are making +3BB/100 at these games, and clearly making upwards of $200/hr. Contrast this with a live professional, playing say $20-40, and making 3BB/100. A fast mid-limit table probably averages 33 hands in an hour. So a decent live professional makes little more than $40. The best live professionals can utilize their ability to read their opponents for strength, and make +2BB/hr. So a very good professional can make around $80 an hour at $20/40. Little more than a fairly average online player can make at $15-30. Live players only start having an advantage at stakes around $50-100, where they can make over $100/hr. But even a player at an average $300-600 table only rates to make around $200/hr. (acc. to Gambling Theories and Concepts by Mason Malmuth).
Why then aren't more people playing and making a living online? Because most poker players can only sustain a BB/100 rate this high under optimal conditions. Tilt and boredom are such huge factors that most people who are prone to these at the table turn from moderate winners to (sometimes big) losers. Boredom is the doom of most live players, and tilt of most online players. Internet poker allows for many more hands an hour, and when playing four tables at a time at a faster individual table rate of any real casino table, there is little problem with getting bored and playing borderline hands. But most internet games are far more aggressive than live brick-and-mortar games. This leads to far greater variance. I just read about a very successful live player who recently switched from $30-6o to four tabling $15-30 online. He lost $10k in his first few days. That's over 300BB. A pro should normally maintain around a 300BB bankroll. Yet when he went for help on the website I mentioned earlier, he learned that even the top internet professionals experience swings this large. For the most part, internet poker is far more aggressive than live poker, and hence a winning player must play many more marginal situations which then adds greatly to their short term variance.
When internet players win, they seem to play decently. When they start losing significant amounts of money like they're bound and supposed to, they self-destruct and stop playing winning poker (winning poker in the long-term sense of the word). Eventually they hit a hot streak of cards, and bounce back, but they lose far more than they should. This happens on a much smaller occasion to these players on a daily basis as well. Say they have three winning hands rivered by inside straights or flush draws on different tables at the same time. They get pissed off, and obviously aren't able to judge properly in the following hands. They don't pay attention to player reads or positions, and play borderline hands. Winning online professionals are able to ignore these beats and downswings and maintain their best game at all times.
posted by mittens at 3/26/2005 02:30:00 AM
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