No regular plays on Thurs and again today no regular plays. Doesnt look like there will be any tracking plays today also.
Things will pick up this weekend with the nfl and college football.
A Comment:
“Rick
I agree with your point about playing limit poker having less variance, more EV. Avoiding huge drawdowns is key to having a long fruitful poker career 😉
With that being said (and your comment about avoiding NL games), how many people do you think live in Vegas and make a comfortable living playing cards? Also how many do you think play NL for a living and don’t go bust?
There’s a new tournament or (formerly) Internet millionaire surfacing every week but most go bust like Chino Rheem or JR or Brad Booth
I know you tend to discourage others from making a living at poker. Would love to know more about the realities of it being someone’s profession long term.”
First to clear things up…..if you proficient the best games to play in vegas are the live N.L. Holdem games. When I say proficient..I mean an expert player at no limit. That is where the money is.
In limit poker it is clear cut…that house gets the bulk of the money. The rake is brutal at limit. At the low limits the house gets all of the money. At the mid limits…my guess is they take about 60 to 70 % of what is available. That leaves 30 to 40% to divy up among the positive ev players( and there are very few of those)
Thats why game selection is of primary importance. You have to have enough negative ev players to take care of the rake and give a profit to the few good players. If everyone is equal abilities the house eventually gets it all.
Saying that with good game selection and expert proficiency there are players in vegas that supplement there income playing poker. There are very few that are professionals in the sense that they make their living just playing poker. I have been playing poker in vegas now for about 10 years full time and I have yet to meet 1 person at the mid limits that makes a living playing poker.
Again take as an example the 30 omaha 8 game with a 40 kill. That game went steady for about 4 years. The house over that period took 1,000,000 out of the game conservatively. Now….what is amazing is that anyone made money in the game. That money came out of the players pockets and never finds its way back into game. Over the 4 years I would guess no more the 3 or 4 people ended up in the plus side of the game that played regularly.
As far as moving out here to play professionally…..Let me ask….do you think it would of been a wise thing for steve jobs to have done that in his early 20s. He certainly had the mind for it:)
I had talked about this several years ago in a poker post..let me repost it here:
“I received an email from a person in there early 20s asking my thoughts as to the advantages of moving to las vegas to make a living playing poker as a pro. He was in college majoring in accounting, single, and had plans to become a cpa and then practice in an accounting firm. He plays poker in home games with some success. Loves to play. And has been out to Vegas a few times and won each time he has been out here.
Not only do I have thoughts but very strong opinions on the subject. In short…dont’t even consider it!!!!! And if there is no way you can get it out of your head…get counseling…Immediately.
Its not only because the odds of making it in Las Vegas as a pro and living comfortable are so big…I would handicap it at around 1000-1 against… but do you really want to turn 60 as I have and say for the last 40 years you have spent almost your whole life playing cards?
I am probably a good example. I considered that in my early 20s to the extent that I dropped out of law school in my senior year to head out to vegas and become a pro. Fortunately for me the Dean of the law school was an extraordinary person who after receiving a call from my Mother..called me in and talked to me for some time convincing me to finish my senior year, get my law degree and give law a try. It was a real turning point for me.
I just turned 61 and I came very close to being at this age with nothing to account for except 40 years of playing cards. Instead I have had the opportunity of being the senior litigation partner in a law firm and have tried to completion: complex medical negligence cases, products liability cases, many personal injury cases , criminal cases that include a federal conspiracy and mail fraud case, several murder trials and much more. All to completion and in front of a jury as the lead attorney.
I have had the opportunity to also start from the ground floor a retail business from 1 store into 16 spread out over 5 states. I managed and ran the day to day operations of the business and negotiated and completed the sale of the business to a major retail chain.
I have traveled the world, am a certified scuba diver and have dived all over the Caribbean. am an instrument rated pilot and have over 3000 hours of airtime piloting my own plane, am a life master bridge player, have had a family with 2 sons.
If i would of moved to las vegas I am quite confident i would of experienced none of the above.
You might ask ..what about Bobbie Baldwin and Chip Reese… Where as the odds of making it as a poker pro and living comfortably are around 1000 -1 against…to accomplish what they have …several million to 1.
So the answer is a no brainer….live life …and save the game playing as a hobby.”
RickJ
rickjshandicappingpicks.com
Twitter: rickjsportplays
Twitter: rickjswingtrade
