Donkey or shark?

Sweet emancipation. That’s what ‘The Daily Grind’ was meant to be about. Two fingers up to the man and goodbye to a dreary booth in a stuffy office. Okay, it wasn’t exactly a bind working at PokerPlayer, but you get the drift. I packed in my full-time job as deputy editor with the intention to give poker and freelance writing a good run for their money. And after six months I’ve come to a few conclusions…

First, playing poker can be made into a career, there’s no doubt about that. You don’t have to be a high roller, or, in fact, that talented a player, and you certainly don’t have to play for nosebleed amounts of cash. But the most important question you should ask yourself is, ‘Can I prove to myself that I am a long-term winning player?’ If it’s not a definite ‘yes’ then you should stick with your day job – for the time being at least.

The second thing to think about is whether you really want to play poker for a living. Take some time to consider whether you want to turn the passion of your pastime into something you’re relying on to pay the bills. While the thought of ‘working’ from home and the lure of tax-free money can seem very attractive, the reality of sitting inside on a sunny day staring at little pictures of cards on a monitor is a very different prospect.

Hourly rate

It was pointed out by one astute reader a couple of months back that there was no way I could be living off my Badbeat winnings. And he’s right, but only due to a lack of volume. I’ve played just over 33,000 hands, and using 90 hands an hour (six-max cash tables) as a rough rule of thumb, I’ve put in 368 table hours. Having played an average of four tables at a time I can bring that down to about 92 hours real time, which has produced an hourly rate of $ 21.74 (£12.85). As a Badbeat trader I’d only pick up half of that profit, but by putting in more hours I’d be able to spin my bankroll up to play at higher levels than I’d be able to fund myself. There’s no doubt about it – if you’re happy to put in the graft, Badbeat is a great low-risk route to take. But for me, I’m still undecided on whether it’s the right outlet for my poker, being as I have to give away half my profit and miss out on a fair chunk of rakeback.

Good advice

The real benefit of Badbeat for me was getting some great mentoring from top British pro John Tabatabai. Having him analyse and develop my game was worth the slog alone. John is well known for having a fiercely aggressive game. It’s a style that initially I had difficulty with as I frequently found myself in tough spots. But I quickly realised how it’s possible to reap bigger rewards playing that way.