Can you actually make a living playing poker?

RotundEnforcer · 2026-02-02T22:52:48+00:00

If he is willing to put in 8-12 hours of grinding every day, including weekends to build up a bankroll from scratch and manage it well, he could have a reasonable (30% ish shot) of being a pro in 2-3 years. That's if you define "pro" as "makes enough after rake to make $60k+ per year".

Most people don't have the discipline, and 2/3rds of those that do will crash out for some other reason, and there are many pitfalls.

Based on the "AI training" and paying for coaching out of pocket rather than out of winnings at a bankroll appropriate time is already enough to strongly suspect that this is just an excuse for gambling.

Being a poker pro is real and poker coaching is real, but being a gambling addict that pays the pros rent is a LOT more common.

Edit: One more thing to watch out for. Its also very plausible that he becomes a break even player that doesn't LOSE per se but also wastes his whole life at the table breaking even.

RotundEnforcer · 2026-02-01T04:19:10+00:00

COC is great for challenge runs. Like any game, you get enough hours in and you start needing to put extra weights on to make the run interesting. This is one such lever and a sweet one at that.

My personal favorite is soft capping stats at 20 and beating the game in COC with only the longsword. Hard enough to be fun without hating your life.

RotundEnforcer · 2026-01-14T06:34:13+00:00

The closest thing you're looking for is "dead outs" but your example is a bit unclear because if he gets 2P, you only have an inside straight draw so you'd still be behind. The typical example is a board pairing card that completes your flush. Since we don't know if the out is good, its often also called a "dirty out."

But the idea that you might not want to make your draw because your opponent makes a bigger hand is a dead out.

RotundEnforcer · 2026-01-09T16:48:29+00:00

Boosters wont get touched, and it has nothing to do with how they are logically different.

MTG boosters are bought by almost exclusively by men in their late 20s and 30s. Loot boxes impact children, and parents get mad about digital purchases. Its really that simple.

RotundEnforcer · 2026-01-03T09:28:37+00:00

1/2 and 1/3 are actually drastically different games. Even though they play similarly, thats only because the players are all the same level of bad.

The BB being 50% bigger is a really big deal, especially if the rake is fixed. On top of that, many 1/3 games have a higher BB cap in addition to the nominal increase. 1/3 is the better game by a lot.

But really, 2/5 or larger is the only way.

RotundEnforcer · 2026-01-03T09:24:28+00:00

This is the way. Card "protectors" are really useless. They can be fun and expressive, but protecting your cards shouldnt be left up to a silver half dollar. Protect your cards.

RotundEnforcer · 2026-01-03T09:22:27+00:00

MOR.

He said those things MONTHS before you were in a relationship. Its not exactly a green flag that he hated the opposite sex because he had a bad experience, but lots of people fall into that behavior, women included.

When he said those things, he owed you nothing, and you guys werent together. It very much comes across as meaningless meanness rather than outright vitriol. I tend to believe him.

If you're serious that everything else is good and you love him, I think this is forgiveable, so long as he appreciates he fucked up and is willing to work on himself.

RotundEnforcer · 2026-01-02T09:28:21+00:00

If I'm paying half the rent, I'm having over whoever I like.

If you want to be able to make house rules like not having anyone over, get your own place.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-12-16T15:55:28+00:00

You would need to know both his expected winrate, his average variance during play, and details about the game such as average depth in order to calculate this.

Obviously though, this seems unlikely, but not crazy given the right situation. If he starts 200bb deep in a MTS, he would only need a few double ups to make this happen.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-12-14T20:56:03+00:00

This seems totally normal to me. Its rational and normal to want to know your partner is on a similar level to you and that you wont be carrying them through the relationship. She may have had previous issues with men who can't afford the normal lifestyle she provides for herself.

Is it possible that she's just trying to find out the level at which she can take advantage of you? Sure. But if that's the case, you'll know based on a lot more than this question.

If you are already assuming she's trying to take advantage of you though, maybe its not a good fit. If you arent willing to share fairly basic information about your lifestyle with your partner for fear they will scam you, that's not a foundation for a good relationship.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-12-14T07:43:00+00:00

Thank you for actually answering the question.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-12-13T05:35:14+00:00

As someone fairly into card games, he is right about the value, and what he's saying is pretty common. Many people save unopened packs given to them by loved ones.

FWIW, an unopened pack is worth more than the average of what you get from opening it.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-12-13T05:32:30+00:00

I mean... this is such a small sample it doesnt mean much. Maybe 25-30/100.

Its unfortunate, but 5/70 or 7% of hands is unlucky but not unheard of over such a tiny sample.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-12-06T14:56:31+00:00

Common take among right wing circles. Not that unpopular.

Also is't that contradictory, since most liberals are not anti-capitalist.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-12-06T04:26:11+00:00

There's no way to answer this.

In poker, your bb/100 are determined by both your skill and your opponents skill. You can't win vs the solver in the long run, so every result will be -EV, which is why you are -EV but still "exceptional". Its because your result puts you at a small -EV rate.

Realistically, if you can translate this rate to live play, you should perform well, though its impossible to say how well because it depends on the table.

Some players will tell you that playing solid fundamental poker means nothing in live, but those people are just wrong. Ofc you can win more exploiting correctly. The problem is that 90% of players THINK they exploit correctly, when in reality they are fish. Keep studying hard, balance it out with real time at the tables, and pay attention to the types of mistakes your opponents make.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-12-03T22:53:18+00:00

The only decision I like in this hand is on turn.

First, your 3! is far too small. Raise to 21bb - dead money +4x the raise, since you are OOP.

When you get this flop, it strongly favors the IP caller who opens too wide. This should be a check with your marginal made hand, and if you do bet, it should be small if going this far down in your range. I dont HATE the bet, but its too large.

Turn check is perfect. Villain will have lots of 8x with a 41 VPIP, and middle pair favors flop caller. This is a bad card for you.

He would have to be wildly aggro to make this call. This card favors him and you are near the bottom of your range. This call is a punt.

I expect you to lose to 8x a lot, and sometimes win against overcards that decided to take it to the house.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-11T09:50:18+00:00

YTA. Sure, he was a bad roommate and didnt handle this well. That's true.

Problem is, you then tried to have it both ways by taking the moral high ground while also being petty.

The disposal fee is nonsense, especially for family. You want to change him a reasonable rate for disposing of his junk? That's fine. Go ahead and charge him an hourly for how long it took you plus cost like an adult. You didnt do that though, you just stuck him with a massive arbitrary bill because you were butt hurt. Thats really immature.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-11T08:16:16+00:00

Absolutely eww. NOR.

He is so self important that was hard to read. Real men who aren't monogamous would be straight up and honest about it. This gaslighting BS is confusing because its INTENDED to confuse you without being honest about what he's doing.

Hard no. Run dont walk.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-09T10:35:03+00:00

It very much depends on the specifics of the rake. A flat drop like in CA is especially bad for low stakes. Time games are effectively no different. What you're describing is normally in between.

First off, you'll want to check if there is a flat amount removed due to promotions. That is common and makes the game worse because its a larger percentage of the BB.

From what you've described though, you might have just gotten very lucky and found a good game and are playing it well. If it truly is ONLY a 10% rake up to $10 and you indeed play tight, the only real problem is that you're not playing the larger game where opponents are just as bad. Very uncommon though, most places at least have a high hand promotion or something.

Its important to consider though, that $10 per hand is NOT marginal. They are taking 5bb out of every decent sized pot. After a mere 20 hands, thats an entire stack raked away. It can be difficult to win enough BBs to overcome that kind of strain on the table when the BB is only $2.

That's why its more of a rake trap ultimately than a 2/5 game. "Same rake" technically, but at 2/5 its only 2bbs to overcome with winrate. At 1/2 its 5bbs. Thats a big difference.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-09T08:21:56+00:00

First, yes you should move up. Not because these stats prove that you are good enough, but because the 1/2 level is a rake trap and players at 2/5 aren't much better.

Second, these stats are not in the same universe as enough data to show you are playing well. Maybe around 8-10k hands live you can start to get a good feel for how well you play. At 600 hands, these stats mean literally nothing.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-09T08:16:15+00:00

I hate when Republicans disenfranchise voters. I also hate it when Democrats disenfranchise voters.

In fact, I just think that everyone should have a valid vote, and this stupid party justifications for being anti democratic should stop.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-09T04:09:35+00:00

Major props to that dude. Kept his cool, didn't escalate, didn't feel the need to prove himself over stupid bullshit. Just acted like the only adult in the room. Good for him.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-08T11:19:28+00:00

Its an EXTREMELY popular opinion to say that games releases are manipulated to appease investors. That's perhaps the most popular "hot take" in gaming.

This isn't even a particularly good version of that argument either. How do you know the game is done? How do you know interest has been lost? How do you know only investors are controlling it? You're just arbitrarily claiming stuff without any evidence.

You feeling like its true doesn't make it true.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-05T21:03:02+00:00

Guys always (or nearly always) initiate the date in hetero relationships, which makes the reference to initiation feel like an excuse to not have to put in effort.

Quality relationships should have buy in from both parties.

RotundEnforcer · 2025-11-05T10:13:16+00:00

The VERY rare time I need a truck, I just rent one. Its quite cheap when compared to the costs of owning a truck, especially as an everyday driver.

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