30 Days Experiment: Play poker at the casino everyday
 

Hello everyone!

Happy Early Christmas, long time no see!

I'm a bit busy because I just finished up an experiment where I moved to a new city, and played poker at the casino everyday for 30 days ... (almost everyday, more like 26 days out of 31 this month)

Since this topic isn't about keeping track of my progress since I'm almost done, this is for folks who are curious and want to do the same thing and have questions.

Here are some updates of the project from my blog (with lots of pictures, lol)

30 days experiment: Project Poker | Ken Nubo dot Com

Project Poker: Day 2 | Ken Nubo dot Com

Project Poker, Day 28 | Ken Nubo dot Com

I personally think this is a horrible idea.

1. Success rarely comes from gambling; bankruptcy often comes from it.
2. Gambling is an addictive game that people with addictive personalitie are highly succeptible to. Urging people to gamble everyday is an unhealthy and irresponsible act.
3. There are so many other things people could be doing to IMPROVE their life.

This forum is for self improvement, not self destruction.

There are two sides to poker, the winning side and the losing side.

If he's on the winning side then he'll be fine and yes it does belong here.

Poker ain't gambling if you are skilled at it No offence, but jumping to conclusions like this is pretty )/(¤ :D

Many people earn a good amount of money by becoming good or great poker players, either in real life or on the net.

ChangeYourTree, I completely understand, gambling can be distructive ...

That's why I only play poker -- I ignore every other table games where I'm playing against the house.

Hmmm .... but it's best not to judge what other people do. Some people can have the discipline and self-control to gamble and make money playing pokers, some don't.

I did this experiment so I can see where I went, better then pondering at the sideline, ya know. :)

Poker is gambling no matter how good you are. There is luck involved and that makes it gambling. Not to mention you can't get through an entire game without make a decision that constitutes as gambling.

And I didn't jump to any conclusions, I use to play poker tournaments twice a week in the past.

Another point is that the blog offers horrible financial advice. He even recommends skipping over having a solid emergency fund so you can go play faster.

I didn't say the post couldn't be here, I said it was irresponsible to put it here.

GOOD poker is a game of math, statistics and psychology.

If you know the statistics and the theory, and you can sense what range of cards your opponents have (and of course if you can make yourself ditch a hand that you know you'll lose on) you WILL win in the long run.

If you play it right, it's NOT about luck.

(don't feel like going into specific details here)

Poker is neither skills or luck. It's about killing the guy with a gun when he rivers you, lulz.

But Changeyourtree, you play home tournaments game, oh wow, you're amazing. I should totally listen to you now.

Poker is a game that can be beaten in the long term.

Poker in the short term is luck and gambling... In the long term if you are profitable it will show in your stats.

This is my ring game graph for the last few months.

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/8420/graphoc6.th.jpg

I have also been doing very well in tourneys in the last month.

If you treat poker like a business and follow proper bankroll management you can be very successful.

If you are not a very stable mentally i would not suggest poker as a serious venture keep it just for fun.

The strategy is the easy part... its mastering your emotions thats tricky everyone is so attached to money, you have to let go of the $$$ and treat it like points in a video game.

I am working hard right now to make it to the big limits, its a big ladder but totally possible to climb it if you have enough perseverance.

I suggest anyone thinking of making a income from poker DONT deposit on poker sites to start. Start with freerolls and work your way up from nothing.
I have done this twice in my poker career to start bankrolls its not hard it just takes a lot of patience and time. And if you take this route at least if you mess up and bust it was started from nothing so its a lot easier to get over.

Chris Ferguson did a challenge on full tilt similar to what it was like for me starting from nothing.
Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker - All Promotions: Chris Ferguson Challenge

I hope this post was a little insight into a poker career.

I leave you with what most pro poker players will tell you. Don't quit your day job. :D

peace and love

ps. I think if you deposit over and over it can quickly become a serious gambling problem but if you start from nothing i really don't see the harm just time wasted. :)

Playing skilled, WINNING poker is a great way to gain self-discipline and long-term focus.

This is true, but couldn't the same be said of everything you do in life?

I am new to the forum but have a ton of experience with poker and felt like I could offer some insight. A quick background on me, I'm a 22 year old senior going to school and have been playing poker pretty seriously for about 3 years, averaging about $50k/year while going to school. Poker is definitely beatable and there are some people just making ridiculous amounts of $$$ every year. The key is to be disciplined when playing and managing a bankroll, and not letting your emotions get the best of you.

Poker can be really brutal when you are running bad, and you will have stretches of time where it seems like absolutely nothing can go right, but as long as you have your head on straight and have the right mentality, it can be a very profitable "job".

I don't think poker is really gambling... that is, luck is involved but it's not the most important factor. I know next to nothing about poker, so even the best hand in the world couldn't save me from being turned inside out and hung out to dry by a professional player... even if said player has a bad day. Now if you would spend 30 says putting coins in a slotmachine, that's a different story.

nothing like ad hominem attacks to spoil a good debate.

Your comment has nothing to do with anything, nor do you even know if what you are saying is factually accurate.

Try again.

No--not really.

Though I feel poker can become somewhat addicting, esp. Texas Hold 'Em, I feel that it does improve focus, camaraderie among strangers, and is an overall fun activity. It can be taken serious enough to replace a job....but don't quit your day job. I was watching a poker program last night w/ Jesus Fergusen and he said that there is a lot of luck involved, but the amount of luck changes depending on the length of time a pro plays: over the course of a few weeks the game may be 90 % luck 10 % skill, over the course of a few months it may be 50 % luck 50 % skill, and over the course of a year he figures it's about 10 % luck 90 % skill.

GOOD LUCK & BEST WISHES.

To respond directly to the OP's post, my question is:

Is "gambling" with fake money good practice for getting into poker for fun and/or making extra cash? My gut tells me that players online with virtual cash would be more willing to go all-in and bluff on a crappy hand. Can anyone comment from experience?

Play money games are unlike real money, you won't get the experience of knowing how and when and how much to bet. To anyone who thinks that poker is not really gambling because of the skill involved - your fooling yourselves. The only people who make significant money are pros who are paid to play and the organisers.

Even if you're right, you got to respect the guy. According to his blog, he dreams of making a living from poker. How many people share that same dream but are too cowardly to chase it? Even if he ends up living in a cardboard box once the trial is over, at least he can say he gave it a shot.

I'm just laughing at the image of a man with his head poking out the top of a cardboard box in a back alley saying 'Hey at least I gave it a shot'. Making a living from poker would be great, but the poker stars do it through paid sponsorship not winnings.

Not true, I make my living playing online poker and have no sponsorships. Variance is greatly reduced when you play 6-10 tables at a time and are disciplined enough to put in a good amount of hours every day ...

I don't play poker myself, but I know there's some big money to be won. professionals can sometimes last several years on the winnings from one tournament!

Your limiting beliefs about poker are pretty off base, did you even read my post above?

It is possible to make a living off poker and not be one of the big name pros. I am living proof, I have paid living expenses for 2 people for over 3 years now solely on poker winnings. I have never deposited a cent, I got started off freerolls. If by paid sponsorship you mean rakeback, yes most pros have rakeback but its not limited to anyone just do a quick google search and you can find many sites with similar offers. (raketherake is well known)

One thing I have learned in the past few years as a pro poker player is that there will always be haters. I think anytime people try to go their own way and break the script that is set out for them people will resist, because they have been programmed all their life that the script is the only way. (highschool-college/university-9-5 job-married-kids-picket fence-retire-die)

For people with lots of ambition to make it on their own and be their own boss I think poker is a perfect venture to look into. Just go into it with the mindset that its a business and treat it like one and you will succeed.

Peace

Well said!:D

I think this statement is very true.

Ah, Ken Nubo, there is something horribly inspiring about you!