While I don’t think it’s a good idea to rely on poker as additional source of income (uncertain cash flows with potential for losses), kudos to you if you were able to earn steady income from it! I’ve been trying to get grip of the game for some time now (just for fun times) but couldn’t even manage to best my friends. Can you recommend some sources nielsendc?
In the movie “Premium Rush”, the antagonist is a corrupt cop who runs up a gambling debt in illegal Chinatown card rooms. Then, he gets into a fight and accidently kills the Chinese bouncer. The story is about chasing the bike messengers around town, as they are carrying some sort of money document. So, I think if you want to rely on gambling, make sure to not go far into debt and kill the bouncer in a fit of rage. Also, how is Dania Ramirez so hot in that movie? She should be in more movies.
I’ve never seen premium rush but it sounds awesome, ill check that out!
As far as learning the game, I highly recommend virtually anything published by a company called 2+2. They tend to approach the game more academically than any other publishing company and many of their authors are major authorities in poker theory. One author/pro is named David Sklansky and has his background in game theory and applied math and is often credited with being one of the first people to actually approach the game from a mathematically rigorous perspective. 2+2 also has a forum which is excellent.
As far as what books specifically, it depends on which game you’re going to focus on, limit or no-limit. Limit cash games are where I’ve spent most of my time. If you’re starting out with limit, I would highly suggest reading “Small Stakes Hold’em” by David Skalnsky and Mason Malmuth. Although it says small stakes, the games in which it describes can usually be found as high up as 20-40 in large casinos with lots of players which an average winning player will usually win $30-40 an hour. The single most important thing for new players to focus on is hand selection, and this books discusses this at length. After this book, I would move on to “Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players” again by Sklansky and Malmuth. Finally, I would absolutely read “The Theory of Poker” by Sklansky. This book is to poker what Security Analysis is to investing.
If you have an interest in No-limit, classics include Doyle Brunsons Power Poker and Power Poker 2. I’m a huge fan of a guy named Dan Harrington however and he has several volumes both on tournaments and cash games. “Harrington on cash games” vol 1&2 would be a great start.
I could talk forever about poker so if anyone has any other questions don’t hesitate to ask!
Nielsendc
correction: The Doyle Brunson books actually go by the name Super System: A Course in Power Poker.
Which would you recommend getting into, limit or no limit? I’ve never actually played no limit, but then I’m always just playing with the buddies so we’re a little less anal about the rules lol
I’d probably start off with limit for a couple of reasons. First, playing poker well is really just understanding the fundamentals behind winning play vs non winning play. It’s much easier to learn the correct fundamentals beginning with limit play because you’re reducing the number of variables to consider (bet size, stack size, coverage, etc). Also, one misstep in NL and you can lose your whole buy-in which can easily make you unmotivated to continue playing. Another reason I’d start with limit, is small stakes limit is probably the easiest game to learn how to beat quickly. A few sessions at the table and maybe a good book and already you’ve got a decent shot at playing a winning style at your average low limit table. The reason for this is because most players in low limit games play for a large variety of reasons, none of which is to take the game seriously and actually make money exploiting others bad play. As a result, the games in low limit card rooms are consistently very beatable. One very common thing you hear a lot is that people talk about low limit as no-foldem-holdem and complain that the games aren’t beatable because no one “respects the raises” and stay in to the end of the hand. This is simply a complete misunderstanding of where your profit actually comes from. While it is true your variance in these games can be quite high, they are by far the most profitable (relative to bet size).
In summary, I’d start with limit and get a couple sessions under your belt so youre comfortable with the rules, the action at the table etc. Then I’d start reading one of the books I recommended in the previous post.
One last comment, I would try to avoid games as low as 3-6 and try to at least play 4-8 and higher to start. The reason for this is even with winning play, it can be quite difficult to win over the long run due to the rake (money the dealer takes out of each pot, akin to a transaction cost). At the lower limits, the rake is such a high proportion to the bet size that it becomes difficult just to break even. (This is only really true for live games; if you play online you can certainly play much lower limits and in fact I’d recommend it since online games are usually filled with better players than in a live setting)
Teach could be fun! if you are a single and have the patience.
Getting back on track… what are some “real options”???
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night plumber
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CC finance teacher?
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Bar back at a nightclub.
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Join a small construction crew and learn to paint houses
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Keep them coming…
This is a great post.
Bartender at a club on weekends would probably be the funnest. You won’t make a $hitload but you won’t have to spend a $hitload to meet HCBs either.
You can make some pretty good money owning ATM’s, but for it to work you need a good location which can be pretty hard to come by… Newly constructed bars and stuff would be your best bet.
Buy an apartment building in a crappy neighborhood and become a slum lord. Slum apartments are potentially profitable since no one wants to buy real estate in crappy areas. My former boss said he has a friend who did this. The friend apparently asked him to help collect rent, and he can understand why, as the building made him “fear for his life”.
trying working your network to see if pros in the industry could use some help. outside of work, i’m currently
-consulting for the pe fund i used to work for (drafting investor letters, portfolio co monitoring, modeling)
-helping out an mba buddy that is launching a L/S fund in return for investment ideas
-looking at fundraising for a couple U.S. funds from Asian investors where i am currently