Originally Posted by jaman

I do not know. Poker is a game of instinct reading other players and mathematical odds. It takes a lot of skill you could read hundreds of books and take hundreds of classes but it can not explain the random probability of cards and what can vs what will occur?? understand

Of course books can explain random probability. They can also explain everything possible that could occur given every poker situation imaginable.

Probability takes up at least one full chapter of every good poker book.

I just thought about one more thing
it may be easier to win bigger-stakes tournaments or cash games when you're starting (and have a good understading of the game)
the problem is that, the more often you play, more players will get to know you, analyze your game and try to learn some tells by betting size or time

that means you'll have to take more care with your timing while playing on-line and readapt your game to include the new knowledge of your opponents
it basically starts with the question:
"does he know that I do X?"
then it can go to "does he know that I know that he knows that I do X?"
and can go further and further

so, playing poker good isn't all about "instincts", you probably have to study a lot your big opponents, watch they playing, etc

maybe just playing "standard" what most people would call correct poker you can get a small edge, or break even
but you'll need to dodge your own tells and players who can read you


EDIT: that's basically what I mean (at 4 minutes): www.youtube.com/watch?v=onwZ8DN775M&t=4m2s (for some reason I couldn't link that with the http://)

you have horrible bankroll management plans.

Anyone can become a professional Poker Player or Gambler,

If you do not have a regular ''9-5'' Job and your only income is playing poker and you have a big enough BR to always pay your bill's,eat buy clothes etc. Then in essence poker is your job there for you are a pro. player.

Good Luck but remember one thing having to rely on playing poker to survive and having it your only way of income, well it is not for everyone
It may seem like by choosing this as your fulltime job well be so awesome and thinking your going to live like a rock star well i have news for you even though you will have a sleeping schedule like a rock star waking up at 4pm going to sleep at 7am or sometime not sleeping for days you have to remember being a rock star,rapper movie star whatever they are guaranteed to make money where in gambling you are not.

You may go on a 3 month winning streak when starting out and your thing wow this is everything i thought it would be

Well what happens when you have not won a poker session in 4 months then you win a few and here comes the sick roller-coaster ride that only a few people honestly have the mentality to handle losing 400k in one session,

I can Honestly say I have never had a regular job I started gambling when i was 13yrs old started playing pool and started to take it real serious when I was about 15yrs old playing for thousands of dollars,luckily for me though I had a backer who was a Millionaire and was a gambler, so even though I would play in a 9-ball game say a race to 7 for 5k if i lost 5 sessions losing 25k I really never felt that feeling of losing the money because it was not my money I got half of everything I won but believe me I won alot more than I lost, even though my backer was a Millionaire he was a business man and obviously not a dumb one..

Then came 2003 the Poker Boom and pool took a back seat and all the money went to poker witch was no big deal I played poker too, well what i thought i knew about poker i knew nothing but now I'm playing with my own Bankroll and I remember the first time i lost 20k of my own money it stung i wasn't use of that feeling i got use to it quick though but knowing that i had no trade,never went to school It was One of two things for me be a broke bum on the street the rest of my life or take poker and practice as serious as I did when i started out playing pool and that's what i did and well I'm 28 and I have enough money to slow down but There is just something inside me I have no idea what it is but I have to always have some type of action or i get depressed so i am one of the few who can handle the huge swings and there are other people i grew up with in the same pool hall had to quit gambling cause they couldn't handle losing 50k and the emotional roller-coaster that comes with this life style

Even though the feeling of winning 600k in one session of poker playing a 5hr session it is indescribable on the other hand losing that much is the same feeling but completely the opposite if it makes any since.

So my advise is if you have a day job don't go crazy and quit just because your on a 4 month winning streak before doing that make sure you have at the min. enough money to get you by for a year and with all that good luck bro