Hi everyone, I'm Josh

[jcsmithson]

Hello,
My name is Josh(jcsmithson on stars). I'm new to this site and wanted to say hi to everyone. I watched a couple videos and am enjoying them. I just watched a video by trikkur and I must say, you seem like you hit a lot of flops, I'm impressed, probably one of the luckiest players I've seen in a while if you believe in luck.

Anyway, I like hanging out at 2+2 and talking poker, so I was thinking about dropping by here from time to time to see what I could contribute and to participate in some good discussions.

I'm a regular at 5NL on Stars right now and taking shots at 10NL with pretty good success lately. My current and primary goal is to become self-sustainable on poker income alone which I think means 50NL.

Good luck to all ya'll out there doing the same.

-J

[Vantek]

Hello

I would warn you that making decent money with poker is great, but counting on it is not. It's great if you can make enough money to sustain yourself, but unless you have two year's living expenses, a 50BI roll, and the mental fortitude to stay on your A game during a 30BI downswing or 3 month breakeven stretch you should have a very clear plan B.

[jcsmithson]

My plan B is working at McDonalds. I really don't mind.

[Vantek]

OK, if that was your option before you found out about poker, go for it ^^ You just see too often people leaving college because they're making a ton of money, then finally hit a string of bad luck, break down emotionally which only aggravates the problem, and there you have it, broken dreams and screwed up future.

I thought I was in a similar situation as you - poker or McDonalds. Hit a 20BI downswing followed by a BE stretch and things didn't work out :P Thankfully, because I still continued struggling with university, I now may have better options than McDonalds after all.

[jcsmithson]

It's really good advice man. I'm beginning to scratch the surface of what it really takes to be successful at poker and it's a lot. More than that. It's a ton of hard hard work and determination and planning and life management.

[Vantek]

I think the only significant thing that separates poker from other jobs is variance. Hard work, determination, responsibility, that kind of stuff is necessary for being successful at any job. But understanding and tolerating variance is specific to poker.

First of all, peole are just very bad at understanding variance, period. Human intuition cannot grasp it. Secondly, our emotional reward system is not optimal for a variance-based activity either. Third, risk is risk and it's never good.

Other than this though, poker is not unlike any other intellect-based job. Except I guess you also don't have to take shit from anyone (except lady Fortuna...).

[zomfgwtfbbq]

Originally Posted by jcsmithson

It's really good advice man. I'm beginning to scratch the surface of what it really takes to be successful at poker and it's a lot. More than that. It's a ton of hard hard work and determination and planning and life management.

If you read Zen and the Art of Poker, pretty much sums it up. LOL It's a way of life.