i have been wanting to write one of these for a while and i think now is as good a time as any. i have been working in finance for three years and have just got jack of my job and quit. i actually want to stay in finance but need to move to another company / slightly different industry. i am currently in portfolio management but want to move to a trading environment.

given the economy at the moment and the role that i am going for it could take a few months to get the job i am going for. in the meantime i have decided to play live poker and try to grind out a living. i have been playing live and online for about four years. i am maybe 2k up online at that time and probably 20k up live. thats something like $1/hr winrate online and maybe $30 an hour live.

i have tried to imrove my game online and move up stakes but maybe i am just not that good. for the last few months i have been playing $6-22 HU SnGs on FT with moderate success. nevertheless i find online just too hard to make reasonable money. it seems that you need to be 1) very good 2) mass multi-table 3) very focused and completely tilt-free.

live is completely different for me. whenever i play live i feel like the best player at the table (by FAR). i feel comfortable in so many different spots and rarely second-guess myself. anyway, i have two weeks left in my current role before i start playing full time. at the moment i am playing maybe four days a week anyway.

this blog will record my success (or failure?) over the next few months and i will share my thoughts on being a LIVE pro. i started tracking my results again about a week ago. this is all 1/2NL.

oct 09, 10hrs, +924
oct 11, 2hrs, +143
oct 12, 3hrs, -400
oct 15, 3.5hrs, +385
oct 16, 4.5hrs, +69
oct 17, 4hrs, -400

total +721 over 27hrs

here is a hand from my last session.

me on the button with ATs. three limpers for $2, i raise to $12 and get one caller in the SB and one caller in MP. flop is Q62 rainbow. check-check- i cbet $15. SB has about $70 in front of him. he thinks for half a minute and then calls. MP folds. turn is a Q. SB shoves for $55 and i snap call. SB mucks before the river is even dealt!