Grinding refers to playing long hours at the poker table, often in the hopes of making a living. It's not a term that originated with poker – the dictionary definition of grind is 'hard dull work'. It conveys the idea of doing something repetitive and boring – in exchange for a monetary reward in the case of poker. . Read Real Grinders How To Play Poker For A Living. Uploaded By Roger Hargreaves, real grinders how to play poker for a living does not get boring each contributor has his or her own ideas of what is the the right stuff for a successful poker career some of the poker players contributing to this book see what they do has a job requiring a.
I've spent about five years playing poker for a living, almost exclusively. Admittedly, I was never a crusher of epic proportions, but I held my own and my living expenses were not too high so I was doing OK. However, after about three years of online grinding, I got tired of sitting in front of the computer screen and wanted to try something different.
Moving to the live grind
I live in a relatively small capital city with just about half a million people, so as you can imagine, the selection for a live tournament grinder is fairly limited. However, when I made my move, there were two casinos offering poker action almost every day of the week. These tourneys would usually attract anywhere between 20 and 60 people.
Hyatt place casino pittsburgh. It may seem like it wasn't worth it, but the rake was fairly small and the live players at the casino were, for the most part, horrible players. The tournaments staged were crushable for huge ROIs so based on what I saw at that point, I decided to give it a go.
My reasoning was that I'd go out and mingle with people while still doing what I loved and maintaining a healthy income. It certainly sounded way better than spending every day in your room, away from everybody and everything. Like most plans, this one sounded way better on paper.
Sometimes poker grinds you
What I failed to consider from the very onset was the fact that I was, by nature, an introvert. I never particularly craved to be surrounded by people or noise; it was more a case of me not really knowing what I wanted.
On the financial side of things, everything was pretty much as I anticipated. In fact, from the very start I went on a heater winning quite a few tourneys, which basically ensured that my roll, which was healthy to begin with, would be more than enough to cover any possible downswings.
The social aspect of the game did not go as well. First of all, most people are poor losers. It is not really that much different online, but online you don't have to deal with their outbursts. Live is a completely different story.
What I came to realize after a while was that at almost every final table, I was surrounded by the same people and most of them didn't really want me there. You could say that I shouldn't care; after all I was, by all definitions, a professional. But I did care, especially since the whole point of switching to live was to try and feel better.
Another thing that really ticked me off was all the aggressive characters. Considering that the buy-in for these tournaments was quite low and that we all basically knew each other, the amount of trash talk and threats from some of these guys was just unbelievable.
The reality of it all
Probably you won't have to deal with most of this in big casinos around the world. But I was where I was and I wanted to give it a shot. After about six months, I had a lot of cash on me (for my standards at least) but I was feeling more miserable than ever.
I played a bit longer, but eventually just gave up on the whole idea. It wasn't really worth my while. There were some great guys out there, most of whom I still talk to from time to time and see when I play a live event, once in a blue moon.
The whole point of this story is not to discourage anyone from trying a live grind. Everyone will have a different experience depending on so many factors. But don't let all the fleshiness you may see on TV or on social media fool you.
After all, it is called a grind for a reason.
Ivan Potocki is a veteran Titan Poker player who was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and spent part of his childhood under war conditions. He studied English language and literature and discovered Texas Hold'em while in college. After working different jobs he turned to poker full time and this serves as his main source of income. You can follow him on Twitter: @ivanpotocki
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So, you've decided that you want to try to grind out a living playing online poker? Good luck to you in your quest! Be forewarned that it's a difficult road, and a lot of players can be great at poker but still lack what it takes to be a successful, day-in/day-out grinder.
Nonetheless, here are a few tricks that successful grinders learn to accept:
Practice extreme bankroll management
Some poker how-to guides state that it's acceptable to have as much as 10% of your online roll in play in any given tourney or cash-game table. That is way too high; the variance of the game itself will ensure that a grinder wannabe will go broke sooner rather than later. 2-3% per table is more acceptable, and 1-1.5% may work as well.
Mind your stakes
Geant casino st tropez opening times. Don't move up in stakes until you're well bankrolled for the attempt, and if the move doesn't work, then step back down until you've rebuilt your roll for another shot. Variance isn't higher by itself at steeper buy-in levels, but the higher stakes by themselves assure that greater percentages of your roll are in play at any given time.
Know your daily profit
Your average days have to be profitable, not just your best ones. Just because you've won $200 on a handful of different days doesn't mean you can grind out a successful living. In fact, if that's your ceiling, you almost certainly can't. It's far too easy to focus on the good days and forget about the bad ones, but it's the net daily profit that really counts. Oh, and track your wins and losses, too.
Rethink your ideas of your 'best' game, adjust
So your best game is no-limit hold'em? Or pot-limit Omaha? Congrats, that holds for everyone else, too. In reality, your best game is the one in which you hold the greatest net advantage over your typical mix of opponents, whether that's NLHE, razz, or badugi. If you're the world's greatest H.O.R.S.E. player, you might not always find the game you want, but you should be prepared to take advantage of your edge when the right games pop up.
Know the best times to play
Online poker is available 24/7, but within that dependable anytime there are still times when each player should focus his or her efforts. Many grinder pros do much of their playing Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when the casual players – 'weekend warriors' are at their peak numbers. Others do better at certain times of day, since European players favor a slightly different mix of games and playing styles than their American or Australasian counterparts. Another tactic is to play when others are most likely on tilt from playing poker too long. Find your comfort zone, set your schedule, and stick with it.
Video Poker For A Living
Take breaks
For most players, the longer they play, the more automatic and weaker their game becomes. Recognizing that you're losing your competitive edge in a long session is just one part of practicing tilt control. If you're tired, hang it up for the day. Poker requires a clear head and focused thought, and anything less is just giving your money to your opponents.
Grinding Poker For A Living Rooms
Author:Joseph Falchetti (twitter)
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