Is it time to pack it in?

[LondonImp]

tl;dr - not enjoying my stakes anymore but no bankroll to move up - time to quit?


It's been an incredibly busy 12 months outside of poker for me: moved halfway across the country, got a new job, bought my first house, got married, and got a puppy. I'm not going to tell you which of those things I'm most happy with apart from the fact that she's four-legged and very hairy...

The result of this is I have far less free time on my hands and less expendable cash than I used to.

Poker as a game is moving on at an incredibly fast pace, right down to in-depth discussions taking place NL4 tables online and as a result the game is now tough to beat even at the lowest stakes without a good amount of ongoing studying. If I lived near a casino it might be different but online is all I've got available...

I love the game of poker as a whole but to be honest I'm just plain bored of trying to grind up the microstakes cash tables for a couple of quid an hour because I feel my time could be better spent elsewhere.

Would you guys recommend switching to a 100% study approach until my financial situation changes, switching from cash to playing MTTs as and when I can because, let's be honest, they are more exciting, or maybe just call a day on the whole thing? I absolutely refuse to move to higher stakes cash just for the excitement and [EDIT: TO SEE IF:] I could beat it and put everything else at risk.

[1Peter510]

I am in a similar boat in terms of having to play online (4 hours away from closest casino). What I recently started doing is to put in most of my time studying, then play a few hours a week in micro stakes online as well as a MTT or two each week. Some weeks I don't play at all depending on my schedule. Then, once a month I make the 4 hour drive to a casino and play for the day. I will also make the trip to some of the Borgata opens during the year.

I don't multi table when playing online. I really try to focus and play as if I was at the casino (taking notes on my phone, trying to develop reads, etc).

I don't see me making a living with online poker ever (unless they make it legal in my state so I can play regulated sites), but I do hope to build up a bankroll mostly with my trips to the casino and get to where I am playing $5/$10. As I get more comfortable with $2/$5 I will look to make it a weekend trip to the casino and then maybe 2 weekends a month or more. Eventually, I hope to move closer to the casinos and start playing more full time, but that could be a couple of years or more.

[kkep]

HaHa I have a shit ton of casino's around me and I wish I could play online (I can't at all) more often than live.
You gotta do you bro. I didn't start playing until I was 50, once my main responsibilities were no longer a concern.

[RealJPB]

Your head sounds in the right place. Studying more and playing MTTs when you feel like it sounds reasonable. So does just taking a break if you’re not feeling it.

If poker is just a hobby for you at this point, then invest whatever time and money would be reasonable were it any other hobby.

[Guido]

hi london,

i can absolutely understand you. there are a lot of oppositions in my occupational and private life as well and I am the only one who considers poker as a real friend. last years I could play and study 2x - 2,5x

i try to study like every free minute but of course I cannot keeping pace with all the kids that have an incredible amount of time.

I am only playing mtt , my buyins get higher in general , the prizepool gets higher. its still very exciting and I am more motivated than playing very low stakes (what I am also doing)

with CG microstakes I could no motivate myself grinding it out as a I probably would earn more money with my job .. in a few days I will play a mtt where 1st place wiill get roughly 200k,perhaps close to 300k . thats exciting man

you need to stay in shape and oberserving the changes of the games you play , an 100% study approach is not recommandable to my honest opinion

btw fwiw AF wrote me in these days you make money by playing LIVE not online (i guess he knows what he is talking about) ,

online is getting tougher and tougher esp on the site i am playing , although having a positive winrate it is not a big one , so if you had the possibility to play live (dont matter whether cash or mtt) embrace it. as you dont have it I would recommand to run the online mtt circuit since this is way more exciting and probably easier to beat

[Bentley]

I've been playing 1/2 single table for about 6 months and it's quite tough but just beatable. I'm going to swap to multi tabling 50 or 100nl as that's easier even though rake % might be higher. I really want to play MTTs as that's how I started out and had some success but I just can't devote 6hrs + with kids, work, etc.
I play the big tournaments at a live casino but it's a different game to online (rarely see 4bets, even 3bets don't happen often, lots of loose calls preflop).

I do agree that grinding cash at these levels seems slow. The MTTs are more exciting but you won't make a big score often especially if you play the 2,000+ field tournies.

[reeeeeeper]

Yeah, take a break. When you have enough money, time and energy to start a bankroll to play SNGs and MTTs at the stake you want you can come back fresh. Congratulations on everything going on in your life!