The Student Room Group

Playing Online Poker to pay Uni fee's

Anyone play poker online? Have a few friends of mine who do and are also trying to set up a poker society for land based events as well, kind of a "poker club" if you like.

Some of them are pretty damn good and are making enough cash that they dont actually have to get a job like the rest of us!!

Anyone else play? Also, i've heard that there's a new site coming out soon who are offering to pay course fee's for upto 2 years!! Anyone know who it is or when it's being launched?

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Reply 1
I know of one guy who did this, but then got a professional contract and earns a lot more than 3k a year
Reply 2
new site that pays your uni fees? sick

I know a lot of uni students that get through uni playing poker, they're all at top unis, and have got huge poker bankrolls
Reply 3
I play and without bragging am pretty mint at it
Once coming 2nd in like a 2550 player tournament
low stakes so didnt win much but as soon as im 18 i might as well have a decent flutter

Most people think its all about bluffing, bluffing is usually a last resort
Its all about only playing your power hands or playing when you are in a good position on the table
hence the pros never play more than 25% of hands 6 handed
and most poker rooms are 10 handed
so as a rule i try to keep to playing less than 20%
gets abit boring after a while though
but if you only play your good hands you make it as hard as possible for someone to beat you

If you play more you tend to get emotionally attached to a hand that looks like it might be good but in reality its ****, so you have the difficulty of folding them.

Most pros only bluff to try and make themsleves out to be agressive when in reality there a safe player, for example in a good position bluffing when your dealt ****.
Reply 4
Gambling is a losing battle at the best of times, but relying on it for your Uni fees would just be criminally stupid.
Reply 5
Dionysus
Gambling is a losing battle at the best of times, but relying on it for your Uni fees would just be criminally stupid.


This one doesn't play.

Tell me, then, how poker players earn a living? Do they do nights at Taco Bell?
Reply 6
chrisbellx
This one doesn't play.

Tell me, then, how poker players earn a living? Do they do nights at Taco Bell?


No but they frequently lose everything and go bankrupt. When you're at University the stakes are far too high to risk doing something like that. Not to mention, if you become a gambling addict, which is a very real danger, you not only end up tens of thousands of pounds in debt, but also completely unable to concentrate on your studies. The Student Loans Company is there for a reason, and if you want a litte extra money for luxury purchases, do a few nights in a bar or something.
Reply 7
Dionysus
No but they frequently lose everything and go bankrupt. When you're at University the stakes are far too high to risk doing something like that. Not to mention, if you become a gambling addict, which is a very real danger, you not only end up tens of thousands of pounds in debt, but also completely unable to concentrate on your studies. The Student Loans Company is there for a reason, and if you want a litte extra money for luxury purchases, do a few nights in a bar or something.


You realise that there are a lot of poker players who regularly win top tournaments, giving them a very very nice income?

Playing poker is not at all like playing blackjack or sports betting, both of which are heavily engineered so that you will lose.
Reply 8
I play online a lot, mostly at pstars and fulltilt.

It's not that hard to make a little bit of pocket money on online poker if you know what you're doing. However, to make enough cash to pay for uni is a different matter. You'd need to be playing fairly high stakes with a large bankroll. Of course you could whack your loan and overdraft in but i'd advise against that for obvious reasons.

First of all, you need to be a winning player. Any idiot can get lucky in poker because there's so much luck involved, but you need to be winning over long periods of time. You also need to be able to handle the variance. I.e. you could go for months without winning anything even if you're playing well.

Second you need to have good bankroll management. Your bankroll is the amount of money you can afford to invest (not neccessarily the amount of money in your poker account), say £200. You could probably afford to lose that as a student and not be to bad off. Now, you should only be playing with 5% of your bankroll. This is to help with variance, i.e. if you play with the entire 200 you could get 'sucked out' on in the first hand and lose it all, then you're screwed. Also, you're going to play differently with your entire bankroll because you'll want to protect it too much (this is not good).

So that works out at £10, which would be about $0.10/$0.20 stakes. I estimate that if you 'three tabled' (play three tables at the same time) at these stakes you could maybe make about $10 an hour. So playing for 5 hours a night, 5 nights a week would earn you around £125 a week. BUT, this assumes that you are a WINNING player and does not take into account variance, which as i explained before means you could win nothing for ages.

You should also realise that playing for 5 hours a night is easier said than done. Assuming you take neccessary breaks every hour or so, this could become 7 or 8 hours. You couldn't afford to be tired either as this would affect your play. Playing poker at this volume can also become very very monotonous and boring. You may also see that fitting this between your social life and studies might become a problem.

Personally when i'm at uni I intent to play mostly tournaments (which i consider my strength) and set myself a weekly budget of say £20. This way i can just play for fun, when i want to, and if i get lucky, i get lucky. My biggest tournament cash to date was over a grand which came in very handy at the time, if I can do that at uni I will be a very happy man...

Apologies for the mega-long post, but hopefully this has helped you a little. My advice would be to talk to your friends who you say win a lot and get some tips off them. Also read loads of poker books, they will improve your game loads. Good luck! :biggrin:
While there are professional players who regularly perform well, you can be dead certain that all of them suffer 'bad spells' and a lot of them probably lost lots early in their careers.
Reply 10
Personally I think poker is 70% skill 30% luck
and thats if you arent any good at reading people

I think for the pros player against normal people its probably around 80% skill 20% luck

The whole reason they are good is because they know how to cope when luck isnt going there way
they dont lose their temper and bet on rubbish
they are willing to wait around for a decent hand
Reply 11
2nd2god


The whole reason they are good is because they know how to cope when luck isnt going there way
they dont lose their temper and bet on rubbish
they are willing to wait around for a decent hand


haha you would think that:wink:
if im gonna play poker at uni ill join the poker soc. it'll be much more fun, and the stakes arent as high
I'd say betting on horse racing offers a more controlled and reliable method of funding any degree which will consume less time. Most people who say they play poker for a living are just poker enthusiasts looking for something to validate their addiction.
Reply 14
Alive
You realise that there are a lot of poker players who regularly win top tournaments, giving them a very very nice income?

Playing poker is not at all like playing blackjack or sports betting, both of which are heavily engineered so that you will lose.


But there are also a lot of poker players who lose everything? And I'm sure the amount of people who make it as top poker pros is less than than the amount who become addicts/lose everything/go bankrupt.
Reply 15
Ok peeps, update time!

I have insider knowledge about this new poker site that is due to be released sometime around september/october. Got from a friend of a friend of a friend sort of thing but i've checked out the website that my friend says he's heard a "strong whisper" about and it seems ok.

Obviously, i don't want to get banned from here for advertising or anything crazy like that so if you want the site address, mail me and i'll let you know then you can all come back here and tell me what you think of it.

From what i can gather, this site is going to be hosting tournaments 2 or 3 times a year and the winners get the chance to have their course fees paid for upto 2 years. But don't quote me on that, it's just what i've heard!!

Mail me!
Reply 16
sonicboooom
I play online a lot, mostly at pstars and fulltilt.

It's not that hard to make a little bit of pocket money on online poker if you know what you're doing. However, to make enough cash to pay for uni is a different matter. You'd need to be playing fairly high stakes with a large bankroll. Of course you could whack your loan and overdraft in but i'd advise against that for obvious reasons.

First of all, you need to be a winning player. Any idiot can get lucky in poker because there's so much luck involved, but you need to be winning over long periods of time. You also need to be able to handle the variance. I.e. you could go for months without winning anything even if you're playing well.

Second you need to have good bankroll management. Your bankroll is the amount of money you can afford to invest (not neccessarily the amount of money in your poker account), say £200. You could probably afford to lose that as a student and not be to bad off. Now, you should only be playing with 5% of your bankroll. This is to help with variance, i.e. if you play with the entire 200 you could get 'sucked out' on in the first hand and lose it all, then you're screwed. Also, you're going to play differently with your entire bankroll because you'll want to protect it too much (this is not good).

So that works out at £10, which would be about $0.10/$0.20 stakes. I estimate that if you 'three tabled' (play three tables at the same time) at these stakes you could maybe make about $10 an hour. So playing for 5 hours a night, 5 nights a week would earn you around £125 a week. BUT, this assumes that you are a WINNING player and does not take into account variance, which as i explained before means you could win nothing for ages.

You should also realise that playing for 5 hours a night is easier said than done. Assuming you take neccessary breaks every hour or so, this could become 7 or 8 hours. You couldn't afford to be tired either as this would affect your play. Playing poker at this volume can also become very very monotonous and boring. You may also see that fitting this between your social life and studies might become a problem.

Personally when i'm at uni I intent to play mostly tournaments (which i consider my strength) and set myself a weekly budget of say £20. This way i can just play for fun, when i want to, and if i get lucky, i get lucky. My biggest tournament cash to date was over a grand which came in very handy at the time, if I can do that at uni I will be a very happy man...

Apologies for the mega-long post, but hopefully this has helped you a little. My advice would be to talk to your friends who you say win a lot and get some tips off them. Also read loads of poker books, they will improve your game loads. Good luck! :biggrin:


Man knows what he's talking about :biggrin: I wouldn't even consider playing poker to pay for my uni fees, but like sonic says, it's quite easy to make some pocket money if you play consistent good poker, meaning i wouldn't have to eat from the canteen, and will enjoy a great social life while i'm there. Quadtabling and hitting the bonuses you could easily turn $50 into $2000 over a couple of months, and if your playing good poker at the same time at least $10/h.

Anyway, enough babbling. In short, i wouldn't consider it for uni fees, but for uni lifestyle and a good laugh i intend to join the society and play a fair bit of online poker still.
Reply 17
Why in the hell was this in Sports???

2nd2god
Its all about only playing your power hands or playing when you are in a good position on the table
It's a bit more than that, to be fair. If you're a rock and only play the top hands (AA, KK, QQ, AK, etc.) then after a while people will twig and will fold as soon as you move your chips in. You've got to shuffle things about from time to time (though don't be daft and play Gus Hansen's kamikaze style with any old hand :biggrin:), and it's all about playing your hands well.
Reply 18
Dalimyr
Why in the hell was this in Sports???

It's a bit more than that, to be fair. If you're a rock and only play the top hands (AA, KK, QQ, AK, etc.) then after a while people will twig and will fold as soon as you move your chips in. You've got to shuffle things about from time to time (though don't be daft and play Gus Hansen's kamikaze style with any old hand :biggrin:), and it's all about playing your hands well.


Yeah suppose its about playing that style but making people think you are playing losley, so every so often playing a **** hand on purpose and preferabbly showing your cards, when your playing garbage.
Reply 19
Exactly :smile: Then if you get a great hand the next time, you push all-in and people think you've gone on tilt and call you just for the sake of it :biggrin: