Above the Mean: Cash Out

Save for Later

Have you ever gone to bed only to lay there for hours on end without feeling the slightest bit closer to falling asleep?  Like having an itchy eye that gets itchier every time it is just about to go away, making it nearly impossible to lay off.  Or perhaps you forgot to turn the faucet off all the way and the slow drip is hammering into your mind getting stronger every minute you lay awake.

For me the process of cashing out my online poker funds is pressing a serious burden on my mind.  I make money, I'm happy, but then I can't sleep.  The process of getting what I've put my entire life into is incredibly stressful.  I understand why it takes so long for poker sites to cash out for U.S. players, I understand there is no way around it.  I also understand that if I want to get my money anytime soon, my bankroll is going to be bent over a counter and thrusted endlessly by Jamal(best name I could think of implying large size).  Right now the going rate for trading money off is 80 cents on the dollar.  That means if I were to cash out $10,000 I would be paying $2,000 just to get it off.  Do you understand how stressful that can be?

The entry and exit barriers for online poker are at an all time high for US players.  However, once you get your bankroll going the action is pretty good as you can get about $2k worth of buy ins every night if you grind both networks.  Because the entry levels are so high, the average player is much better on the US sites.  Right now I maintain just below a 50% ROI after rake back, on the lock network.  If I were to be grinding Euro sites my ROI would be significantly higher.  A different effect of the high entry barriers is big overlays on certain tournaments.  This is very important for US grinders, if you want to make money, you have to play tourneys with overlays.  It is the only way to make up for the combination of rake and cash out fees. 

I urge new comers to the online poker game to think about these factors before they consider doing it full time.  The exit barriers are almost forcing me out of this business, and to be honest without the overlay tournaments I probably would be done by now.  Also for the player looking to deposit and make a couple thousand and see that money within a week, its just never going to happen.  You should expect not to get any money out for a couple of months, its just that simple.  For those of you who are doing well in this current online poker economy, this is the hardest it will ever be.  You should be impressed with what you are doing, it is incredibly hard.  You should also be excited for the future that one day it will be legalized, because when it is legalized you should see your profits skyrocket.