@FlexpertHamilton
I started playing live poker as a hobby a little over a year ago, though recently have decided to quit the game entirely and haven't played in over a month now.
With poker, you'd be better off playing live, competition is overall less intense and it's possible to get reads on your opponents, unlike online. I'm talking about tells, betting patterns, body language.......things like that. There is a reg player at the card room I went to that would fold his cards over one another a certain way whenever he was put into a spot he didn't like. Stuff like this is what makes the game interesting.
Most of the people that you are going to be playing against have at least some knowledge of the game, they aren't going to regularly be calling preflop raises with **** like 73 off suit lol. The level of competition is overall very high and comparable to your own skill level.
Starting out, you'd be playing the lowest stakes that are available, which means your overall profit level would be quit low. When you factor in things like the amount of time and energy playing it's honestly not that impressive. Let's use live play for instance, you have to drive to and from the casino or poker room. In addition to this, you'd be tipping the dealers AND the house is taking a cut of each pot with the rake, which varies depending upon where you are playing. This alone would cut well into your overall profit.
You'd also have to spend a lot of time doing things like reviewing hands to check for mistakes, studying charts, etc. Because most people that you are playing against are at least somewhat capable you need to have some skill and natural talent. I played a lot of chess and strategy games + was really big into investing, analyzing market conditions, etc., ultimately skills that transferred well into poker.
Something else to consider is that there is a huge emotional/mental aspect of the game. It's totally possible to get frustrated and angry, resulting in your playing like a maniac and punting money. This is a game that can put you on an emotional roller coaster quite easily and in my opinion is a major reason I'd reconsider.
To play poker with the hopes of trying to make real money means you have to be playing A LOT and working on your game behind the scenes. Are you potentially willing to invest hundreds and hundreds of hours into this? This is time that you could spend on other activities and hobbies, hanging out with friends, etc. It's also totally possible to sit down at a game and be card dead for literally hours, I've had several games where I literally did nothing but fold for 2 hours lol.
To play poker with the hopes of making real money also means having to play in higher stakes games. We are talking stuff like 5/10, 10/20, etc. Are you willing to sit down and buy in with $1500+ on a game where you very well could lose lol? It's totally possible to lose multiple games in a row or go on a very bad losing streak, would you be emotionally able to handle something like this?
And now to my final point..........
There is also a very large luck component to this game, despite what many poker players believe. It's totally possible to get into big hands where you are way ahead and get sucked out on. I can cite a ton of examples like this, one was flopping broadway with me holding A10 suited and the other guy has KQ and turns a full house. I've had multiple full house vs. full house and even quads. Multiple all ins with aces preflop and losing. It's also much easier to lose big than it is to win big.
Considering all of what I have mentioned, I believe that poker should just be a hobby and nothing more. If you are looking to make money playing poker you are going to become too attached to the results of your games, potentially putting yourself on a not so good path. I also think there are far easier and less stressful means of making money that have 0 possibility of you losing anything. You could go deliver pizzas at a busy restaurant and pull close to $30/hour......good luck making that in poker lol.
Something to keep in mind, I've seen reddit posts where "winning players" are at the end of it all making as little as $7/hour. If you think that's worth going through what I mentioned above I have no idea what to tell you lol.
