All this online poker hype reminds me of the bubble, there is sooo much dumb money out there for the taking if you can play. Eventually, when the the hype dies down and people get bored of playing or lose too much there will be mostly good players left and the easy money will be gone. BTW, I like to play on Pokerstars for small money for fun.
It doesn't matter that you hardly make any money trading now because you are 100% correct. I am sure you will make a lot of money later. A winning poker player has everything he needs to succeed at trading. He just has to study the markets and compile conditional probabilities. Then he has to remember that these probabilities change over time and have an adapation system in place. That's it!
IMO, the dumb money implosion is already happening. The Party $100 NL sng's are now tougher than the $200 NL sng's were less than a year ago. Switching from poker to trading makes all the sense in the world to me, as poker is a dull grind and trading is far more interesting.
Poker is sooooooooooo much easier to be profitable than trading, bottom line. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it is easy to make money playing poker on line. However, the advantage a successful player has is exploiting the weak players, the fish. There are so many who get "the bug", and think if they follow what the book says, they will make money. That's what makes poker so attractive. One goes onto a site, checks the average pot size of each table (such a good thing they have), and that is where the advantage comes in. As trite as it sounds, one who is attuned to the game can identify the sucker in 2 min. Once that is done, it is money time. You have people calling down hands with bottom pair, or ace high. They will bet into you consistantly thinking you will fold to their obvious bluff. They will chase gut shot str8 draws, etc...The key, is that they never deviate from their playing style. Once you see the pattern, that is how the chips start falling into your lap. You can not do that in trading, period! If we were trading against each other, then maybe. That not being the case, there are no "fish" for one to feast on. If anything, we are the meal for the big boys. My advice, stick to being the predator, not the prey.
I'm a professional trader. I can tell you that the biggest problem for any starting trader is longevity. It takes time and lots of money to figure out what ego, discipline, execution, commission/ exchange fee structure costs and other demons you have to overcome to realize a profit in trading. In my opinion, starting out with $5k is just not enough to uncover, learn from and overcome these issues. You have a slight advantage over a new trader because you have already dealt with the issue of losing money. You might strongly consider saving some more to give yourself a chance. Coming in with $5k is like showing up at a table in Vegas with $500 with $10 blinds. By the time you think you have it figured out, you need to head to the ATM machine or home. Good luck.
Alright, first off, it is very unlikely you make $300/hr playing 1000NL. That aside, here's my advice to you. Stick to playing poker on the side to keep your cash flow moving. While you are probably exaggerating your win rate, I will still assume you are a winning player and have probably been winning at the 1000NL and the 200NL(the old max NL at party) games. There's no need to give up this easy money while the amount of fish is peaking. In regards to trading, just give it a shot. Don't let anyone on this board tell you to save your time or just say how much harder trading is. Just do it. Read up on some different things, try to find an approach/style you like. Whether you are big on technical analysis or do a bunch of arb stuff with systems or anything. Being a winning poker player and being a profitable trader do have some similarities, but ultimately they are different games. My main concern is that you are buying into trading as a get rich quick scheme. It really isn't -- well, not entirely anyway. It will require a lot of determination, study, and luck. No guaranteed success. Your poker gig is more of a "sure" thing. Also, the fact that there are more experienced traders than ever in the markets doesn't mean much. Still the same old game, just a few less tricks that work. That said, it's still just supply and demand, just a marketplace for buyers and sellers. Interpret it how you like. Lastly, I would like to say that www.twoplustwo.com sucks. Too much attitude. For others, I have an old post archived about how I made an 8,000% return on $100. Well, now it's more like a 20,000% return. I've decided to let the cat out of the bag. I did this through online casino bonus arbitrage. If any of you are interested in this, check out www.bonuswhores.com. That's all for now. Just a few things I felt like pointing out. Good luck.
It is simple do both. If you want to play with $5000 I strongly suggest you play/learn either futures spread trading or currency trading (ala forex), these markets are not easy but set up for part timers and people on the cheap.... $5000 in the stock market with PDT(Pattern daytrading) rules and 50% leverage is not viable. I have a risk management software to position trade a basket of forex pairs ala the turtle trading methodology. I am willing to give it to you (comes with a pdf) PS if you really want to daytrade just hang out at the Woddies CCI chatroom but give yourself 6 months to learn the ins and outs Wooddies have made more professional daytraders than anyone I know in this business. Just google 'woodies cci' he does not charge a dime.
Oh please not even close ! To the poker player .... Trading and poker are very different no matter what anyone in here tells you. One requires luck to be successful (even at the higher levels) and the other requires education, hard work and patience (no luck necessary). I play a good game of poker and can win a 100 player tourney 3 out of 10 times but I have never crossed over to pro but I'm thinking about it. I would like to hear about your game.