Giving up the job to play pro?

[stanzee]

I figure by this time next year i'll have the bankroll to give up my job the way things are going at the moment. Thing is though, i don't really want to pin all my hopes of future success on online poker so have decided i'll go to college for 3 years to get a degree. Anyone got any ideas on courses? Here is the criteria:

Can't be too demanding (nothing ridiculous like physics etc) thus leaving me enough time to play plenty of poker.

Must have good career prospects at the end of it.

I have good mathematical and reasoning skills so probably something academic would be more suitable then something creative.

Need to make the parents proud, so no mickey mouse courses please.

[The Yugoslavian]

Sounds like you're talking about Economics to me.

Of course, this is the wrong forum and you've left out a lot of potentially helpful details considering I doubt many (or any) on this forum know much about you.

Yugoslav

[stanzee]

Economics - yeah, good idea... studied it before as well, plus i live in london so could get a nice tidy city job at an investment bank or something at the end of it, if the easy poker money dries up in 4 years time (which i suspect it will). Thanks.

Any other ideas?

Perhaps you should look at business related courses? If you are as comfortable with math as you state, perhaps accounting or business management in general? I know you mentioned creative related programs not being desired, but perhaps you should consider business marketing as math plays a very key role here in the sense of accounting, finances, and economics.

The reason why I would suggest a business major for anyone serious about playing poker is that it will do several things for you (based on my experiences):

1) Increase the likelihood of being disciplined in regards to managing your play schedule, your bankroll, and your game theory.

2) If you primarily play online, you could perhaps parlay your newfound business skills into starting an online (or offline) business that you could then run in synch with playing online poker from a home office. This is what I do.

2a) I am also in the process of starting a poker related venture as part of an advertising properties group. This will create some opportunities for me (and my partners) to play a higher volume of games at higher stakes, while at the same time minimizing our risk vs. reward ratio due to it being a foundation of our marketing plans. Had I not have taken business marketing seriously during a particular semester, I probably never would of thought of this idea.

Anyhow, as the above poster mentioned. What are your interests? Prior to poker, did you ever see yourself doing anything career wise in a long-term sense? What do you do currently?

By the way, based on your other post that I just read. A home business will probably be best if you wish to get hammered with the liquid courage on the job. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[stanzee]

Thanks for the ideas Rambo. Never really had any particular career aspirations before poker, and probably should have gone to university as soon as i left school. At the moment i'm in a pretty dull 9-5 accounting job and would rather hang myself then stay in this job forever. As for interests.... not many i'm afraid /images/graemlins/blush.gif drinking, going to pubs, bars, nightclubs, shooting pool, football, women and poker of course. The wonderful thing about poker is it may (or may not if things go badly) give me a chance to get out of the current rut i'm in.

[lehighguy]

Go to college. Easiest party of your life.

[Rogue5]

[ QUOTE ]
Go to college. Easiest party of your life.

[/ QUOTE ]

depending on your major...

[chezlaw]

[ QUOTE ]
I figure by this time next year i'll have the bankroll to give up my job the way things are going at the moment. Thing is though, i don't really want to pin all my hopes of future success on online poker so have decided i'll go to college for 3 years to get a degree. Anyone got any ideas on courses? Here is the criteria:

Can't be too demanding (nothing ridiculous like physics etc) thus leaving me enough time to play plenty of poker.

Must have good career prospects at the end of it.

I have good mathematical and reasoning skills so probably something academic would be more suitable then something creative.

Need to make the parents proud, so no mickey mouse courses please.

[/ QUOTE ]

I recommend maths. No essays, litle to memorise, least hours per week for those who don't fear maths.

Its also very versatile and well respected by employers/parents.


chez

[Guthrie]

Nursing.

Any job that doesn't absolutely require you to place your hands on the customer or his property will have been exported by the time you get out of school.

[lehighguy]

Doesn't matter. Even an engineering undergrad has it easy. You drink, [censored], and hang out. Where else can you find such a good time.

[Acehawk74]

Im in my final year of Finance... and my original major was Mathematics. I ended up chosing Finance for personal reasons financially, and the amount of classes offered at the time at my school. I find Finance very enticing, and challenging, while not over the top in difficulty. Additionally, Finance has a great job outlook, as well as your increased knowledge on how to plan for the future, money management, investments, as well as general overall views of the language of business(Accounting technically, but we all know business's primary goal is $$$). Economics would also be a great choice, either one would suit what you are describing.

Just my .02.


Also Great choice on college. Sure you may make it as a pro poker player, but personally, i'd rather be a part time pro as well as successful in a career.. that way you just make that much extra =) Regardless, it is the right decision. Good luck!

[chezlaw]

[ QUOTE ]
Doesn't matter. Even an engineering undergrad has it easy. You drink, [censored], and hang out. Where else can you find such a good time.

[/ QUOTE ]

It may all be a good time but engineering is hard workd compared to many other courses. Avoid it unless you love engineering or want to be an engineer.

chez

[lehighguy]

I'm just trying to give a steryotypically hard major. If you cut out all of the study breaks and screwing around I can't think of a major where you could possibly spend more then 8 hours a day working, assuming your not taking an overload of credits and your maintaining a 3-3.5 GPA.

The point is the kid should go to college. It's a blast. And there will be tons of free time to play poker.

[chezlaw]

[ QUOTE ]
The point is the kid should go to college. It's a blast. And there will be tons of free time to play poker.


[/ QUOTE ]
So true. I couldn't agree more.



[ QUOTE ]
8 hours a day working

[/ QUOTE ]

Gasp. I think he should be looking at something closer to 8 hours a week.

chez

[TheBlueMonster]

[ QUOTE ]
Giving up the job to play pro?

[/ QUOTE ]
One of the more helpful things Phil Hellmuth said was that he'd let his kids play poker, but not as a career.
Very few people truly can make enough money playing poker that it would justify not getting a degree of some sorts. Like when someone tries to justify their decision to go pro because they made 40K in a year. That's not nearly as much money as you'd make in a normal job with a Bachelors degree.

[ThaHero]

I'm also thinking about going back to school. Just to ease my mom's soul. Plus I think she would accept my massive amounts of poker I'm playing a little easier.

Still not sure on a major though. A life-long dream was to become a sports agent but with my grades from previous years I doubt I'll ever get into law school. I might just screw around in the GEs a few more years who knows. When I'm in college I'm so lost. Be happy you have some sort of idea with what you wanna do with your life.

[Mister Z]

[ QUOTE ]
Like when someone tries to justify their decision to go pro because they made 40K in a year. That's not nearly as much money as you'd make in a normal job with a Bachelors degree.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that I'm disagreeing with you, but this isn't necessarily true. Depends on your degree, experience, and the area you live in. Someone coming out of college with a BA in Sociology living in BFE, TX probably won't make 40K for a lot of years.

[elena_elphie]

It sounds like you are trying to choose a career path/degree based on what you feel you ought to do instead of what is in your heart. My advice would be to first discover the field that ignites your passions, and from there figure out a way to make money with it. Too many people waste so much of their lives studying things they don't care about, and then working at jobs they hate. It's not worth it.

[MegaBet]

[ QUOTE ]
Economics - yeah, good idea... studied it before as well, plus i live in london so could get a nice tidy city job at an investment bank or something at the end of it, if the easy poker money dries up in 4 years time (which i suspect it will). Thanks.

Any other ideas?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I gave up the investment banker's life to play poker full time. It'll be easy to get back in to once the poker dries up and/or I start losing.

[MyTurn2Raise]

accounting...it's what i did and seemed pretty easy...respectable and good job prospects.

[Sully]

I got a finance degree, and in the end, it really doesn't mean too much. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I got the degree, it's just not a really specific field.

If I could do it over again, I would get a degree in Real Estate. You would have a four year degree, as well as a real estate license, which is a great thing to have if you are going to play poker for a living.

You might be shocked at how much money you can make at your "side business" of Real Estate. And it's the type of job that you can do anywhere you want.

My .02

Nothing in our politically correct universities is demanding anymore. You could take womyn's studies so you could learn to blame everything from bad beats to dandruff on men.