Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

I already graduated college in June, with a degree in math. The "normal" course is to kiss ass and lie till I get a job, kiss ass and lie till I get a raise, kiss ass and lie till to keep from being fired when the company downsizes, and pray the company doesn't cut my retirement benefits.

Frankly, I don't like kissing ass and lying my whole life so I'll play poker as long as I can.

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

Debt, why does every college student need to go into debt up to their eyeballs to graduate. So they can "study full time and devote their efforts to the classroom?" Get a friggin job, use poker, moneymanage. Go to J.C. for two years and transfer. Don't go to Harvard. There are a ton of reasonably priced schools that a half-way responsible person can afford w/o mortgaging their future. What ever happened to working and school?

I bartended three nights a week, lifeguarded summers and picked up odd jobs around campus to pay for school and my apartment and graduated after SEVEN years of school with no debt.

Debt is an excuse. Most people don't want to go to school cause they're lazy. It's not easy. Things in life that are worth having are not easy. A college degree is worth having.

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

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A college degree is worth having.

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Not to everyone.

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

[ QUOTE ]
Don't go to Harvard.

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Harvard is still probably +EV, although not as much in the past.

Don't go to an expensive second-tier school though. Like Yale. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

For some, a college degree is very valuable, for others it has next to no value, for yet others it has negative value. I don't have a problem with college, I have a problem with blanket statements like: get your degree, you won't regret it.

I would not have nearly so much trouble with a statement like: get vocational training, you won't regret it. But, not every college degree or college course is vocational training. And, there's plenty of vocational training that is done outside of college.

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

Bleh, this post has sort of devolved into a college/no college debate, which wasn't the point sfb was trying to make.

I went to college, and I'm almost done with my MS (CS). I've been 'working for the man' for about 9 years. It's going well for me. I enjoy the work, etc. It's not for everyone though, I know plenty of people who would hate what I do.

But that's not the point either. The key to what sfb is saying is to have options. Noone wants to be painted into a corner and feel like they have no choice in the way they live their life.

Without reads, I say college is +EV. But, everyone has their own dream to chase and muse to follow. I have lots of friends who dropped out and are doing just fine. Just go into it with your eyes open, and make your own decisions based on the information you have.

Most of the folks on the list are young enough to bounce back if they hit a wall, with poker, college, work, life, etc.

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

Going pro is a great fit for some people, a good fit for other people and a terrible fit for most people. It looks appealing to a whole lot of people though.

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

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Ed Millers articles drive me insane for some reason. Quotes like the following are pretty insulting:

"I think people are dropping out of college because they see poker as their “way out.” Poker isn’t a way out of anything. It’s a game, and it can provide some nice extra cash. Some really nice cash if you are good. But eventually you are going to have to (or at least want to) live like a normal person again. Normal people finish college."


Anyway there are a lot of things that "normal" people do that aren't very appealing to me. Also who is he to say how someone else is going to want to live.

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Listen, I never said the article didnt have many relevant and important points. However he just sometimes makes quotes that are ignorant and insulting. I don't have to or want to ever go to college like a "normal" person, which is what the above sentence basically says that anyone reading the article would want to do.

I mean you just have to read critically for a few seconds to see how ridiculous the final sentence of the paragraph is. It states in clear English that you must go to college or want to go to college to be a "normal" person. He makes a sweeping generalization about how others should want to live their lives. I find such comments offensive.

How about if I told everyone here with a "normal" job about how stupid it was of them to be "working", and that they should just learn to 8 table the $215s and get a 10% ROI and make like 1600 per day working 8 hours, and then went on to tell you how you could make more money doing this than your regular job, and that because of this, you should attempt to choose this route in life. Of course this is ridiculous and I would never attempt to tell other people how to live their lives.

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

I couldn't agree more.

Re: A Note to \"WannaBe\" Pros
 

I've played pro for two years. I'm now going to start college next semester.

I'm not going to comment much on this just because so much simply depends on the individual. All I will say is that right now it's so easy to make a living playing poker anybody can do it. Just eight tabling 3/6 you can easily make over 80k a year which for a young single person is a lot of money compared to if they were in the workforce. When the bubble bursts you won't be making nearly as much as you are now. You will have to play much better, much longer, for less money. No one is going to talk someone out of attempting to go pro but keep in mind the reason so many people fail to go pro sucessfully is because it's a tough gig. Right now it's cake but in a few more years that won't be the case.