[senjitsu]

It can not be interpreted that way. If joe was refering to a condition that existed prior to another condition in the past, he would have had to have used past perfect tense -- "these guys had had degrees and real jobs..."

sorry... couldnt help myself

[ QUOTE ]
Joe's post could be interpreted to say "these guys had degrees and real jobs before they quit to become full time pros." The use of the past tense suggests that their real jobs existed at a time prior to their status as full time poker pros, and have since ceased to exist.
[ QUOTE ]