The last time I responded to a post like this I got flamed by a drunk dude. Can't pass up another chance at that can I? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

All of us have probably heard at some point how much more high school grads make than drop outs on average and how much more college grads make than highschool grads on average. These figures are accurate. It used to be having a highschool diploma was proof enough to land a job, and now it's really a college degree. The problem of course is that real jobs pretty much suck most of the time. So why would anyone work hard to earn a degree only to work hard at a lousy job for 20-40 years?

One answer is that you shouldn't. Honestly, college isn't for everyone and if you can make a living and be happy with your life doing it, why not play poker? That's it, no lecture.

The more mercenary among us might even think, why not encourage MORE people to play poker for a living, most of them will lose and that's better for us right? But for those players who choose to drop out of college and can't make a living, what do they do? If they get lousy low paying jobs, that's less money into our tax base in the U.S. Poor people tend to use more government services, and that costs the rest of us money. I'm personally of the opinion that government SHOULD be helping poor people out (or anyone in need of help) and I'm comfortable paying my taxes to do so (and I don't choose to stop there). But we've seen in New Orleans how government can fail the poor when it matters most. So I would argue that we can LOSE in the long run by encouraging people who offer us short term gains to make bad decisions.

But as adults, it's up to us to make those decisions good or bad and live with the results.

I personally don't see the harm in spending the time to finish a college degree while playing poker. It may take a bit longer to finish and maybe your grades will suffer but most employers don't care what your GPA is as long as you finish. You'll have that degree just in case thing don't work out right away.

And not to beat a dead horse, but if you're young, healthy, and not really responsible for anyone but yourself, live a little and enjoy yourself. You'll regret it if you don't.

But keep in mind that you won't always be young and healthy. You might decide you want to start a family, buy a home, start saving for retirement or your kid's college education [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. The biggest single benefit I can see from getting a degree and working at a job you may not love is that it makes getting all of these things easier. The young tough fearless kids may make excellent poker players but the old farts who aren't afraid to gamble either because they already have everything they want do ok too.