any consistent winners year in year out regret playing poker/living

[coolhandsun]

Hey,

Depending on what field you want to go into, I see no reason why if you spent time playing poker professionally that this can't go on your resume.

Between my junior and senior years of college I spent my whole summer counting cards (blackjack) and made more money than I would have in a job. However, I thought I would be up sh itcreek when it came time to get a job when I graduated.

This wasn't the case. Depending on where I was applying I put professional blackjack on my resume for that summer. The more important thing is being able to explain and translate how the skills of a game of chance (mathematical and statistical skills, people skills, aggression, and willingness to take risks, etc.) apply to the workforce.

In my case, I wanted to be a trader...which is unusual for a mechanical engineering major from stanford. However, in many cases the inclusion of professional blackjack on my resume definitely caught attention. In this case, there were some applicable skills picked up from blackjack that were relevant to trading.

Interestingly enough, the place that hired me (an options trading firm) gave me the toughest time about blackjack.
One trader who interviewed me started out by asking, "What the **ck is this technobabble about professional blackjack. What the hell does using statistical methods and risk analysis mean? So what, you read a book by Edward Thorpe and now you think you're a pro?"

He was just giving me crap, and it served as a good vehicle to start up a conversation in something that I knew very well.

However, I would have presented this a little bit differently had I been going into engineering...but if its a job, then run with it.