poker is a way of life vs. poker is just a hobby

[Jeff W]

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My recommendation? Focus on other stuff and keep poker a sideline. There's a ton of stuff much more interesting (some of which is also more profitable) than poker.

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I'd like to hear your recommendations. I am graduating from a small college with an unspectacular 3.0 GPA in Physics in 18 days and I see no reasonable alternatives to a poker career. FWIW, I am a 15/30 limit player.

[GimmeDaWatch]

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My recommendation? Focus on other stuff and keep poker a sideline. There's a ton of stuff much more interesting (some of which is also more profitable) than poker.

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Realllllly? I find alot of things interesting, but I would have assumed that everyone answering this post, especially you sir, would at least agree that poker is extremely interesting. I don't think there's anything wrong with being immersed in poker, any more than there's anything wrong with being immersed in literature if that's your thing, or a balance of the two if you so choose. I dont think anyone can really tell you which you're more interested in, but whichever it is should occupy a proportionally greater amount of your time. Sounds like you've got the scrill already and don't even give a [censored], so that's a non-issue.

[DaveduFresne]

I play online for a living, albeit doing lower stakes than you play. Nevertheless, I have a comfortable living, especially compared to the living I had with my last job (financially speaking).

However, lifestyle wise, I would say I am less happy now than ever. I can seldom afford to take a day off, if I drop several buy ins in a day I start to get stressed, the earnings variability from week to week is tremendous.

So what are the positives? Well you might make it big time like those guys on tv. (Although remember, a number of even those guys are backed and broke much of the time.) You are your own boss. You set your own hours. The amount of money you can make is mostly capped by your ability and ambitions.

You might ask why I play if there are all these problems. Well that's a long story, but without going into too much detail, I ended up getting forced into it by losing my job for one thing, and secondly it has ended up being a lot different than I thought it would be. Also, my educational status makes it difficult to become a rising star in the business world or whatever.

But if in theory someone offered me a career where I could end up making a 100 K a year plus, I would go for it in a heartbeat rather than play poker for a living. In fact, I would go one better. If I could find a job that pays what I'm averaging a week now I'd even take it.

Hope this helps,

David
I constantly feel the need to advance in limits to hopefully be able to play less hours and have more money, but I turn into scared money at levels I'm not comfortable at.

Sure I can wake up late, but its more by necessity than choice (the games in the daytime aren't very good), compare pot sizes at different hours of the day if you don't believe me. So your schedule ends up being completely different from your friends.

I'm working on building up my credit, but not having a job will frequently interfere with you getting the things that you want if you don't have the money to spend now.

Oh and if you want to know the easiest way to make a girl run for the hills, tell her you play poker for a living. Yes, it will excite a few, but the type that most would want a serious relationship with, it will seriously dissapoint.

It will also most likely alienate you from your family, and even some friends believe it or not.

Even if you have a lot of money, a lot of it you won't be able to touch, as if you're smart you will keep a few months expenses aside and 20 buy ins for your bankroll. There is always the risk of going broke.

When you play poker for a living, you can't afford to have an off day. You have to be sharp all the time. Don't get enough rest at night? Probably a losing session the next day. Have a fight with the gf or wife? If you're smart you'll take the day off, if your stupid, you may lose several buy ins.

Health insurance? You have to pay for it? Retirement? Same thing. And don't forget that after fifty a poker player's skills decline, so hopefully you can retire by then.

[BobboFitos]

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Oh and if you want to know the easiest way to make a girl run for the hills, tell her you play poker for a living. Yes, it will excite a few, but the type that most would want a serious relationship with, it will seriously dissapoint.

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I dont have much to add, as im in a similar yet different boat (leave of absence from college to... you guessed it... play poker) I tried renting an apartment, told real estate agents I played poker professionally... that didnt work so well.

had to stick with the line of just a student. which is partially true.

as for the women front, most dont care what i do, (although they're enthused i have more money then any guy my age) but i can imagine if i told women 2-5 years older then me they too would run for the hills.

[DaveduFresne]

"as for the women front, most dont care what i do, (although they're enthused i have more money then any guy my age) but i can imagine if i told women 2-5 years older then me they too would run for the hills."

Yeah I'm 25.

[Matt Flynn]

creedofhubris,

it always amazes me to hear people casually throw out 200K a year and imply that is easy to make playing poker or to obtain in the real world. it ain't. your PhD in English will never get you there. (you can become a bestselling author without a PhD, so royalties don't count.) unless you are willing to put high hours into a profession or open your own mundane-but-cash-brilliant business, poker is where it's at right now. on the other hand, if you have half a brain and are willing to put in the hours, there are still several easy businesses for making that.

i also doubt many people here can make 200K a year playing poker. 25 hours a week is one thing. 40 is quite another. also, while it's nice to think you can maintain $150 or $200 an hour playing, i contend most of the posters here cannot.

to be very successful at poker in the future, you will have to spend time studying your opponents and the game for real. it will get harder. also, the ups qand downs and day-to-day emotional toll are great. a lot of players makiing 100K a year aren't the happiest people in the world.

i have given it some thought. if the situation in my profession gets much worse, i may give it up and turn pro. however, there would have to be something else to keep my attentiion focused. most likely i would end up writing a book or starting a poker-related business - or a separate cash cow business - while continuing to play 20 hours a week. i can't see maintaining 35 hours a week outside of WSOP and WPT event trips unless the games were ridiculously easy, in which case the positive reinforcement might be sufficient to keep me playing long hours.

if you can play reasonably well and consistently, be satisfied with 120K a year, and have the emotional makeup to weather big money swings, it could be a phenomenal job.

matt

[invisibleleadsoup]

"if you can play reasonably well and consistently, be satisfied with 120K a year, and have the emotional makeup to weather big money swings, it could be a phenomenal job.

matt"

what is the average wage in america?
and what percentage of the population is below the poverty line?
i dont think the issue here is whether $120k a year is sufficient
especially for someone with an english degree,which won't get you many jobs that make half that.

[Matt Flynn]

"satisfied," not "sufficient."

[pokergripes]

I'll give you some possible insight from my experience.

I am a lawyer and a partner at one of the big firms. Make a lot of money, but have a pretty difficult and stressful job. I play a lot of 2-5 and 5-10, and some 10-20, nlh (profitably at the 2-5 and 5-10, not enough sample size to tell at 10-20 yet, but so far so good).

I travel around a bunch with two other lawyers I'm friends with from a different city, meeting in various places to play tourneys, and we spend a lot of time with pros that one of the guy knows well from LA. And I've got to tell you--it stopped looking like a fun lifestyle a long time ago from watching the guys who really do it (and that's not even the multi-table crap you'd more likely have to do on line to make money in the long run, assuming we're me or you, who can beat jellybeans regularly at 2-5 nlh, rather than top pros on the tournament circuit).

These guys mostly live on the edge, as do the on-line guys, worried all the time and not knowing what the future looks like at all. Any time I and my friends are at lunch or dinner with guys like that, there are a few minutes of poker stories (mostly from them, they've got the more interesting ones), and a lot more time spent by them wanting to talk about business ideas and other ways they do or want to make money away from playing the game.

Get your Phd--you can always be the most well-educated and professional individual at the table later if you want to turn "pro", although you quite likely never will. I don't (not even close), although ten years ago I though it looked pretty good when I used to play in Vegas (as a student). It just looks better than it is.

p.s. I saw Eric Seidel (sp?) get interviewed recently on the Travel Channel or ESPN, and it was in a piece about how the top pros really live. Showed his nice big house outside of Vegas, pool, etc. But the thing that stuck with me was the part when he said that, since he hasn't won any big events in a long time, he kind of worries, and has had the thought that, if he doesn't start winning some money soon, he might have to sell his house. And we've all heard of him, and he's considered one of the top guys. Think about that--when's the last time you heard one of the top professionals in any other field say something like that? That's why it won't make your parents happy. They're right.

[creedofhubris]

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But the thing that stuck with me was the part when he said that, since he hasn't won any big events in a long time, he kind of worries, and has had the thought that, if he doesn't start winning some money soon, he might have to sell his house.

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Yeah, those tourney pros have really high variance; long swings of losses. So do limit players. So does my buddy the blackjack player. But I'm talking about cash games. That's what I play, that's what I'm gonna keep playing. You're not going to see me on a TV tourney, except as a lark.

Since I play cash games, I'm really not worried about losing runs. I mean, if the other players are too good for me, I will lose over time, but if I'm a winning player, I'm not going to have months of running bad. That's the virtue of: NL, capped buyins, multitabling, and lots of hands. They all work to limit variance.