Cooke's, "Play to Live or Live to Play " article

[brad]

a good analogy i think would be

advanced degree is to advanced poker play

as

competition target shooting is to gunfighting.

heh

(you can jump right in and do well but it takes work to last and sometimes not even then heh.)

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I have a BS degree, and a few of the courses needed for a masters. It's tough. Mason is right. Another analogy is in order. There is no masters in poker.

al

[Zeno]

Mason,

I agree that the analogy is misplaced and your point is more than just valid - There is no comparison.

I am always a bit reticent but I also had to give an oral defense of my thesis for a Masters Degree. The culmination of more than 2 years of hard work. It was not pleasent staring at a committee of scientists ready to ask any question they wanted to poke a hole in your presentation, arguments, or conclusions. I worked very hard getting prepared. It was a relief when it was over, but they always send you out of the room and make you wait while they "decide" your fate - which makes waiting for the river card when you go all in for 2k in a Pot-limit Omaha game seem like a walk in the park.

Thank you for making a needed point.


Regards,

-Zeno

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Zeno:

Your description sounds very similar to my experience. For those who don't know, when you are required to make an oral defense for your degree, you need to know virtually everything you ever took cold. Studying poker, while necessary and important to improve your play, is cakewalk compared to an oral defense, and is a day in my life which I remember quite clearly.

Best wishes,
Mason

[scalf]

[img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] not trying to rain on your parade..take a look at a lot of fields...a lot of masters degrees..a lot of abd..(all but dissertation)..i think it's about a 6-1 ratio...the one being PhD's....makes you appreciate dr. schoon a little...but there are very tuff master's degrees, i do not doubt the significance nor difficulty, but i feel the doctorate separates the...blah..blah..gl [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[PokerBabe(aka)]

Yes, the Babe also had to do a 2hour "oral ordeal" prior to getting her masters degree in Psychology. Mine was confined to the subject at hand, which was a defense of the research I did on "Post-tramautic Stress in Vietnam Veterans". I think some of my subjects are current poker players [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] ! The skills I learned from doing original research have helped me throughout life. I also think the discipline learned from formal academic training is invaluable, no matter what you do. I switched gears prior to getting my Ph.D., because I thought I could make more money in the stock business (and I was correct). I don't think Roy's comment about a "Master's in poker" is so off the wall. It takes much hard work and study to become an expert at poker. It takes extreme discipline and many "exams" at the tables to become a great player. And someday...I hope I graduate with honors! LGPG, Babe [img]/forums/images/icons/heart.gif[/img]

[John Ho]

He doesn't have a masters so he wouldn't know.

Poker is something you can say you have a "masters" in when you consistently win at the mid to upper limits. It's achievment oriented whereas getting the paper degree is knowledge oriented. You can get a masters degree in business and still be a poor businessman but somebody who is broke and on the rail should not call himself a master at poker.

[Rick Nebiolo]

Dynasty,

It is possible to dress in comfort and "look good". Cottton sweaters look good (better than a sweatshirt) and are extremely comfortable. Nice jeans or slacks that fit right look good (much better than sweatpants) and are comfortable. Even a men's suit is very comfortable if it fits correctly and is made from decent fabric.

BTW, the main reason to look good is not vanity but to make the world a nicer place for everybody else. IMO the world would fall even further into a depressive funk if most people dressed like the typical poker player.

That being said, I'm writing this in my underwear that I haven't taken off since yesterday [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Regards,

Rick

[brad]

i agree that its equivalent or harder than a psych degree.

heh. just teasing.

[AmericanAirlines]

Hi Mason,
It may not be as regimented to become a poker pro, but I honestly think it is more difficult.

For example, about 98% of the people who graduate Law School pass the bar, and a large percentage of those earn a living with thier JD. Granted not a technical field, but not easy either.

What percentage of even serious poker students, ever make a living at it.

So I'm not sure how to react to your statement, except to say that a good memory covers the degree thing. Poker would seem to require different soft skills.

For example, I know that I did a Comp Sci degree, and most of it was memorization. Writing programs to solve problems was difficult... but there was an absolute answer.

So it would seem the oral defense is a "Blackjack" problem (best possible strategy can be known at the start... cookbook).

Poker has that, "game of imperfect information" problem within it.

Don't know if that makes it "hard" or just "unclear".

I'll admit, the oral defense *is* tough... no argument there. But do they take a chunck of your backroll when you blow it, or do just do it over?

As for my, my trial of the concept of becoming a Poker Pro was short lived and was not successful enough to stake my living on it. So at least for me, I'd consider trying to earn a living as a Poker Pro would be for me... more difficult than earning a living off my degree, and thus getting the degree seems to be of lesser difficulty to me because it is a laid out path with very few "it depends" sort of scenarios.

Heck if poker were the easier way, everyone would do it. I can remember a rock and roll musician using that rationale about how becoming a Rock Star was more difficult than going to college. (Granted... become a Rock musician may be easier... it's the Grand Success that's the hard part.)

Sincerely,
AA