Convince me not to go pro

[4thstreetpete]

I honestly don't know what I would've done if I was making the money that I am now from poker when I was in university. I might've took a stab at it for maybe a year ot two but then I would worry about the work experience dilemma. I always believe that you only live once and you should do things that make you happy but sometimes external factors in your life get in the way.

If you are young and really wanted to go pro, why not find a cool part time job that you would really enjoy and leaves you lots of free time for poker? I highly doubt that even if you did turn pro completely that you'd spend more than 40 hrs a week playing poker for very long before getting totally burned out. I don't have time to play lots of hours every week and sometimes I HAVE to keep my sessions short so that I don't get burned out myself.

I think being in the workforce allows you to see the real world and gives you a different perspective on life. You'll appreciate a lot of the things you have more.

[balkii]

As someone else has said dont even bother if you arent going to earn $100k a year

Why. Wheres the logic here?

I made 40K in 2004 working (playing internet poker) ~20 hrs a week. I would have made 23K working 40 hrs at my old job. (and that was a "good" job, great benefits, 401K, sick/vacation time)

Its not worth being a pro making only like 10 bucks/hr but its not hard to make WELL over 50/hr playing 5/10.

[snowbank]

"As someone else has said dont even bother if you arent going to earn $100k a year

Why. Wheres the logic here?

I made 40K in 2004 working (playing internet poker) ~20 hrs a week. I would have made 23K working 40 hrs at my old job."

He's talking about getting a job right out of college that will pay him 40K+ a year. He thinks he can make 50K+ at poker. I was one of the people that mentioned that if money was his reason, then he would have to make a lot more for it to be worth it. 70-80K+ maybe.

[balkii]

oh and if you do go pro, get two dell 2001 fps. they ROCk

[snowbank]

"oh and if you do go pro, get two dell 2001 fps. they ROCk"

Any pics of your setup?

[balkii]

lol after spending 1400 dollars on monitors you think I got money for a digital camera?

search for busterstacks' "house arrest challenge" thread, his setup looks basically just like mine.

[snowbank]

haha. Christmas is comin up. Maybe Santa will get you one.

Ya, I think I remember seeing that. Some girl in her underwear or somethin laying across his screen. Do you have the same background too?

[balkii]

heh. wouldnt mind...but seeing as its his GF he probably would

[snowbank]

"heh. wouldnt mind...but seeing as its his GF he probably would"

It's cool. He's gotta be on probation or somethin, he can't touch ya. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Matt24]

I'm not going to try to convince you one way or another, I will tell you what I am doing right now though. I graduated from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business with a degree in Entrepreneurship last May(2004). I interviewed through the Placement office, but didnt really find anything I really wanted to do or had a passion for, my only passions were starting and creating something of my own.

I have been starting businesses since I was in middle school. I sold wrestling tapes way back in the day and made some goood money for back then, I bought and sold clubs on ebay the summer after my senior year in HS and made some good money. Doing stuff on my own where I have all the say is what I enjoy. Getting back on those jobs, another thing was that I wanted to live in my town of Brownstown(a small town in southern indiana), if I was going to truely utilize(in the sense of earning power my first year working for someone else) my degree to its fullest potential, I would have to move, which was something I did not want to do.

So I move back home in the summer and I start playing cards, but only a couple hours a day and with no rake kickback, I keep looking for something local while trying to take the summer off while I have my mom breathing down my neck telling me that they need some help.

They 23 year old business that has its corporate offices in my hometown less than a mile away, and they have plants in 3 states(Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky). It is a great business and has done them very well, and even though I don't want to, I always have this to fall back on, if something else doesn't work out for me.

Now that is just some background, don't know if you really needed that but it just kind of came out.

Fast forward to December and I have now completed my third full month of being a professional poker player and the rewards have been great. The month of November I got back over $3000 in rake alone, so the money has been great so far, so great my mom even loves what I'm doing.
I am still playing 3-6 mainly and while my bankroll from these 3 months is right at 22 thousand and probably ready to move up, I plan to just move right to 15/30 March 1st as long as the bankroll has kept increasing.

I guess that is some background now I will tell you my week.

Sunday-get up early and go to church or get up at 12 and start answering the phone.(Oh yeah, I'm also a bookie) then watch the Bengals from 1-4, then play til 2 wtih some breaks in.

Monday-Thurs-Get up around 12, play til 6, eat, play from 7-2 or so, with breaks thrown in there. (Taking off for any IU games of course while going to most home games in Bloomington)

Friday-maybe play a little during the day, but take off all of Friday and Saturday. (I have a girlfriend, I etiher go see her at her college or she comes home) Yeah the friday and saturday games are good, but I have to stay sane.
I end up getting anywhere from 35-45 hours in on a given week

Now how I feel about it. IT IS GREAT- FOR ME though that is, it has worked out beyond all expectations. I get up when I want, I work when I want, I take off when I want, I have noone to answer to and what I put in is what I get out. That can't be beaten. For example, I just took off the last 2 days and I was in Muncie at Ball State with my girlfriend. We will also be gonig somewhere on her spring break and I plan to take some other short vacations that I wouldnt be able to do, if doing something else.

I am heading down to Tunica in Jan to play the $1000 and $1500 no limit hold em events most likely, tournaments is what is fun to me, the daily grind is alright, but it isn't overly fun or stimulating.

Also I should mention I 8 table with 3 monitors and I use the third monitor to surf the web and to talk on aolim, I also watch TV at the same time, that can't be beaten either, its great do do what I want while at work.

All in All, I love it, but also don't know where I will be in 3 years or 5 years or 10 years and that is a potential problem, that is basically the only drawback for me right now(but hopefully I win over a million in some big tourney and that just might take care of a few things, ha)

Oh yeah I forgot to circle back to the entrepreneurship thing, I treat this as my own business, this drives me, as it is my own

I didnt plan to write all that, it just kept coming so I kept writing. This may be of no help, but if you have any questions you can PM me.