How Much Would I Have To Make?

[edtost]

as someone in a similar academic situation, though a year behind you and not good at poker, my number would be pretty high, i'd say closer to 500k. at 300k, i would seriously consider it after applying to jobs/grad schools and seeing exactly what i could get, but i wouldn't rule out the search completely for that much.

i would not consider an internship, unless it was one of those really prestigious ones you're not going to get.

if i went pro for a year, i would travel rather than staying in the ny area.

if i had a good idea for a business that i might be able to start in a few years if i had the money from poker, my number might go down to as low as 200k.

[bugstud]

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I'm surprised you picked a number so low because I have seen you write things in the past that made me think that you really value work experience. so I'm wondering why. because I can invest that and make a bundle? because you don't think I'll be able to get a good enough job for it to be worht getting that work experience? you are one of the people I really hoped would respond, so I'm curious what your thought process is on this. thanks.

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well, you actually play well for starters. I'll continue that I-was-in-this-spot camp and I picked poker. I thought I'd be making more (hell, any [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]) than I am right now but I'm still happy with the choice. MTTs are a leak.

My suggestion is play for a month and think about traveling and enjoying yourself and reassess what your goals are. When I made my decision I was basing it off of 30/60 still having short games (oops) and about correctly estimating earn. Moving down to the 10/20 because I play full ring bad and whatnot is a pain but if you actually get in the hours with a good affiliate you can make some absurb rakeback numbers + normal earn

[AustinDoug]

$250K or greater.

[oreogod]

If I heard correctly, Barry Greenstein expects poker to be as big as the NFL. while I dont think it will get that big, I think the limit of 2 years is a bit much.

[greg nice]

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unfortunately, what I do will affect how other people treat/view/relate with me, which will affect my future happiness.

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this is a load of shiit. you choose your own happiness. if other people want to relate negatively toward you, that is their problem. if that makes you "unhappy", then you have judged those people to be something that they are not.

[krishanleong]

If I were in your shoes (and I am really) I'd go pro for 150K. Also it helps to know your yearly nut. I have a really low yearly nut (40K) so it makes going pro at lower levels more appealing.

The part that worries me the most is that you don't actually like playing poker. You don't seem to enjoy it and are unable to put in hours. This is a really really bad combination to make your lifes work even for just a couple of years.

When Diablo says 200K and you say to yourself, "Yeah, I can make that" what proof do you have? I've put in back to back to back 120 hour months. Can you say the same?

Krishan

[Bikeboy]

Anyone that says online poker won't be around in two years is naieve at best.

[krishanleong]

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which leads me to the question that is in the title of the post. If I play poker professionally and set myself back at least one year of work experience and have to explain on interviews in the future that either I gambled since I graduated or disappeared, possibly damage my relationship with my parents, look bad to my girlfriend's family, how much money would I have to make a year for it to be worth it?

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I don't think the job interview damage is very high. You parents will adjust especially if you make the kind of money that you are capable of making if you master the intangibles. Girlfriends family will also come around if you make mad dough.

Truthfully all these things are secondary considerations in my mind to the question of personal satisfaction and the effect on my partner.

Krishan

[ISF]

I think that this number has to be really high like >300k. Taking two years off will basically make you unemployable by most consulting and finance firms in the city, and make in very difficult to get into a decend b school if that was in your future. These paths will all dwarf the discounted future value of your poker earnings as there is just no way something like this lasts for much longer. As well if you have decent test scores that seems to matter more to most consulting firms then grades anyways, and matters more to grad schools as well so I would at least give both a shot.

I really think that the poker thing is really only worthwile
for someone like you if you would use it to travel around the world and would really love to do this, or if you can make a tremendious amount like >300k doing it. The future value of either a Financial Engineering masters from their, or a career that starts at a good consulting firm dwarfs what can be made by most playing poker.

[afk]

[ QUOTE ]
If I play poker professionally and set myself back at least one year of work experience and have to explain on interviews in the future that either I gambled since I graduated or disappeared, possibly damage my relationship with my parents, look bad to my girlfriend's family, how much money would I have to make a year for it to be worth it?

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I don't know if you can just attach a dollar value to that type of thing. Are you comfortable saying that to potential employers? Will your parents or girlfriend's family say "oh, he made 200k last year so it's ok"?

I should add that whenever these threads show up I'm always on the job side because I don't have the drive to play that much poker.

What about your health and state of mind? Could you handle sitting inside on your computer all the time grinding away? Would you become fat and lazy doing it (I'm not implying that all pros do but it's a distinct possibility)? How do you feel (forget about money for a second) about these things and do you want them or not? Is your girlfriend really going to support you when she sees the realities of playing pro for a living (great money but at what expense?)?

I liked your implied odds statement and I think it's better to go for a job or more education. Of course you won't get right in to a top firm or make a tonne of money right off the bat but that can all come with experience. You'd have a regular 9-5 type schedule (I'm assuming there, I don't know much about your field) and you don't risk ruining your relationship with your parents and girlfriend's family. However those relationships could hopefully also be mended if you got a job after playing cards for a while.

I dunno man, I'm just throwing out stuff to think about. Good luck in what you choose.