How does 'poker' reflect on a resume?

[bobhalford]

I'm going to look for a job soon, after about 6 months or so out of work. I just quit my job and didn't feel like working again right away. Problem is that I have several gaps on my resume starting when I graduated from college in '99. I've considered telling interviewers about the poker in order to hide the fact that I have other sources of income that allow me to not work, but decided against it. The way poker players perceive poker is much different from you average person. Most people would not see a difference between playing poker for a living and betting on sports or playing blackjack. They just don't know the difference.

Also, I don't think the interviewer will ask you how you supported yourself over the past 6 months. He/she will ask you what you've been doing. Saying that you were playing poker is not +EV in my opinion. You will have to tell them something else. You can maybe say that a distant relative died recently and left you some money because he didn't have any children, and so you took some time to reevaluate your career goals, etc. I'm thinking of saying this myself but I'm not sure how well it would go over. Fact of the matter is that I don't really feel like doing the 9-5 thing right now, and that doesn't cut it in the business world. Interviewers want to see motivated, high energy people who want to climb the ladder, learn new skills, etc. My job field (marketing research) is cool, but I'm not particularly motivated to be the best market researcher. I just want a job to pay me a salary and insurance. There are many other things in life that interest me more than marketing research and building a career. But that's the way I need to be perceived so I'm trying to figure out some kind of excuse for my employment gaps...don't seem to be any good ones.