Pro Poker Players as Job Applicants

[Dan Mezick]

As a hiring manager familiar with poker, I have to say I would be very impressed by a college-grad applicant that explained a 2-year gap in employment like this:

"At college I learned to master aspects of the game of poker, and I successfully played poker for a living and continue to do so up to the present time. For various reasons I have decided to apply for this full-time, 'real' job."

I'd be intrigued now, because this candidate employee would have some mastery in aspects of personal discipline, personal psychology, statistics (EV, standard deviation, variance etc), mathematics, money management, risk management, game theory, statistics, finance, general psychology, etc. You get the idea...

A successful player will usually be more attuned to how others think and feel. I like this kind of aptitude in employees who must align personal efforts with the efforts of numerous others in the organization.

Therefore, successful poker players, especially young, trainable, moldable ones, absolutely make the best employees.

All other things being equal, if I have any understanding of poker whatsoever I want young, successful poker players on my team, in business terms.

I might be willing to fund the prospective startup business of a young, winning poker player who can prove the annual poker profits with documentation to back it up.

Accordingly I do not see a 2-year gap on a resume (covered by poker) to be a big negative.

Indeed a college-educated player who does support himself from poker, but is now choosing full-time work.... this type of candidate is probably going to be way more successful than average.

Want to argue against these points? Come and get me.

[FMThe2nd]

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Want to argue against these points? Come and get me.

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I play a lot of poker myself, and I'm not sure that I would want to hire a poker player that had played poker professionally for two years. I just don't think that type of person would be a good long-term hire.

I would think that someone who had played poker for 2 years professionally would have gotten mighty used to being his own boss and would not be receptive to taking orders or being a team player. I would also think that they would always be looking for the next opportunity to venture out on their own. In short, I wouldn't think formerly professional poker players would make good employees.

[Dan Mezick]

These are good supporting arguments for why a young pro player would be a good entrepreneuer or business owner.

I have to concede these points to you in terms of hiring a pro player. Poker works against getting hired at a big outfit with say over 150 employees.

However, many small businesses are looking for people like this, making smaller firms prime targets for young college-grad pros who are looking for fulltime work.

[Dudd]

You are not the average person. Until this is a perception held by the general public, not just the poker playing public, it's a risk you take when leaving the marketplace to play full time. The odds of getting someone such as yourself to look at your resume is small, and if you don't, well, good luck explaining the gap to a non-serious player.

[TStoneMBD]

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I might be willing to fund the prospective startup business of a young, winning poker player who can prove the annual poker profits with documentation to back it up.

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Your post is a shred of good light for us players. You may see me message you in a few years to see if you are willing to fulfill your offer.

[Warren Whitmore]

Substitute pool, chess, backgammon, risk, etc for poker. Add in that you don't know if this person was any good at these activities or not. Still want to hire him?

[Dan Mezick]

A verifiable track record proves the winning player, the diff between a participant and a winner is huge.

As for chess, backgammon etc the human psychology aspect is less of a factor so I see this as an apples-to-oranges compare.

My assertion is that poker skills are much more widely applicable in more life situations overall than skills associated with other kinds of games, and that these skills are useful in getting and keeping a job. Poker skills are in fact very useful in any kind of goal-oriented activity involving people, incomplete information, and a range of possible outcomes.

[bkholdem]

I agree with the entrapaneur angle and also agree with A. Shoonmakers points.

I think it's good to make the best of a situation but I also believe in being realistic.

Taking the relative morality/legality issues out of the picture one could also make an argument for a successful 'call girl' being a good background for certain jobs...but because of the public perception most would probably try to find a way around it... Same with a successful drug dealer haha

I like to be provocative to stimulate discussion lol

[Dan Mezick]

OK, call girl skills may transfer well to "some" types of businesses.

But, poker skills do translate well to "most" types of businesses.

I'm not sold on the call-girl argument.

I do admit the "WINNING-poker-guy-as-employee" argument has some flaws.

But he's mastered a very difficult game, and all other things being equal he's still a higher life form than the the typical garden-variety candidate.

[sumdumguy]

I agree with the entrapaneur angle and also agree with A. Shoonmakers points.
There are some serious problems even from the entrepreneurial angle. In almost any entrepreneurial undertaking, the owner/manager has some some skills and experience that qualifies him for the trade of the business. Restaurants, flower shops, landscaping, and construction companies are started by those with expertise in the trade: chefs, florists, landscapers, and carpenters. Law offices, dental offices, accouting offices, are started by certified and/or experienced professionals. There are few businesses such as a corner grocery store or gas station that can be successful startups for a non-expert owner/manager, and of these, anyone with x number of years as stockboy, cashier, or business/managerial environement is no less qualified as anyone with x number of years at the card table.

The best a poker education prepares one, is ownership. Which is not exactly the same as entrepreneurial venture. But then again, any citizen of a free and capital-democratic society is qualifed to posses capital and reap the rewards of ownership: stocks, bonds, real estate, equipment or whatever else. The transition from mere ownership to growing business concern requires entreprenerial spirit and some expertise in the trade of the business. And poker, is no substitute for direct or related experience.

The simplest "business" a poker player exiting the profession can possibly engage (other than a cardroom): self employed stock market investor.