Playing Poker instead of being a Freshman

I have found that I play poker way too often instead of doing normal freshman activities in college. I've missed out on few parties and beer/pizza nights, but my academic work is slipping. I've especially been doing my papers late at night and into the morning the night before they are due (but im sure lots of kids do this!) I'm tired in class the next day, and I feel terrible. And I've missed my 8a.m. class twice when I can only miss it 3 times before I lose a grade. (By the way, im not gambling and on tilt and losing, I'm doing it by the book and making money [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. I'm still at the .5/1 4 tabling, I havent moved to NL to make up money or anything.) I just like doing this instead of working at the library or something boring. Should I cut back on poker a lot, or is there another way to do this, ie, a schedule that I can set up? I enjoy poker, but I don't want to miss out on something that I would have while im playing. I truly hope that this is not an addiction, but if it is somebody point it out.


edit: I'd like to point out that I have no thought of dropping out of college to play poker, the title of the post can be misleading.

[4_2_it]

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I have found that I play poker way too often instead of doing normal freshman activities in college. I've missed out on few parties and beer/pizza nights,

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Huge mistake. Enjoy college. If you are lucky, it will be the best 5 or 6 years of your life. Chase girls, party, join a frat and live! Poker will there when you are done

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but my academic work is slipping. I've especially been doing my papers late at night and into the morning the night before they are due (but im sure lots of kids do this!) I'm tired in class the next day, and I feel terrible. And I've missed my 8a.m. class twice when I can only miss it 3 times before I lose a grade.

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This behavior must stop. Nut up. You don't want to get expelled and work delivering snacks to a 7/11 during the day and playing $0.01/$0.02 limit at night.


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(By the way, im not gambling and on tilt and losing, I'm doing it by the book and making money [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. I'm still at the .5/1 4 tabling, I havent moved to NL to make up money or anything.) I just like doing this instead of working at the library or something boring.

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Good for you. I wish you continued success.

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Should I cut back on poker a lot, or is there another way to do this, ie, a schedule that I can set up? I enjoy poker, but I don't want to miss out on something that I would have while im playing. I truly hope that this is not an addiction, but if it is somebody point it out.

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You might not be addicted, but if you have to post this on a poker forum I think you may need to scale back your playing to a set number of hours per week.

Nicely Put!

[Supersetoy]

I didn't start playing (online) until I was a sophomore, but this was 4 years ago at this point.

Here's how I swung it though for most of college: Have paper/programming assignment/powerpoint presentation up in the forefront. Have two tables (2 cash, 2 SnGs, 1 MTT 1 SnG, etc.) in back.

If I was really trying to focus on my school work I'd cut back to one table, or just have one table of the highest limit available going (just watching).

As far as hanging out and meeting people in college, play poker BEFORE and AFTER you go out (if drunk, I'd recommend staying at the lower limits). Maybe take some of your college buddies and enter NL live tournarments or live cash games (we've got 18+ card rooms here in WA).

I wouldn't trade poker for the fun I had in college though. Poker was about 10-15% of the fun I had in college.

[dan123]

It sounds like you enjoy poker more than school work. I suggest you drop out and turn pro.

[KaneKungFu123]

if your drop out you can play poker and go to parties!

[Goodnews]

you are one to make snide remarks for sure.

[Dan Mezick]

If you win you are disciplined. If you are disciplined you can schedule poker into your weekly routine.

Do that, and stick to the schedule you actually define. Because you are a winner and disciplined, right??

[pzhon]

If you neglect your education to play poker, you will regret it. It could be that your classes are worthless, and you won't need your grades for anything later, but it is much more likely that you are making a huge mistake.

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I'm still at the .5/1 4 tabling, I havent moved to NL to make up money or anything.

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How much are you making doing that, $8/hour, or $16k/year at 2000 hours/year? That's not a good trade for the time you have in college.

For an exercise, calculate your tuition per term. Calculate how much time you have in class. Divide the former by the latter to see how much you are paying per hour of class time. At my schools, this ranged from $30/hour to $120/hour. Don't skip class to play poker.

I suggest that you put a cap on the amount of time you allow yourself to play poker each week. Ten hours is plenty.

On the other hand, part of the college experience for most people is learning what happens if you fail. Poker is one way to do that.

[play2win]

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I have found that I play poker way too often instead of doing normal freshman activities in college. I've missed out on few parties and beer/pizza nights,

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First off, I had some of my best times and memories in college. I have only been out a few years and wish that I could go back. I got to go back to work a career fair for my company and it made me realize that I did not take advantage enough when I was there. I think of how many fun times I had chasing girls and hanging with friends my freshman year. DON'T WASTE ANTOHER SECOND PLAYING 0.50/1.00 ONLINE!

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but my academic work is slipping. I've especially been doing my papers late at night and into the morning the night before they are due (but im sure lots of kids do this!) I'm tired in class the next day, and I feel terrible. And I've missed my 8a.m. class twice when I can only miss it 3 times before I lose a grade.

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Don't let your school work slip! Your college degree is your meal ticket. I don't care what people say, there are very very few people that live comfortably off poker winnings. Let's say that you graduate and start making around 44k your first year out (depending on what you are studying), do you really think you can match that with around 40 hours a week of poker? Are you going to get benefits? Will that give you mental stimualtion? Job staisfaction? Will a girl want to date you knowing you offer no security? What if you burn out and want to do something else, what opportunities do you have? You get the ponit here....

I was an engineering major, so my grades mattered, I managed to pull off a pretty good GPA considering all the partying I did (anything in sciences 3.0+ will get you in the job market). So if you are in a science oriented major your grades count! It is a competition! My roomie was first in his class of areospace and ocean engieering for 2 reasons 1. he was a genius 2. he was disiplined. There are plenty of smart people out there, but what seperates them in life and success is disipline and focus. He would wake up every Sunday and go to the library and do class work regardless of whether or not he had an assignment due, for at least 3 hours.

School is your job right now, your full time job. If you focus on your school work and build dicipline it will help you in your "future poker career". Stimulate your mind academically and you will find it will help you in all aspects of life if you can apply it (but maybe not spelling).

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(By the way, im not gambling and on tilt and losing, I'm doing it by the book and making money . I'm still at the .5/1 4 tabling, I havent moved to NL to make up money or anything.) I just like doing this instead of working at the library or something boring.

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Go to the library! It is the best place to study, there is no temptation of getting online and screwing around. College is expensive, don't waste the money you are paying. If you are lucky enough to have parents that are paying don't waste thier money, if you are paying for it trust me it will take a long time to pay back those loans! I am glad that you are winning, but it won't add up to all that you will be losing monitarly (you implied life earnings is being determined right now!) and socailly (you will never find as much easy tail and good buds in one place....ever). Your time will be up faster than you can imagine and there will be no going back! Poker will always be there.

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Should I cut back on poker a lot, or is there another way to do this, ie, a schedule that I can set up? I enjoy poker, but I don't want to miss out on something that I would have while im playing. I truly hope that this is not an addiction, but if it is somebody point it out.


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Don't give up playing, just give up the online crap. Become proactive. Find some friends, set up some postings and create a poker group. Take the initiative to organize a weekly poker group. Pick a night when you don't have an early class the next day and set-up a couple tables somewhere, order pizza, take an extra $5 off everyones buy-in and pay for the beer and pizza. Have a NL tourney for $20+5 and a slow blind structure so you can all play for a while and enjoy a social evening with friends. If you spend $25 you will save big money as opposed to going out and hitting the bars or other alternatives. So you have a cheap, fun, social evening while getting your poker fix! Hell, make it a club and dub yourself the president and put it on your resume!

Sorry this is lengthy, I just don't want to see you make a huge mistake. Freshman year defines the rest of your college career....you are in the fetal stage of college so to speak. Have fun, go out, catch the clap, do anything but stare at a monitor for hours on end, but keep your acedemics your number one priority! You have the rest of your life to stare at a monitor....trust me. If this advice can help you in any way than it was worth my lunch break. Let me know how it goes and good luck [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

AND GO HOKIES!