Poker discourages me from staying in college

Did some of you say your still 19-20 years old?

I'll try to give some of you some credit. I'll assume that you've all won an average of 50,000 dollars during the 1.5 years you've been playing poker.

Say you quit school, turn 21 and move to Las Vegas so you can play in a casino for the first time. Then holy moly! You make another 50,000 grand!

Now listen....

There are plenty of reasons why 23 year old little self-proclaimed wiz kids go bust. It might not happen to you. But it's happens to a lot of people.

Put your balls on. And good luck.

Oops, I should have read the whole thread before offering
patronizing advice...but there are a lot of college kids
who seem to think making $25K/year while mom and dad are covering the dorm and tuition would be good for a decent adult lifestyle.

Perhaps you should be asking tax/investment advice.

College can be fun with $$$, perhaps consider a more interesting major. Math/statistics/game theory seems
obvious, unless you'd have to start over from scratch.

[jacattac]

How I stayed motivated to graduate:

1-My wife likes that I bring home a paycheck
2-My kids like to have nice things like food and cloths
3-I like having a house and cars

I am willing to bet that I make more money as a CPA than 99% of all "profesional poker players." As a gambler long term cash flow is what we are always talking about what better than a kick ass career that pays you enough cash to live whatever lifestyle you want and play poker on the side

[mlagoo]

See this thread for motivation to stay in school:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...e=0#Post3818578

there is a lot less variance in a 9-5

[ QUOTE ]
To clarify some things, I'm a 19 year old 2nd year college student. I win consistently in 30/60 (sometimes go higher if tables are good). 2 dedicated, full-time, non-tilt, winning months for me at 30/60 If I focus on poker instead of school for the next few years until the "poker bubble" "busts" (if it does), being worth 500k does not sound that hard to accomplish.

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Two freaking months ?? ROFL LMAO

$500K ?????? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Whatever dude. I know more casino players than you've forgotten about, and believe me, to make a long story short, at some point there is an icy cold splash of reality with your name on it.

[DcifrThs]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey everyone,
I'm a college student at a big university. I have a problem staying motivated for college/classes/homework/studying/etc. I also don't like the thought of working 40 hrs/week doing bitchwork for a big company for a bitch boss. The money I make from poker highly discourages me from doing all the bitchwork of college. How do you fellow college students and alumni stay motivated?
Thanks,
An0nYm0u5

[/ QUOTE ]

here's my answer.

ive made a good deal of $ from poker. i enjoy it and its a good challange.

but can i really do this for a living? no health care. no retirement. no security.

i just came back this weekend from interviewing w/ 3 other investment banks and i assure you i can't wait to not have to play poker. i do enjoy it but real work making real money (presumably more than i make in poker long term) + benefits + security makes me want to do it.

i agree if you have to do "bitchwork" then yea...that sucks...but if it'll lead to larger opportunities i think its worth it. poker may not be sustainable, you have to pay many taxes, and you have no secuirty for the long term future.

Barron

[baronzeus]

[ QUOTE ]
To clarify some things, I'm a 19 year old 2nd year college student. I win consistently in 30/60 (sometimes go higher if tables are good). All of my money goes towards paying for college (tuition, housing, books), then gets locked away in mutual funds (my cousin is a former financial advisor and is currently a VP for a major investment company, so he hooks me up w/ good advice), a small amount goes towards enjoyment/spending/impuse buying and then taxes :P; I still drive a 1990 POS car - my desire for excess spending (esp on a depreciating asset) is close to non-existant. 2 dedicated, full-time, non-tilt, winning months for me at 30/60 >> one year of income @ 40 hrs+/week with a college degree from the university I go to (UT Austin). Plus the theory of the "poker bubble" eventually going bad makes me think about missed out opportunity cost when I don't dedicate myself 100% to poker. If I focus on poker instead of school for the next few years until the "poker bubble" "busts" (if it does), being worth 500k does not sound that hard to accomplish. However, some people say "college will always be there", while others say the opposite and say "poker will always be there."

I appreciate all the comments so far (I've read them all), and hope to have more coming and hear more as well. Sorry if some of what I said doesn't make sense, I'm a lil buzzed, but good thing I'm disciplined to not play any poker when I have alcohol in me.

[/ QUOTE ]

you're almost in the exact same position i am in. i am a sophomore at stanford majoring in computer science, and i have enjoyed two good solid months where i made a reasonably large sum of money. there's no way i could make this much money in a year in my first year out of college. but i am choosing to stay in school, because the idea of playing poker as a dedicated profession makes me sick.

[ThaHero]

He has made 70-150k in 2 months and you expect the young college players to be discouraged?

Hmmm, $500K at 30-60. At 1 BB/hour that works out to, lemme see, 8333 hours of play. About 4 years at an 8-5 job, pretty industrious....

Damn, and I got trolled for 2 posts.

[ QUOTE ]
I've actually always very firmly believed college is the key to life. However, for some people, I'm starting to wonder if their 100k+ a year made playing poker isn't a good reason to POSTPONE (not quit) college.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, im 34 and about to graduate college in December. I postponed it for 10 years. Not to play poker, but to jump out of airplanes and blow stuff up (Army).

I gotta tell ya... getting back into school was godawful difficult and the last 3+ years have been miserable. I loved college when I was in full time. Now I literally count assignments til I can finally be done with it.

The other thing... I didnt have to pay for it last time. This time I am on my own. In case people havent looked around, college is pretty expensive.

So basically, suck it up and postpone POKER. Its a hell of a lot easier to get back into poker than college.