I GOT NO WHERE ELSE TO GO!

[WizardBU]

Honestly had no idea where to post this, so please don't flame me for posting here. In my experience, you guys have been good for giving well thought out answers, and all seem to be fairly knowledgeable when it comes to your chosen craft.

So, I'm assuming a bunch of you guys are full-time pros. I've been curious to hear if any of you had either:
a) played full-time for a while, then went back to a "normal" job. Or...
b) If you're younger, thought about what happens if you get sick of poker and decide to do something else.

I only ask because I'm currently paying off a ridiculous debt for my Physics B.S. (aptly named... thanks, Bucknell), and make more money/enjoy playing cards more than my crappy IT job. So for you pros out there, what made you decide to do it full time? And are there fallback options if you burn out and need to work a 9 to 5 again. I take it "professional gambler" isn't the best line item to put on a resume.

Any input would be stellar - even if it's a better forum to post this in.

Any flames will lead to the termination of an infant. So chill with that.

Peace,
Dave

[LuvDemNutz]

Well I'm not a full time pro but I can give you my take on the situation.

I got my MBA last year and work at a fairly pedestrian finance job. I also started playing poker about a year and a half ago and made about $15K last year playing part time (doesn't sound like much but it equates to $20k - $25k in taxable dollars).

Frankly, even though I honestly think I have what it takes to be a pro player I would never do it.

First, I don't think the lifestyle is all that it's cracked up to be.

Secondly, like you said - "professional gambler" just doesn't exactly spruce up the resume. The fact of the matter is, if you go pro for a few years and then try to go back to a "normal" job, any potential employer is going to wonder what you were doing the whole time. You pretty much have to tell them the truth or they might assume you were in jail or something (huge gaps on a resume are a very negative thing).

Also, I would have to be pretty certain that I could make $100K-$125K minimum a year before I would choose that profession. It's not like pro gamblers have excellent 401K and health benefits. Health insurance is quite expenseive these days and in my opinion is an absolute necessity. Even young people get sick or have accidents.

So my advice, is keep your day job, build your resume, play in your spare time and hone your game. Thanks to online poker this is an option for those of us that don't live in Vegas.

[XChamp]

Dave,

I just dropped you a private message. check it out.

[kim2005]

U should try find a new good normal job first, it is hard for u to go back to do a normal full time job after u become a winning poker player.

Asuume u can win 100k/yr 35hr/week will u go back to do a normal job that only have 50k/yrs 50hrs/week?

But if u only can get a cappy job then play poker full time for a short time period( 1-2 yrs) is the best option.

[muck_nutz]

No offense, but if you got a physics degree at bucknell and were not sure what you were going to do with it in the long run its not really bucknell's fault. That said, I've known many who took time off from work at some point in their life. The first job back will be tough to get but you can find it. Then its all up to you. Others have said good things about the positive nature of shareing a good job with poker.

[zaxx19]

Go back to school....
Get yur education credits....
Get certified to teach Math and Physics in Illinois...

Start @ 49k and move up to around 80k in 5 yrs when yu complete yur masters at some po dunk chicago area college.

Play poker the entire 3rd of a yr yu dont teach....

Collect the BEST benefits in the private or public sector bar none.

This is actually just general advice with people stalled out with Physics degrees and no great job offers.

[Shaun]

I graduated college about a year and a half ago. I was going to go on to graduate school, but wanted to wait for my wife, so I took a year off before enrolling. I decided that was the time to try poker for a living.

Once it got time to enroll in grad shcools that would cost 30 grand a semester, I decided, why the heck should I get myself at least 100k in debt to make 40-80k a year? I loved college, but my field of study was film and humanities. I studied these things because I was interested in them, not because I thought they'd make me money.

Anyway, poker does make me money. The way I look at it, I went to college to learn something and I play poker to make money. College and making money don't go hand in hand despite what we're often told.

As for health insurance, I pay around 90 bucks a month with a 1500$ deductible. Anyway it's nothing that should stop you from doing what you want to do- and neither is a 401k I'd think. My advice is going to be contrary to most: play poker for a living for a little while. The key though is to save money. Work towards getting some financial security, and then if you want to get back into physics go back to school. College isn't going anywhere. Maybe poker isn't either- who knows. The point is there are people who work at McDonalds. There are people who are stuck in horrible dead end jobs who'd give anything to have the options that you or I have. I'm not the wisest person in the world or anything, but I think if poker is what you want to do then you should give it a shot. You only live once.

Good Luck

[The_Individual]

[wray]

Try poker for a couple years... FOr that two year gap say you were doing Green Peace

[wray]

Seriously though.... I never went to college. I joined the USAF for 6 years and I'm glad I did.

I now make a decent living as a chief dispatcher for a concrete company. I make more than 50k a year plus some real good bennies. (Good insurance, they pay for all my lunches, a few dinners per month, free fuel for my gas hogging SUV). I'd probably have to make 80 grand a year to break even by doing something else.

Having said all that there have been many times I've wished I had not accumulated a higher cost lifestyle so I could get rid of all the stress and go work at Starbucks or something.(They always seem so damned happy)

Bottom line IMHO is do what you need to do to make yourself a happy person. Be ethical and be proud.