Poker causing boredom, unhappiness at work

[pabst66]

I'm not sure if this is a "should I go pro" thread or a "how do I motivate myself at work" thread.

So, I've been playing online for a couple of years, and have gotten serious about it in the last year or so. I play sngs and have proven that i'm a winning player over a large sample size. I have the potential to make much more money playing poker than I make at my current job as a low paid programmer (ie. if I played 30-50 sngs a day at my current win rate and current level I would make about 3x the money I'm making now).

This causes me problems at work, I'm totally unmotivated and uninterested in my job. I resent when I get work piled on me because I have a hard time not thinking I could be making better money doing something I actually enjoy. It's getting to the point where my carelessness could actually start to put my job status with them in jeopardy. I'm a contractor, so I have no benefits, and not much job security, but I'm required to put in a minimum of 40 hours a week at this job.

I have a conservative bankroll for the level I play, and around 2-3 months living expenses in the bank. I have no dependents, although I do have a girlfriend I live with that would be mildly to moderately upset if I went pro - which, if it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't think twice about quitting my job.

I dunno, I just feel a little lost right now, I don't know whether to get motivated and do my programming job or take the plunge, deal with the girlfriend and just go pro.

[JohnnyHumongous]

Many of the things you say are reasons why I resigned last week from what many would call a "dream" job for a recent college graduate. I don't know how much you're making, but for me I will make in the ball park of 6-7 times as much playing cards as I would working... and because my expenses will actually be a fair bit lower my actual net income after taxes and expenses (my savings basically) may end up being 10-15 times as much.

I think about the game all day long. I am passionate about it. I am passionate about "managing" my poker career. My work performance has suffered tremendously from the lack of importance I assign to it. I know I will be happier playing cards for 25 hours a week (which I schedule at my will) instead of pissing away my 20s in front of a computer screen.

Just thought I'd let you know you're not alone on this one.

[KinkyKid]

If you sounded as if you liked your job, this might be a tough decision. But it doesn't sound that way. Quit. Take some time off to think about what you want to do. Play poker while doing this, since you have enough to cover yourself for a couple months. Maybe it goes great and you can just keep on playing. Maybe its harder than you thought, in which case you find a new job. I think that low-level programming jobs aren't too hard to find, though I don't know where you live. I believe if you continue your course now you'll end up regretting not seeing what if.

[_TKO_]

[ QUOTE ]
My work performance has suffered tremendously

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too...

I'm on a 16-month internship and my performance has decreased exponentially since I found these forums last summer. I started playing online more with my newfound free time, and the uncertainties arising after each session drive me to the forums for hours at a time.

I can barely concentrate at my programming job anymore.

On the flip side, I am trying continually to find ways to acquire earnings outside of work. This has involved both poker and outside business ventures.

I am unable to quit my current job (the contract ends in August, after which I will return to a final year of school).

I doubt that I could handle "going pro". The most likely result is that I would burn out.

[vypremik]

Going pro, or even thinking about it, can be a very scary thing. I think most everyone on here has been at least tempted by the idea.

If you do want to go pro, I have one recommendation for you. Keep some contact with the working world. Obviously a regular job with benefits would be best, but if you can't stand that, at least keep something part-time.

At the very least, I suggest you take a class or two, or do some part-time contract work, or teach a class, or just about anything else work related.

The reason is pretty simple. If you find yourself broke one day or discover that you can't make the money you thought you would at poker, you have something to fall back on. And, believe me, it is a whole lot better to show a future employer that you were doing something job related than to try to explain that you spent the last three years of you life doing nothing but playing poker.

[pabst66]

Well, that's part of it too. Talking about being unmotivated at work, and it possibly damaging my relationship with the company. It may be better to leave now on good terms than be forced to leave on bad. If I leave now, I could potentially go back to them at some point - they have rehired old employees that left on good terms before pretty regularly.

[Lash]

Howdy stranger!

Drop down to part time work at your current job or have a part time job on the side of playing poker if you are unhappy with your current situation. <--Best advice I ever took, and also the best advice I stubbornly ignored.

“When I played pool I was like a good psychiatrist. I cured ‘em of all their daydreams and delusions.”
-Minnesota Fats

[Ansky]

[ QUOTE ]
I know I will be happier playing cards for 25 hours a week (which I schedule at my will) instead of pissing away my 20s in front of a computer screen.


[/ QUOTE ]

/images/graemlins/confused.gif