[trplthrt]

Background: I am in the finance world.. I have my CPA, CFA and FRM. I currently manage a valuation/risk group at one of the world's largest hedge funds.

The opportunity you have to get through a trading program or be in in any capacity on a desk is absolutely priceless. Someone with mental sharpness as that of a good poker player, good trading skills and good social skills will create themselves an opportunity down the road within money management. These initial years are not about money, they are about learning the business, the products and the markets. The key to this is that your end goal is when you are given a capital pool to trade in a particular asset class that you will take home x % of. Getting a 50mm or 100mm account once you've shown your skills and worked your way up is relatively common for the skilled traders out there and taking home 30% of profits equates to a multi-million dollar comp - not to mention you essentially work for yourself (don't get me wrong.. tons fail or are subjects of running good for a while before imploding). I am rambling, but the key point I am trying to make is - it is VERY hard to get these types of opportunities to go down this path and those of us who get in to the finance world on other paths have it extremely difficult to get on a course that could end up in a trading environment where you are running your own money. I cannot complain about my career... but do I enjoy it as much as if I were running my own money and making decisions which effect my profits and losses daily? Absolutely not. Taking the opportunity to go down this road is 100% your best move. You may never have a chance again. If the investment pays off (and you will have to give it years), you will enjoy what you enjoy about poker in anything you trade whether it be FX, commodities, equities, fixed income or 3rd world derivatives. It's just the economics behind them that will make your head spin! :-)

Best of luck.

-trplthrt