[Moonshine]

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One downside is if/when you bust, a multi year gap in your resume where you played poker full time may not make you that marketable in the job market.

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Understatement of the year.

As well, even if you don't bust and just get by on what you make from poker, what happens in 6+ years or whatever if you just get bored from poker? What if you don't want to play anymore? How the hell do you get a good job after wasting the past 6 years of your life?

The very simple fact of the matter is, the great majority of people who don't play poker (employers) view poker as straight up degenerate gambling. You think a possible employer is going to take the time in an interview to listen to you talk about odds, ranges, and reads? As soon as the words "I've been playing poker professionally for the past 6 years" comes out of your mouth, their ears are closed and your resume is in the trash. As well, nobody is going to believe you when you say you've been making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, have tons of personal freedom, but now you're bored and want to give it all up to hump a $35k year job working 45hrs a week in a cubicle. Riiiiiight. They'll know the real story, that you're a lazy ass bum degen who just blew through his last wad of borrowed money and is now forced to take a job to get out of debt.

This whole topic is just retarded, stay in school and get a real job.

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You cant make these kind of all encompasing statements.

I didnt work a single job in college. I had a 3.3 as a Psych major. I played poker the last 3 years i was in college and never got an internship. I was [censored] good at poker though and I made sure the resume reflected that.

I got interviews at Goldman Sacchs and the hedge fund I currently work at from that resume. In the interviews I was able to talk very intelligently about the kind of thought processes I go through when playing and the skill sets I possess and how they are VERY similar to desirable traits of people in some areas of the financial world.

FWIW, no consulting firms would touch me but I didnt care. The same mindset that drew me to poker in the first place made me desire to try out a career in finance.

I'm not going to lie, working does sort of suck when you know you have to go in every single day for 10 hours and you lose that 50 hours of free time you once had during the week, but I'm learning a ton of interesting stuff and keeping my options open for the future.

And if someday I decide to go pro again after working here and rejoin the workforce 6 years later, I certainly don't think anyone will scoff at my resume and throw it in the trash