[Man of Means]

[ QUOTE ]
All that I am trying to say is that extra effort in the academic side of life may be more profitable than extra effort in the poker side of life.

[/ QUOTE ]

...But what you learn from being a serious student of poker is transferable to other careers - street smarts, reading people, "quick and dirty" decisions, evaluating risks, etc.

anyway

My advice is for OP to keep open as many options as possible. Yes, youth is a great time for risks, but it is also a time to make solid investments in your future (education, resume-building, networking, good health, etc.)
Being a bartender + poker player is a somewhat glamorous-sounding plan but think of its taxing effect on the above-mentioned "investment areas." Networking with degenerates of various sorts with nothing to connect to the so-called Square Work World, while you sit hunched over a table and hang out with bottles of alcohol at night.