Earning a living playing poker 1 year later.

[sandsmarc]

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Agree completely. 5 years from now, the madness and popularity will dwindle, the fish will be broke and gone, and you will have a gaping 5 year hole in your resume. Online poker may not even exist as we know it, and definitely not in its present untaxed state. I think you have made a huge mistake and gambled with your family's long term well-being. I hope the escape from responsibility was worth it.

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So people that start up their own businesses and fail are doomed to never be employed again? While I can understand your position of liking the stability that working for someonelse can bring to you, I think that your attitude that anyone that does different than you is making mistakes pathetic. Frankly, I'm more stressed working for someone else than I am in dealing with the ups and downs of being my own boss (I don't play poker professionally, but I can see the correlations mentally between playing poker professionally and starting your own small business).

I've owned businesses and worked with a lot of small business owners. Businesses that don't need to adapt to changing marketplace within a 5 or 10 year span (ie poker fad fades etc) are a very small percentage.

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Poker is NOT a business. It is playing a game for money. Businesses provide products and services. Poker players provide nothing, they simply take advantage of peoples gambling vices. Which is cool. I do it too.

Businesses do not leave gaping holes in your resume. As far as the world is concerned, you are a non-person for the time you spend playing poker. Even running a business that fails doesn't do that to you.

It's fine to do this if you are single. But even having conned your spouse does not make it correct to risk your family's welfare to accomodate your own selfishness.