Earning a living playing poker 1 year later.

[Nepa]

I would like to start off by saying congrats. It sounds like you had a great year.

I do have a few quick questions for you that I hope you don't mind answering.

What was you previous job or career?

I noticed that you don't want to mention any money amt. which is fine by me, with that being said. Did you have any bad months and if so were any of them bad enough that you thought that your plan might be in jeopardy?

Last one, Do you ever take shots? ie. June was a ready good month so I took a shot at the Sunday 215.

[scrapperdog]

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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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A- He is not starting his own business, he is leaching off hard working people. I am not saying this is morally wrong, just that this is what poker pros do. Calling a spade a spade here.

B- No one ever said he could not be employed again

C- No one said he had to work for another person and could not be his own boss.

This being a internet poker pro might work out for him, you never know. I hope it does. But IMO internet poker has a lot more to do with a ponzi scheme that is eventually gonna collapse than it does with running a business.

[gergery]

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he is leaching off hard working people. I am not saying this is morally wrong,

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LOL. Naw, you're not being judgmental at all....

-g

[gergery]

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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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lol, are you sure a meteor won't extinguish all life on earth as we know it first? Or maybe a disease will wipe out the human race? Don't be so optimisic here buddy.

Personally, I think that as long as there are real estate appraisers who play poker badly, there will be poker pros who can provide them with entertaining competition -- and feed their families doing it.

-g

[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.

[/ QUOTE ]

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.

[TheWorstPlayer]

what is the differernce between poker and a business?

[dwedeking]

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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.


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I don't place my self worth based upon my job or business. Business to me is a way to provide financial support to me and mine so we can enjoy the things in life that we have. While I see the upside to providing quality goods and services (just smart business) I don't get all giddy that the family down the street was able to buy XYZ from me and feels better because of it. In this perspective I can see where poker could be that income source for someoneelse. I've contemplated poker as a pro (but realize that my skill is not to that level) and the way I looked at it is it could be an income generator without much financial outlay or long term ties (there is no inventory to sell or leases to get out of if you decide to change professions). I see poker as a profession much the same way as I view actors/actresses. They provide little substance but can be entertaining.

I understand your point now about resume's. This has never been a fear for me because I never worried about getting a job due to the connections I've made in business and so worry little about resume's or pleasing the small minded in the world. Another one of the benefits of being independent.

So without the whole "making the world a better place" (which I don't subscribe to anyhoo) I see many simularities to the mental process that goes into preparing yourself for independent financial income whether it be from poker, golf or a traditional business.

Looking at the OP's process in planning I think he was very responsible in his family's welfare. They had an alternative income to make sure the essentials were covered, they had a game plan, they had controls to verify of the plan in route, and goals to judge their outcome (damn, that almost sounds like a business plan [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ).

[RunDownHouse]

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Online poker may not even exist as we know it, and definitely not in its present untaxed state.

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Loc: NJ

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O RLY?

[sandsmarc]

Yes. RLY. There's not 1 poker player in 10,000 that reports his gambling income.

[captZEEbo]

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Yes. RLY. There's not 1 poker player in 10,000 that reports his gambling income.

[/ QUOTE ]O RLY? source?