Should I go Pro? #132890213 (long)

[DJ Sensei]

[ QUOTE ]

What about the trap almost everyone else is in:

Wake up.
Be miserable for a few minutes.
Go to work on your bad commute.
Work.
Take 5 minute breaks now and then to use bathroom/an hour to eat.
Work more.
Go home exhausted.
Try to squeeze in a couple of hours of doing something you actually like.
Rinse and repeat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you been to college?

Its more like:
wake up at noon, possibly hungover
eat leftover pizza from the night before
go to class for an hour or two (maybe)
come back, play video games or poker or go do something fun with some of the other thousands of interesting people your own age at the same place
do a little bit of homework (maybe)
watch cartoons
drink/smoke/party/hang out for more hours
make some easy mac and eat it
go to bed at 2/3/4 AM

and thats a tough weekday. on the weekends, you dont even have to do any work. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SKIP OUT ON 4 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE WHERE THIS IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE?

[CrazyIrishman]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

What about the trap almost everyone else is in:

Wake up.
Be miserable for a few minutes.
Go to work on your bad commute.
Work.
Take 5 minute breaks now and then to use bathroom/an hour to eat.
Work more.
Go home exhausted.
Try to squeeze in a couple of hours of doing something you actually like.
Rinse and repeat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you been to college?

Its more like:
wake up at noon, possibly hungover
eat leftover pizza from the night before
go to class for an hour or two (maybe)
come back, play video games or poker or go do something fun with some of the other thousands of interesting people your own age at the same place
do a little bit of homework (maybe)
watch cartoons
drink/smoke/party/hang out for more hours
make some easy mac and eat it
go to bed at 2/3/4 AM

and thats a tough weekday. on the weekends, you dont even have to do any work. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SKIP OUT ON 4 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE WHERE THIS IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE?

[/ QUOTE ]
That sounds literally just like my life.
Don't drop out of college man..even if I was bankrolled enough to make a living wage, poker can be pretty unfulfilling and unsatisfying. Your probably going to college for something you like to do right? Graduate, and take a shot at the pros. If it doesnt work, get a job at an architectural firm. It's as easy as that. College roxxor.

[JuntMonkey]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

What about the trap almost everyone else is in:

Wake up.
Be miserable for a few minutes.
Go to work on your bad commute.
Work.
Take 5 minute breaks now and then to use bathroom/an hour to eat.
Work more.
Go home exhausted.
Try to squeeze in a couple of hours of doing something you actually like.
Rinse and repeat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you been to college?

Its more like:
wake up at noon, possibly hungover
eat leftover pizza from the night before
go to class for an hour or two (maybe)
come back, play video games or poker or go do something fun with some of the other thousands of interesting people your own age at the same place
do a little bit of homework (maybe)
watch cartoons
drink/smoke/party/hang out for more hours
make some easy mac and eat it
go to bed at 2/3/4 AM

and thats a tough weekday. on the weekends, you dont even have to do any work. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SKIP OUT ON 4 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE WHERE THIS IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE?

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh don't get me wrong - I'm as bitter as the next guy about college being over. I didn't really mean to comment on the OP's dilemma; mine was an observation on the real world.

If I was in the OP's shoes I'd probably balance both, and certainly play poker full-time in the summer. In fact I'd try to drag college out even longer, for the reasons you mentioned.

[SEABEAST]

My 2 cents:

There is basically nothing legal you can do that is going to earn more money than poker during the next couple of years. You also currently enjoy it a lot. Poker is going to get tougher and tougher in the future, and when you have played for a few years, a lot less fun, too. With all these things considered I think you should just go nuts making as much as you can while you still enjoy it, and then later on invest the money and get back to studying and real world activities. Of course it's important to maintain some kind of balance, but really, the amount of money to be made at the moment is absolutely sick, and it won't last forever. Making hundreds of thousands of dollars doing something you enjoy is an oppurtunity that the vast majority of people never come close to, so I'm in favour of just going for it. You don't have to commit to doing it forever, or even for a long time... just while it's still fun, and very lucrative. Just my thoughts...

[galahad_187]

i want to experience some of this 'real' college life.

but i suck at learning and hate spending 5k a year to have that proven to me :P

5k a yr on tuition? thats like 1/8 of what Im spending

[yvesaint]

[ QUOTE ]
10 20 IS MY BITCH

and obv I would move out

[/ QUOTE ]

ya to an apartment where u could stay inside all day and play poker.

I WOULD GO OUTSIDE...

SOMETIMES

[LImitPlayer]

[ QUOTE ]
it's just that I can't imagine anyone with a 50k bankroll that's been through 50k+ hand break even/losing stretches considering to drop out of college. Think about realistically how hard it would be to live off poker winnings till you die.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that unrealistic. I have had a 47K breakeven stretch and a 39K breakeven stretch in the almost 2 years that I have been playing for a living.

So I went 2-3 weeks without any income, big deal, I could go 10x that long without any income and not break a sweat.

That is why I have and I understand the importance of an extremely overinflated bankroll.

[ QUOTE ]
You can drop out and play online and disappear from friends, family, and social life

[/ QUOTE ]

Also, why do people think that if you play poker for a living, you all of a sudden become some hermit with no contact to the outside world and no life?

I know I decided to stop seeing my friends, family and contacts I have made over the past 30 years of my life the minute i started playing poker for a living and as far as my daughter and fiance are concerned, well I always make time for them in between hands on my way to the washroom and keep the door open so I can have some quality time with them while I pee.

I guarantee that I work less hours then 99% of any full time employee or self-employed person out there.
I also have no commute which shaves of even more time.


I can choose when I want to work and when I don't.
I went to Vegas twice this year, went on a cruise, I am going on a honeymoon in June to Hawaii and In December we are going to Disneyworld.

I also worked a total of 77 hours this month and last month worked 92 hours, but I have no time because I am rotting away as a hermit in my basement.

I have also been on the other side of the coin as well. I was self employed for 10 years with a few video stores working 60-70 hour weeks. After selling my video stores and deciding to take a shot as a "poker pro" guess what happened?

My income remained prety much the same but MY QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVED 100% I have tons of free time to socialize and do what I want to do when I want to do it. I never have to tell my friends, fiance or daughter that Daddy can't do it because Daddy has to work, rotting away like a hermit in the basement

I never have to tell my friends ya golfing this afternoon sounds nice but I can't cause I have work, rotting away like a hermit in the basement

I also have never been more fit in my life, I am toned and well defined because I have the time to hit the gym 6-7 days a week, I have no more excuses not do to it because I am rotting away like a hermit in the basement.

Yes it can be a grind sometimes and yes, I have no social contact while I am working except for some guy named GoNEFisHInG who is calling me names cause I hit my 2 outer on the river.

The amount of free time and the quality of life I have outside of work more then makes up for it. I schedule work around my Social Life, 99% of people schedule their social life around their work, which sounds better to you?

To the OP I say go for it, chase your dream. Give it a shot, if you fail you can always go back to school.

Anyone telling you not do to it are are the same people who play it safe year after year. There is nothing wrong with playing it safe, it's just not for everyone.

IM A HUSTLA