Two Plus Two Newer Archives  

Go Back   Two Plus Two Newer Archives > PL/NL Texas Hold'em > Medium Stakes

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10-27-2007, 08:37 AM
john kane john kane is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,829
Default my last post about this ever i promise.

if you do not want to read about my 2 options please hit the back button.

as i have mentioned many times in the [censored] thread, i have a job. it pays $55k, but the main thing it has very good prospects, in that it is with one of the top accounting firms in uk (and globe), it will pay about $100k after 3 years, then $150k after about 5 years, then slowly rise with then. in 15 years if i did well i could be on $500k and rising.

but this means spending my years going to work week after week. good opportunity is to work abroad after 3 years.

i could leave firm after 3 years, and be able to take a year off, play poker for a year, see how that goes, if it goes badl then go work at a bank or something, earn $100k a year, this would be a guarentee pretty much.

basically the argument is that i've done relatively well throughout my exams since age 16 till now (23) and all of that would have been kinda pointless if i then never profit from it. whereas if i stuck it out for 3 years, i could go to most countries in the world and get a good job.

but then there is playing poker as a job. i've never enjoyed it more, i've never felt i've been playing better, and i genuinely think i am at last a pretty good player.

but what do i do in 3 years say? if it all goes according to plan and i make say $500k a year for the next 3 years, i'd have approaching $2m in the bank. but what then? do i still wake up and sit in front of a laptop? will i be happy with this?

sorry, i know ive gone over all this before, but this is a pretty massive decision, and i just dont know what to do. in 10 years time would i look back on and think i made the right decision?

i just cant see myself being that happy with a normal hard working job, but then will i have massive regrets if i [censored] up at poker and my life goes pear shaped.

i guess it's a classic bigger risk = much better outcome or much worse outcome. am i willing to take the gamble?

also ill have right in front of me what would of happened had i not of taken the gamble - my brother. he qualified as an accountant, doesnt like the job but it pays well, he'll likely go on to be a very successul businessman, likely earning $250k+ in due course and have a great house, go on cool holidays etc. but then he does say to me how bored he finds it.

sorry i know this is a strategy forum, but i figure a lot of people in the forum can understand the situation.

also i am not moaning about this, i know i am lucky to have 2 potentially prosperous options, but as with anything, its not what the options are, its about making the right decision.

thoughts much appreciated.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10-27-2007, 08:38 AM
john kane john kane is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,829
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

also part of me thinks, well, if i can play a 1-2 evenings a week, a day in the weekend, ill hopefully be winning a decent amount.

but then i really do not like having a job at all.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10-27-2007, 08:53 AM
tannenj tannenj is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Check out my blog
Posts: 3,830
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

i've been following this saga for a while and it seems to me that you're looking for a "logical" way to make this choice, like some kind of life ev calculation or something.

this doesn't exist (aside from a comparison of earnings estimates, which obviously you can create yourself).

i'm pretty sure this is a decision you need to make independently. every person is different, and no 2p2er can provide "correct" answers for these things.

with that said, if the decision is up to me, i choose poker in an instant. you really seem to dread/despise this job. this is evident to me in your posts, and it's my understanding that this kind of stuff doesn't always come across well in writing.

keep in mind that when you have a job like this, you have no choice but to spend a huge percentage of your waking hours at the office. sure, you'll have "a great house" (probably nothing that wouldn't be obtainable through poker), but you'll only enjoy it on the weekends and at night after work (a time during which you'll be dead tired anyway).
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10-27-2007, 08:54 AM
Jamougha Jamougha is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Learning to read the board
Posts: 9,246
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

It's better to have a job you like than one that pays lots of money I think.

the time you spent on education is a sunk cost, there's no downside to 'wasting' it.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-27-2007, 09:12 AM
chirpy chirpy is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 144
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

I think estimating the poker route at 500k a year may be false optimism on the back of a good month... Seriosuly, not many are pulling in those kind of results.

Anyway, I had same decision a year ago, chose poker fwiw, and now im ballin in sydney while my peers are revising for their professional exams..

Theyll almost certainly be in a better position than me when we're 30 though.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-27-2007, 10:07 AM
prayformojo prayformojo is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Calling short stacks\' PF push
Posts: 1,247
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

I went the professional route. It nearly killed me.

I've been playing poker for almost a year and it's been grand. The game itself has been fine, I'm improving, I'm earning well, blah blah blah who cares. I didn't leave my job and walk away from 8 years of education for the money or the work. This summer I took almost three months off to be with my wife and daughter. I ditch the tables on a nice afternoon to stroll down to my favourite coffee place for an hour. On Tuesday we had linguini with lobster in cream sauce, paired with a fantastic Italian sparkler (not as balla as it seems, btw: lots of fishermen connections for free lobster). In a month we're going on a cruise.

Through all these times, I never once frantically pawed through my memory trying to figure out what I might have forgotten to do. I never wonder which client is going to come down with an emergency that needs me now now now. I don't want to puke every time the phone rings.

I used to be surrounded by people, with very few exceptions, who were unhappy in their jobs and their lives. Not any more. I may not be able to play poker forever for the kind of money I make now, but accepting life as it is today was one of the best decisions I made. Oh, and investing the bulk of my income for the future lets me sleep at night.

Make your choice based on the life you want, pure and simple. Yes, considerations for the future, and for the viability of a poker income, should have a lot of sway. However, anyone who enters a career he knows he's going to hate, solely for the benefits that that job is going to bring him sometime years from now, is fooling himself.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-27-2007, 10:16 AM
JKratzer JKratzer is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: not necessarily stoned, but beautiful
Posts: 3,448
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

don't quit your job. it doesn't sound like you can just get back on the path you're on if you quit and poker doesn't work out (for any reason). i only agree with "going pro" if it doesn't burn too many bridges.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 10-27-2007, 10:39 AM
mustmuck mustmuck is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 457
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

Major downsides for me are:

Variance: I have trouble not letting downswings affect the rest of my life.
Work from home: sometimes I feel like I never leave the house. I have a tendency to be idle and poker facilitates this.
Stability: No job would be completely stable, but the whole poker landscape could change very rapidly.


Also, I think you know that your estimated poker earnings are at the far end of the curve. However, your estimated career earnings that you're comparing to are also at the far end of the curve, so I guess that's fine.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 10-27-2007, 11:00 AM
heresjohnny heresjohnny is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 289
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

Tough spot.

I was in a similar position to you and I chose poker, mainly because I don't think 9-5 5 days a week with 23 days holiday a year for 40 years constitutes much of an existence. If the worst came to the worst, I'd rather grind out SSNL than work in a real job. Very few jobs out there are actually enjoyable and regardless of the promotion opportunities, I'm sure most jobs in the financial world get very mundane very quickly.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 10-27-2007, 11:19 AM
WelshChip WelshChip is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 358
Default Re: my last post about this ever i promise.

running hot and then quitting your job is not a very good idea
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:18 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.