my last post about this ever i promise.

[snowbank]

[ QUOTE ]
in 15 years if i did well

[/ QUOTE ]

who wants to work for 15 years? come on now

[TheChad]

I think I'll put this into my blog, but here is my 2c.

The dream of being a professional poker player is glamorous for actually quite few. It is hard work and a downswing can mean that you have to sell your car (or worse). To their credit, a few people have made that lifestyle and done very well. With a conundrum of having a well-paying job that is secure, I give some advice.
You said that in a couple of years, you will be earning solidly 6 digits. I say, keep your job. But don't stop there. Work hard for a couple/few years (day job AND poker) and build some good, sound investments so that you have a passive income. A passive income is money that you get without doing any active work for it. Once you have a comfortable income that you can pay your daily bills from, retire! Become a retiree that plays poker.
So if you take a turn for the worse in poker and decide that it isn't for you, you still have some money to ride you through it and some good experience to get a good job back. Then you can find what you want in life. And srsly, being 23 and making all of those decisions now is not something that you really have to worry a lot about. Take life in stride. Take your lumps. Have a good time. Cheers.

[praios]

cannot read it is too long [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[OnYourBike]

If you're going into the job with this attitude there is no way you're gonna progress through the ranks as you seem to think you automatically will. You sound like a typical naive 23-year-old who hasn't been in the real world yet. Everyone that age or younger was the same. Making 500k a year at poker is laughable. You've gotta be bankrolled to handle the swings if you plan on playing stakes high enough to generate that kind of bank. Maybe you can. I don't know your situation or skill level. You're not gonna know if you have the right temperament to be pro until you play hour after hour, day after day for your livelihood. In some ways it takes a twisted, hyper-competitive, persistent individual with an undying self-belief. I don't know if you're tough enough given your background.

[TNUC]

john, i know your on a huge heater atm, try to think back to your last bad run and remeber how [censored] it was before making a big descision.

[dc_publius]

How long have you been playing seriously and putting in the hours? Sounds like you think that poker is a way to print easy money since you're on a heater and on top of the world atm. But most long time grinders seem to disagree and talk what a pain in the ass it is and how the lifestyle sucks (sitting on your a** for many hours with no human interaction, developing bad eating/no exercise habits, etc.)

People think that a 'regular job' is a grind. But it isn't. If you find the material interesting, it will probably be a grind for entry level kids, but it becomes more challenging and intellectually stimulating and once you really move up, it's really like running your own business in the sense that you will be dealing with clients and cutting business deals for your company.

Do your best in your job first, poker will always be there as a backup. If you hate your job in 4 years, you can always switch, but at that point you will have a ton of cash and investments that will give you ultimate flexibility to do whatever.

[xorbie]

I don't know you at all, but I can tell you that the only value in becoming a poker pro is entertaining us. Don't become an accountant or wahtever boring ass high paying job you are going to get if you regret it all your life, but at the same time if you spend frugally you can "retire" by 30.

[EddieRooo]

*grunch*

its only 3 years lol and its not like you can't ever play poker again.

[mustmuck]

[ QUOTE ]
For what it's worth I definitely only see it as a quality of life quest except that I admit I'd like the security but more that housing costs are astronomical where I live. Other than that I live a fairly frugal lifestyle and generally have no wish to spend boat loads of cash. If I could do anything for the rest of my life earning 80k (not much thought has gone into this figure) a year but love the lifestyle it gave me then I'd look no further. I'm just not sure that poker fits the lifestyle bill for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doesn't really matter but the start of this was supposed to read more like: For what it's worth I definitely only see it as a quality of life question rather than a money one except that, while I admit I'd like the security, the housing costs are astronomical where I live.

Seems it's too late to edit.

[MatthewRyan]

JK - about taking like 3-4 years to get your MBA while u play poker full time?