Dating a poker pro- From the perspective of a non-playing girlfriend

[redsd00dz]

thats awesome

[ReMMy]

Left my day job at 23, 4 years ago. Never been close to broke. Worth more than every single person I know from college and work, including the nuclear physicist. The 30k I put into my 401k while working doesn't even factor into my retirement plans.

Playing poker full time was the most +EV move I could have made. I'd be making 75k tops at my job right now.

The reason many winning players fail at poker is because they aren't financially responsible. These people would be financially irresponsible if they stayed in a day job. Typical middle class spending habits get the job done. Leasing expensive cars, buying large houses w/ huge mortgages, credit card debt, not contributing to 401k's.

Stop telling everyone crap they already know or don't care about. Those who would have succeeded in a day job and are also amazing poker players will most often make more at poker. Those who fail at poker probably weren't going to become millionaires from their day job anyways.

[golfnutt]

[ QUOTE ]
Stop telling everyone crap they already know or don't care about.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lol. As I said, coming on here and talking poorly about becoming a poker pro is like going to Wisconsin and lecturing the populace on how bad cheese is for you and what it does for your cholesterol level.

As Henry said, these young guns don't know or actually don't want to know.

I personally know poker geniuses for whatever reason have flamed out. It happens to the majority. One guy I know is now making $40k as a promotions manager at a club. He has declared BK and owes everyone in the world money (ouch...I am on that list!).

People will definitely make it. It will be infinitesimally smaller than many people think.

The only way to tell is to come back to 2p2 in 10 years and I am fairly confident you will see a 95%+ turnover. Or you can do as I have and witness it over the last 18 years.

[Henry17]

The question I have though is can if the last 18 years of data remains valid? Poker has changed dramatically in the last 4 years. It is also unclear what will happen to poker in the near future.

[golfnutt]

[ QUOTE ]
Playing poker full time was the most +EV move I could have made. I'd be making 75k tops at my job right now.

[/ QUOTE ]

How the [censored] can you know if it is +EV long-term? You are picking a point in time. A job in your 20's isn't just about the pay, it is about the experience you gain so you can make big bucks in your 30s, 40s and 50s.

[Henry17]

[ QUOTE ]
A job in your 20's isn't just about the pay, it is about the experience you gain so you can make big bucks in your 30s, 40s and 50s.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem is that you are assuming people will earn more as they move up / gain experience skills. This is true for some people but for the majority it is a false assumption.

The average income in Canada is in the $34-37k range. I think in the States it is probably about the same or slightly lower. For the majority poker is +EV if they can make $40k.

I'd say less than 15% of the population makes over $80k though traditional employment (I could be wrong but I'm too lazy too look up the stats). For this 15% your argument is valid but for the majority they are never going to earn much more than what they started off at.

[golfnutt]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A job in your 20's isn't just about the pay, it is about the experience you gain so you can make big bucks in your 30s, 40s and 50s.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem is that you are assuming people will earn more as they move up / gain experience skills. This is true for some people but for the majority it is a false assumption.

The average income in Canada is in the $34-37k range. I think in the States it is probably about the same or slightly lower. For the majority poker is +EV if they can make $40k.

I'd say less than 15% of the population makes over $80k though traditional employment (I could be wrong but I'm too lazy too look up the stats). For this 15% your argument is valid but for the majority they are never going to earn much more than what they started off at.

[/ QUOTE ]

As always, you are right, King Henry. I am referring to those that take the career path vs. just going through the motions of a job.

If you are educated and have a modicum of drive, getting into that 15% is fairly easy.

[Henry17]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are educated and have a modicum of drive, getting into that 15% is fairly easy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree the process is pretty easy but the fact that more people don't do it makes me think it might not be as easy for them.

To start with less than 40% of young people go to university. So for 60% the education is off the table. Of the 40% who go at least 20% don't have any reason to be in university (80% at some schools). A large portion of these end up with joke degrees like Psych and Sociology which again means they will never have a career but now they have student debt to worry about.

Most people leave university worse off. The people you are talking about would be individuals who end up in business school, law, medical school, engineering etc. Basically one of the professional degrees. I think competition for these is, while not hard, at least moderately challenging and sufficiently difficult to exclude most of the people who choose poker with no back up plan.

Most of society is not that smart or that industrious. Poker doesn't require that they be so fits for them.

[golfnutt]

[ QUOTE ]
Most of society is not that smart or that industrious. Poker doesn't require that they be so fits for them.

[/ QUOTE ]

And I think that being a top poker pro requires a person to be industrious. They need to learn, keep track, be 'professional', etc.

[Mr_Pathetic]

[ QUOTE ]

To start with less than 40% of young people go to university. So for 60% the education is off the table. Of the 40% who go at least 20% don't have any reason to be in university (80% at some schools). A large portion of these end up with joke degrees like Psych and Sociology which again means they will never have a career but now they have student debt to worry about.

Most people leave university worse off.

[/ QUOTE ]
This pretty much sums me up right here except that graduate school changed how I think and see the world for the better. Problem is my graduate degree is in public administration which makes finding jobs difficult especially without experience. Adding to the fact that a political science undergrad degree was a stupid choice. Should have went with statistics or planning but a professor talked me into it. Oddly enough a planning degree could have landed me three jobs right out of school...

I am not so sure about had no business being at a university in terms of intelligence but I will say that in high school I never done any work and was never challenged so this led to grades that could get me into any school except for places like Duke University or even UNC Chapel Hill. NC State was the best school who would accept me. I guess if I knew how to think like I learned in graduate school things would be different but I had never been pushed to do so.

Now the problem is I left the University with a masters degree that is hard to find a job with and a ton of debt. Am I worse off? Right now yes, in terms of intellectual ability, no. In terms of future money making potential? No. Problems I face, narrow job market in public sector notorious for not having high pay on the federal level but pay is plenty good on the local level. For example the city manager of Greensboro, NC makes well over 150k a year. Now if I want to bypass that and really make some money then my best bet is to play poker or go into business for myself. Owning a small business is what I wanted all along as that is what most of my family has made their living from and it will be funny if that is how I end up.