poker pro - hardest job there is?

[$upermad4it]

lolol online poker = hard job lolol

[Nichlemn]

I'm wondering, what level of poker income would you be indifferent to taking over an alternative career?

In the short term, I think a considerably lower level of poker income could be acceptable to many. This is because of the utility gained from the fun aspect of poker, which unless you really love the alternative career, should be considerable.

But in the long term, I think unless you're making far more in poker than you could possibly see yourself in an alternative career, the alternative is the best bet. The reason is that poker will almost certainly be less profitable in the mid to distant future, and I think it's wishful thinking otherwise. Poker is a fad at the moment. It may take many years to decline by a noticeable extent, but I find it hard to believe that fish will keep playing at the same rate as regulars. It's not like a high stakes pro will suddenly become unprofitable, but it's likely they'll be much less profitable in the future.

Also, economic theory suggests that if poker really is as easy for most people to be able to make a great living as is claimed, more winning players will emerge until this is no longer the case. However (and we all hope this will usually be the case) hopefully the publicised lucrativeness of online poker will attract more fish, thus helping fuel more easy money stories. But as mentioned above, when the fish stop coming, there will be disproportionately sharks remaining - who will have to revert to cannibalism.

[hornpout]

op's point should be that poker isnt as glamorous of a lifestyle as some may think. -it is not an easy job- it is a grind for most who are trying to get by. i made the move a couple years ago and am still grinding out more hrs than i ever thought i would... even more than my initial career path. there are benefits such as playing when you please and working in favorable environments. but as long as you stay within your limits, poker for a living is defenitly not easy. (henry, how were the planet poker games 10 years ago?). the point should be that its nice, but not easy. enjoy. -mj

[pococurante]

People are giving the OP a lot of crap here just because of how he worded his opinion. By "hardest" he meant "most mentally challenging", meaning that it requires more mental ability and emotional control than other jobs.

Being a poker pro requires a lot of knowledge of math, a lot of self control, the ability to read/track how opponents play the game, and so on. A very small percentage of people are capable of doing this well enough to make a good living.

Sure, if you're a poker pro you would consider it "harder" to have a long commute to a boring office job where you have to work 10 hours a day... but that's just because it's less fun. It's actually harder to be a poker pro, since fewer people are capable of doing it.

[ QUOTE ]

There's an economic balance in the world where people are paid a suitable amount based on the difficulty of their job.

[/ QUOTE ]

This pretty much sums it all up. Obviously there are exceptions, but the money goes to the jobs that require the most skill.

So the top pros definitely have a job that's on the more difficult end of the scale, but it's not quite as difficult as becoming a highly paid surgeon for instance.

Oh, and to the person who said "This is rubbish" to that quote... you're an idiot. When it comes to pay:

doctors > lawyers > office managers > teachers > bank tellers > dealers (lol)

You going to tell me that it's random luck that one of those jobs pays more than another?

[Al4as]

Wow, Henry. You really LOVE arguing.

Id say Its pretty easy for me to make 100-150K a year and I still love poker a lot so Im definatly think OP is wrong.
But everyone has different aptitudes in life so... yeah.

[synth_floyd]

You know what's a hard job? Working for 10 cents an hour in a sweatshop in Indonesia. That's hard.

[Henry17]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow, Henry. You really LOVE arguing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really. I quickly got bored and dropped out. They want to think it is hard because it makes them feel special and because they are struggling. The truth of the matter is it is not hard and you don't need to be special but there is nothing in it for me to keep arguing that.