my last post about this ever i promise.

[Janis N.]

[ QUOTE ]
haven't read any of the replies really but poker isn't going anywhere

[/ QUOTE ]emmm games are getting tougher all the time imo

take a few months break and be ready to move down one or two levels when you come back

[_dave_]

John Kane,

This is poster Nuclear500 from Nation's BBV thread, it seems kinda appropriate:

[ QUOTE ]
There comes a time when if you don't enjoy what you're doing, you're not living.


[/ QUOTE ]

and I QFT.

If you really feel like this:[ QUOTE ]

the underlying problem is that i hate getting up in the morning, i hate accountancy and i hate knowing that i could be doing something i enjoy far more

[/ QUOTE ]

And you can't imagine this changing, you need to get out ASAP - or at least take a break - and get yourself on a path to a career that you will enjoy, no matter how prestigious (or not) it may be.

It may seem impossible, but if can get yourself in a situation you want to be in, you will look forward to getting up in the morning (or afternoon [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] )

Of course, if you actually can foresee a situation where you one day will look forward to a cracking day of accountancy - keep at it, grind through the training and keep your eye on the end game - and play occasional poker when you have spare time for entertainment / extra beer money.

But if you feel you will hate this line of work for the rest of your life, good god get out of there - you are still young enough it matters not what you do now... even go back to Uni and study another subject that actually makes you feel alive [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[centgas]

I finished my economics degree. I now play poker for a living. I earn more than all of my friends and do what I want, when I want.

Bring on buy to let mortgages to set me up for later...

[Elmtaryd]

In this case I would try to find posts in Usenet by a guy who calls himself "San te of 36 chambers". I read them a long time ago and still thinks of what he had to say.

[Gildwulf]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
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.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is huge, you might be able to do 1/2 of the poker hours you would without the job and still maintain the great opps and avoid poker burnout

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi John,

I know I am the shill for a mix of poker/job on this site, but I'll chip in anyways.

I work about 50 hours a week at a job that I don't necessarily love, but is extremely challenging and interesting and is a good gateway to much more cool stuff. In other words, a career job.

I played 21,000 hands of poker this month and made a little over a dollar a hand (21k+2k rakeback) playing mid-high limit headsup and some mid-high nl 6-max. I am the guy you are talking about...except instead of 1-2 nights a week I try and put in an hour a night during the week and a 2-3 hour session on Saturday and Sunday (ends up being about 10-15 hours a week).

As for social life/extracurricular, I have about a dozen close friends from college in the city so I still have time to see them a few nights a week. I take a cooking class on Wednesday nights. I spend a lot of time with my gf.

There are drawbacks. Yea your time is a lot more limited than if you didn't have a job. You basically have time for work, a relationship, one or two extracurriculars and a few nights out a week. That happens to work for me; I don't know if that would work for you.

I am often too tired to play long sessions. So I basically play until I make a dumb mistake or a couple of bad tired misclicks; usually about an hour or two during the week and 3-4 on the weekends.

I just wanted to let you know that there are people balancing challenging careers and making lots of $$$ playing poker. I personally think the best choice is to build your wealth on the side while building your career, and keeping your options open. You are still very young and it's important to keep your foot in the door.

If you really hate your job I would try pursuing another career. Poker also gives you a lot of opportunity to try more challenging, low-paying jobs (non-profit work, peace corps, etc.) that you would not have the liberty of pursuing if you needed to make rent.

Working as an accountant you are basically trying one flavor of ice cream and saying you hate ice cream.

There are plenty of flavors out there. You might not find one you like but you should at least try a few more.

gw

[john kane]

thanks for all the replies since i posted and gildwulf for posting how you balance everything.

it may be the painkillers typing here (already exceeded my 24 hour limit in 6 hours today) but i'm going to try and stay with the job, try and pass the accountancy exams, get my qualification, and then i can do whatever the i want.

i think going pro would not give me a true sense of freedom, given my thoughts that the games will get tougher and that i wont have a secure future.

instead if i can (not saying i will but ill try) qualify as an accountant, then in 3 years (how long it takes to qualify) i can do whatever i want, play pro, travel for a few months/years, knowing that at anytime poker dries up, i can fall back into a career with a $80k a starting salary without too much trouble.

i think it would be wiser to try and qualify and then have as much time off as i want. sure i wouldnt then be able to go back into accountancy at as higher level as if i went straight into it, but then hopefully money wouldnt be that crucial given i'd of made a fair bit via poker on/off for 3 years plus for however long i take off.

sure i could be missing out on playing pro for 4-5 years then semi-retiring, but meh, i think trying to qualify is a wiser option.

im not saying it's wiser for anyone else or everyone else, just that for me, i think i should try and spend 3 years qualifying, try and make the best of my spare time, and then i can do whatever i want.

thanks again everyone.

[Maulik]

The consideration of not pursuing your accountancy shouldn't be made in the heat of the moment - in your case after running hot. I'm glad you're coming to your senses, good luck.

[Jeffmet3]

jk,

you can always take a break and get an mba, and play poker while doing that.

plus, while accounting might be boring, you can eventually segway pretty seemlessly into consulting, which albeit being very vague can allow you to travel and be interesting.

[MoP_86]

work and poker for 10 years... save save save... live off of passive income

[john kane]

im quitting. this is so dull, i have no free time, it sucks so much. i dont want to hate what i do for the next 3 years at least.

i just told my mum and see ended out practically in tears. great.

my plan would be to play online a lot over the next 2 - 3years, make about $800k or so, then go do something i would be more interested in doing if i felt like it.