Quitting my crap job to grind 2/5+ live??

[nineinchal]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow Al, that's the most honest I think I've ever seen you.

Hat's off sir.

[/ QUOTE ]


I figured I would do something decent for a frustrated kid who is about to throw away his life on a foolish impulse.

Don't worry JK, I will be back to form in no time. I will start by playing poker on Yom Kipper,having more than a few beers, and generally being my obnoxious ball-busting self.

[chillywater8]

To the OP, I'd suggest going for it but get a new job also. One you enjoy 20-30 hours a week w/o much focus on money as you'll be making that at poker most of the time. The job will help with the downswings and help give your life some variance. At 23 you don't want to become attached to a poker chair. And don't let the game intefere with graduate school.

[Mark1808]

Cliffs - Find a better job and play poker part time.

From a purely EV calcualtion a good career beats the hell out of playing poker. I am middle aged now but out of high school 3 friends in our poker crew left for Vegas to make a living. They are all broke now. Several friends who went to college and did the career thing became multi millionaires. Some of our original crew are stuck in dead end jobs toiling away but still far better off than the "poker pros".

Times are differant now, poker is hot and there is lots of money and lots of games. Back in my day the tables at Gardena were filled with older people, called "rocks" who played only premium hands mixed with occasional respected bluffs. The house ended up with most of the money. Without an abundent supply of fish even the best poker pros are going to have a tough time makng much of a living.

With that said there are lots of people making a lot of money in Live and OL poker and many of them are your age or younger. If you are young and love poker and are good at it it would be a shame to not take a shot at stacking up hundreds of thousands, if not millions playing poker.

If I were you I would find a job I liked (any decent graduate school will want to see relevant work experience) in the Los Angeles area (best live poker in the world) and augment my day job with night and weekend poker. If you can't find a job in LA I would find a better job ANYWHERE I could and consider OL poker where you can get in many more hands per hour at a greatly reduced cost structure and greater availability of games.

The problem with most young people is they compare what they can make now working with what they can make playing poker. They don't calculate what they give up down the road that can far surpass what they can make in poker. I know many people in their 40's and 50's who can live off the income stream from their assets. Only a small percentage of so called pros can make a decent living playing poker and only a small percentage of those can build up enough after tax assets to support themselves in later years. When you accumulate wealth through stocks, business ownership or real estate your money grows tax deferred and is more lightly taxed as capital gains when sold. As a legitimate poker poker you pay taxes at ordinary income rates a huge disadvantage to accumulating wealth. If you are a pro who does not declare income you must lead an underground life style that makes it difficult to invest in a traditional manner and accumulate wealth. As a business owner or corporate executive with stock options much of your wealth grows unencumbered by taxes until sold at much more lightly taxed capital gains.

Simply put the average college graduate who starts a career will make more in their lifetime than the average poker pro. Poker riches can still be accumulated without giving up your day job. A side income from poker will also afford you the opportunity to choose a job you like more that has a better future.

[Eder]

OP...sounds like you need a change....take your 25k and go travel the world for a year...screw poker and job...when you're in your 50's like me you will realize it will have been the best investment you ever made.

[FireStorm]

To the OP.

This doesn't appear to have been mentioned yet, although off the top of my head I concede that it may be hiding in one of the other 120 responses, etc. You said you "just started" this job. Could we get a measure of how long you've been there? I'm wondering why you'd take the job if you had this in mind to begin with, I imagine poker-as-a-job didn't come to you in lightbulb over your forehead fashion.

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
Going full-time is usually the only real way of finding out if you have what it takes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bull.

b

[atrainpsu]

[ QUOTE ]
To the OP, I'd suggest going for it but get a new job also. One you enjoy 20-30 hours a week w/o much focus on money as you'll be making that at poker most of the time. The job will help with the downswings and help give your life some variance.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I was to ever "turn pro", it would be under the aforementioned condition. But just curious what kind of legit paying jobs are out there that allow you to work 20-30 hours a week?

The only things I can really think of:
server, bartender, dealer

Anything else I think of pays sh*t money and would hardly help the variance of playing 20-30 hours a week. Can anyone add to this list?

[PrimogenitoX]

[ QUOTE ]

If I was to ever "turn pro"


[/ QUOTE ]

Why do people always put pro or turn pro in quotes?

[veggies]

I think the OP should do it for sure. Many people his age and older take a year off work to travel and most spend at least 15k doing it. Many people also take a year off before going back to school as well. I don't think you need to worry about a year gap in your resume if you just got out of school after a few years and are looking for a job.

If you have 6 months living expenses saved up aside from your bank roll wtf is the problem? If you lose your roll you can get a crappy job for a few months and then go back to school.

If this is something that you are really wanting to do, then do it. It won't be long before you can't. I'm about to be 28 and I couldn't do it, but wish I could. I'm only 5 years older than you and paying a mortgage.

It happens fast, do it while you can!

[Diana Ross Fan]

somehow I doubt the OP has 6 months saved.