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

[Henry17]

I don't believe professional gambler and security are mutually exclusive. If someone has been making a living gambling for 5-10 years they should have plenty of savings.

I'd say it is very similar to being a professional athlete in the sense that something could happen that would bring your income source to an end. You still have all your savings.

[Mr_Pathetic]

this is probably going to sound zany but i feel that along the path of life there are signs to point you in the right direction but they are subtle and you must be keen on picking them up. so far i have followed the ones i have been able to see. a good example of this is sitting in undergrad and hearing the dir of the graduate program ran by the poli sci dept. say in class that when you apply to graduate school they do not care about your total gpa but more about what you did in the your last 2-4 semesters. i had not even considered grad school due to my poor performance during the beginning of undergrad but my last 3 semesters were 3.5GPA or better. this led me to apply for grad school and i was accepted into the MPA (public admin) program.

that program changed the way i think about life. it completely changed me intellectually forever. without completing that program i would have never known what it is like to try to do something you view as near impossible, stick it out, have faith in yourself, and complete it. this was all foreign to me as nothing had ever challenged me like this before. i became addicted to this and i will forever have to feed this addiction with whatever i do in life for a career or i will be empty and void of any fulfillment. so it is not just poker i choose to feed this addiction with. anything i feel is near impossible for me to do will suffice. so when poker stops feeding this addiction which it will when i hit the wall i cannot break through it will be time to move on. i think the next near impossible thing for me to do is PhD. if i had the $$ i would do it right now but I need to get out of the student loan debt i have now before i go back. coastal resource management would be very fun...

[NL Rounder]

Wow...a 2+2 thread that has evolved into what I feel is a very worthwhile discussion.

Many good points from both sides...kudos.

FWIW, I may add my two-cents later...I've just returned from Biloxi and am just catching up on life.

[Shizzle12345]

@pathetic, you got a long way to go then, since ur still at NL25. Gl [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Mr_Pathetic]

[ QUOTE ]
@pathetic, you got a long way to go then, since ur still at NL25. Gl [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]
lol qft.
i was offered staking for NL100 (guy thinks i can beat it but idk) but i want to get there on my own money.

[golfnutt]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't believe professional gambler and security are mutually exclusive. If someone has been making a living gambling for 5-10 years they should have plenty of savings.

I'd say it is very similar to being a professional athlete in the sense that something could happen that would bring your income source to an end. You still have all your savings.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I guess the best all worlds would be to have enough saved so you don't have to work OR play poker to pay the bills.

The variables are how many years you will live and the amount you need each year. If one needs $200k a year to live on, then you need savings of ~$4mm if you want to live off just the interest. Quite a lot to get to on work or poker!

[geormiet]

cool thanks for posting this swede, it was interesting for me to read cause i live in SF too, and have a girlfriend who works 9 - 5. The main difference between my situation and yours is that I DO play poker solely when she's at work, never travel for poker (beyond bay101), and I'M the one who does all the cooking...it sounds like you are a bit spoiled to be honest [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

She sometimes gets flack when she tells people what I do, but she doesn't care. I don't really care either, I'm happy with my situation and I love what I do.

[geormiet]

[ QUOTE ]
Being a career poker player in your 20's is -EV. You are giving up the best time in your life to learn a skill that will translate into guaranteed dollars in your 30's and 40's and beyond.

Your girlfriend may tolerate for awhile, but wait until (if) you get married, have kids and a mortgage. You will want that 401k and health insurance and days paid off. Having a job ain't that bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that there are a lot of upsides to having a job over being a poker pro in your 20s, but I don't realy think EV is one of them for a lot of people.

There are many hundreds of 2p2ers in their 20s who are earning $100 - $500/hour online. I think in the long run they'll have more money than their counterparts who have normal jobs in the 40 - 50k starting range who have "skills" and health insurance and 401ks..

[golfnutt]

[ QUOTE ]
There are many hundreds of 2p2ers in their 20s who are earning $100 - $500/hour online.

[/ QUOTE ]

I call serious BS on that statements. There are not hundreds of 20 something 2p2ers earning the equivalent of $200,000 to $1,000,000 a year online (assuming they are playing the equivalent of a full-time job).

Try maybe 10. And for those that can do this over a 8-10 year span, perhaps 2.

[geormiet]

- they don't play 40 hours a week

Yes, there are 100s of 2p2ers 20 somethings earning 200k+/year