What should I do ? (Not a Hand)

[revlis87]

Hi,

First of all, if this doesn't interest this forum please feel free to move it to OOT or wherever if need be.

Here is my situation. I am 19 years old go to "prestigious" college and play 10-20 NL on party successfully over a good sample size. I don't think I am one of the best, but certainly can beat the game for at least a few hundred an hour. I don't use poker tracker because it is messed up but I certainly believe I play well enough to make a good amount of money doing it. Many of you have played with me - some probably think i am the king of all donks and some probably think I am pretty tough. Either way, I am a long-term winner if not at 10-20 then at least at 5-10 but 98% certainly at 10-20. If you had asked me a week ago before i dropped 25 buy ins I would say 100%.

This summer, my cousin and I are renting an apt in Madrid for two months. I love Europe (I went last summer backpacking for a month and went to Paris, Vienna, and Monte Carlo recently). He is planning on trading interest rates at the Madrid office of a big Chicago Board of Trade company that has offices all over the world. This is something he has done for 2 summers now, andthis would be the third. THe summer before last, I actually did this with him. It is electronic trading - a lot like staring at a poker screen all day. We are able to do this because his step-day (my step uncle or whatever) owns the company and is apparently the "god" of trading. He also happens to be (as most traders are) incredibly weird and has a shockingly bad ability to explain anything to me. Nevertheless, he has trained many, many successful traders. I know of one guy he traded who makes over a million a year, maybe significantly more. He was driving a taxi a few years ago.

So my question is this. I spend a lot of time during the year playing poker. I want a break in the summer. I want to enjoy myself and have a good time in Europe and I want to have freedom. But am I forsaking a really, really big opportunity to make a few hundred thousand bucks? Should I put up with dealing with a guy who is hard to learn from because in the end I will (hopefully?) get a hugely important skill or should I stick with the poker for the summer where I will make a ton of money (hopefully).

A few things:

The job might make me $5,000 this summer trading - i won't be making much.

The job is good for my resume whereas poker is not.

The job will enable me and my cousin to be on the same schedule which will probably make things more fun.

I can learn from my cousin this summer who can communicate with me much better than my boss because he will be at home and we will be in Madrid learning from others who are hopefully more adept at explaining thigs.

The job is 9-5. Poker is not.

What would you do? Why?

[hit_the_set]

post in the pyschology forum, you will get better responses.

hts

[fslexcduck]

[ QUOTE ]

I can learn from my cousin this summer who can communicate with me much better than my boss because he will be at home and we will be in Madrid learning from others who are hopefully more adept at explaining thigs.

[/ QUOTE ]

good luck with that - no one in Madrid seems to be ANY good at explaining ANYTHING, in my humble opinion.

as for my advice, i think it is good to get away from poker. i'll be doing so permanently once i get a job this coming fall since for me, personally, poker could never fulfill me in any real way in the long run. especially if you're planning on coming back to poker when you come back, i think it is a good idea to get out, see the world a little bit, and learn new trades and ideas. you'll be more rounded and a more interesting person for it. plus, Madrid is pretty cool. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] just watch out for crazy spanish girls.

[ski]

This is really your own decision.

What I am curious about is how long will online poker be as profitable as it is? If the answer is 10 years+ then I think a lot of us should probably play less than we do now

[gomberg]

Hi Revils,

If I were you, I'd probably take the job. The long term is very risky w/ online poker, and it sounds like you'd like to take a break, enjoy the nightlife of Spain, work a job that will round you out a little, and you probably would still play a little poker on the side to supplement your income over the summer.

It will be waiting for you when you get back to school as well.

For long term, it really depends what your goals are in life. If you want to make a decent amount of money and do something you enjoy and don't get bored of (not necessarily the case w/ poker), then keep playing a lot of poker and become a world class player if you're capable of it. If you want to eventually start a business or something (buy a nightclub, restaurant, some other type of venture), then you should probably work at some other places to learn the intricacies of those industries, even though you will take a hit in short-term EV. The trading industry itself is insanely lucrative - as w/out even being a partner, you could make 500k a year+ if you're good enough within 3-5 years. If you're good at poker, you probably have many similar traits that will make you a good fit for the trading industry.

Have a fun summer whatever you choose and good luck...

[r3vbr]

People who think it's easy to make 500k a year (with a small investment bankroll of under a million) trading are so off it's weird...

[mak15]

this seems like a clear take the job.

for what it's worth i'm a 20 year old at a prestigious university (wharton school at penn) and worked last summer for a hedge fund, 9-7ish, where i made a tiny fraction of what i could online and ill be working again this summer.

you know you can be a pro poker player, so if poker is going to be around forever what's the rush? you don't want to close doors om the real world now by not taking internships that will get you good jobs after school. and if poker isn't going to be around too much longer, you certainly want to think about a career elsewhere.

[Ansky]

Take the job. Poker sucks.

[gomberg]

[ QUOTE ]
People who think it's easy to make 500k a year (with a small investment bankroll of under a million) trading are so off it's weird...

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not talking about trading on your own bankroll.

I'm talking about working as a trader for a private trading firm - I have 3 friends that I know of making in the $300k-$500k range and they're 3-5 years out of school. Many others I know make close to $200k. It is easy for smart people...

[ahnuld]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
People who think it's easy to make 500k a year (with a small investment bankroll of under a million) trading are so off it's weird...

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not talking about trading on your own bankroll.

I'm talking about working as a trader for a private trading firm - I have 3 friends that I know of making in the $300k-$500k range and they're 3-5 years out of school. Many others I know make close to $200k. It is easy for smart people...

[/ QUOTE ]

Gomberg, do they have their MBA's or are they doing this right out of undergrad?