Yea I agree with this basically.

Going to be a difficult spot no matter what - I was "lucky" enough not to discover poker until after I graduated!

gl with your decision man.

First off I want to thank you all for replying and sharing your thoughts. I was surprised to get this much feedback and it is most definitely appreciated. As a result I thought I'd reply in some detail to your questions.

Tbh dropping out of spins for 3 months+ and expecting for me to come back and crush it seems rather optimistic. Imo spins has such a short life span and in 3 months from now who knows, I could be at 60s. It's not even a question of them allowing it it's just a question of it being a good decision

"but you even said continuing poker now is -ev life relative to dropping"

True but the plan was to work my ass off now and reap the rewards by hopefully earning enough money to travel and stuff.
Those second year internship places are somewhat given based on first year results, which is why my parents are apprehensive since if I **** up a lot of doors are closed.

Yeah this is the sick thing. The issue I have aswell is that all my dad cares about is results and what I'm applying to regardless of my overall welfare. He thinks working for a top company is the only way to achieve something in life and whilst it's a perfectly credibile way of living one's life it's not the only way. I don't think they plan on compromising, my mum said she would think about it but probably not change her mind.

Brutal spot bro

Yeah I wish this was possible but I even told them I would quit before second year of uni. They're plugging it now which sucks.

This is the thing. What I really want to get across is that I realise studies are important, I'm not here to drop out and not finish my degree but I picked poker to have freedom and stimulation throughout university. Last summer I worked a lot of **** student and even factory jobs, I was depressed most of the time and told myself, never again. It motivated me a **** load to get good at poker and I take some pride in the fact I have a fair bit higher of an ev hourly playing spins than I would working minimum wage as a 19/20yo in the UK. I created the dream of going away in summer and grinding abroad and having some experiences all with my own expenses.

The big issue is and the main and probably only reason why dropping poker is so difficult is because I think they'll always be a what if. I think I'll always regret it. I understand ****ing up uni is terrible but I'm not an idiot and am willing to sacrifice a lot in order to do well. I really think I can get to a good cev at 30s and maybe start coaching or 60s and do well at university. And hey, if I **** up, it's my fault and not anyone elses, I take the hit and responsibility.

"you can just play poker after uni and get your **** sorted now"

It's not entirely the same thing imo. This leap I am thinking of taking is a bit different from playing 1/2 after work once I have a decent salary (dw I plan to do this in the future it's not some kind of weird shot). I think this is a time in my life where I'm willing to sacrifice a lot to make poker work out. In all honesty, I think it will actually be a very interesting experience which I'll learn a lot. Being more proactive and focused then I ever have before etc.

And thanks acid, it's a sick spot and my mind is floating between the two options a lot. I have a fair amount of tests and labs this week so I'm calling the final shot sometime on friday, otherwise I'll never settle.

Happy to answer more questions and I'll likely give some regular updates as to how things are going.

"The issue I have aswell is that all my dad cares about is results and what I'm applying to regardless of my overall welfare. He thinks working for a top company is the only way to achieve something in life and whilst it's a perfectly credibile way of living one's life it's not the only way."

This is not living if you don't enjoy the job, it's simply existing. Ever tried that line vs your dad?
See i'm 25 and my mum has the exact same view as your dad. That working for a top company is the only way to live life.
She rings me up every week or so and ask if i'm working at the big4/any financial firm yet and the more she lectures me about this the more i don't want to do what she says.
I moved to London to play full time cause i didn't want to regret the chance of not being able to play higher.
The goal at first was to become a 2/5 regular; it's been tough as youve seen in my thread but i'd happily would go broke (or move back to 1/2 and start again) rather than work for some boring financial firm like i did 2 years ago.
I have other plans in life, i don't exactly want to play poker for the rest of my life and for me poker is a stepping stone to those plans.
I've heard it many times where people enter jobs in hoping that they will out of these jobs in x amount of years but they get caught up with it and next thing they know they are 5 years in to it doing the same monotonous bs.

Fwiw: im not saying poker is the way forward, my point is do something you enjoy. I've always had the trouble of knowing what i wanted to do in life, i'd happily work if i enjoyed it. I would happily take a £23k salary to do a job where i wouldnt hate life but i don't know what that is currently for me.

Tl;dr HU4hoes says chase your dreams, don't regret anything. Better to learn a lesson than to regret.

And i think you'd be a great coach

+1 to everything above. I dont think theres anyone whos tinkered beyond NL whos had to make that same awkward conversation. gl!


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Hey just seen this so will go through all the commotion in your thread soon.

But ye I agree you'd deffo be able to supplement your income as you have the potential to be a really great coach!

Ugh. Such a horrible spot to be in. I'm not gonna give advice, but I feel for you, man.

Getting chucked the "we'll disown you" line this morning.

The plot thickens, fun times.

This is genuinely one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in my life.

Every day I wake up my views on the situation slightly changes. **** knows how I'm ever going to decide, I'm heading back home to chat to my family this weekend.

Such a sick spot, easy mode would just be caving and giving up on what I think I'm capable of to please my family but part of me really wants to go through with this.

Earlier in the thread you wrote:
Life EV is the only EV that counts, innit?
Your parents might be misinformed or misguided, but they're still your parents.

I know they seem pretty strict on making you choose one or the other, but I'd still go full throttle trying to find any sort compromise/ setting terms which were suggested ITT when you're face to face with them.

My advice is don't go into poker now if it really is a be all and end all choice with respect to your parents etc. Obviously a compromise is best, but that sounds unavailable to you atm. I might offer different advice if you were e.g. a Ukrainian national (no disrespect) studying at a Ukrainian university.

It isn't easy at all to move to to 100s from 15s, and I would imagine 60s being pretty tough now. Sure, you will earn higher hourly from poker in the immediate future (maybe considerably higher if you are smart and lucky), but there is no telling what will happen in 2 years.

There has already been bots at 100s that played perfect GTO which I reported to stars (got banned thankfully). I'm sure that there are plenty more at lower stakes, where regs might not even recognise some GTO plays.

There are also groups of regs everywhere who are working v hard every day on their game with the right approach. Games are only going to get tougher.

Also not naming names, but you are starting to see regs going into streaming now that RB is lower.

If your parents can't accept the fact that you are making a decent income playing poker then as unreasonable as they are, I would listen to them.

update?

.

Hi saw post in Eg thread, is good see not retire from poker, what you do now?

Not retired, atm have a month of uni exams and then some serious comtemplation about the future. I think in all likelihood I'll see myself return to poker but I'm mulling over my options currently. I plan on writing some kind of big-ish update in the near future so look out for that

If I see you come back while you're in school I'll drop-kick you.

What's so bad about having a serious (poker-esque) hobby whilst studying?

Parents gonna parent man. They don't understand poker and the pros and cons of it for you. Many parents believe the only way to go is down the school path into some job and to work ones way up the corporate ladder. But it's the 21st century now, there's many ways to make money in other ways (not just poker), and in many cases you can make more money than if you followed the standard 9-5 corporate path. Of course they're concerned for you and will want you to quit, what you're doing is taking a big risk, but the thing about poker is it's a calculated risk. The harder you work and more research you do, the more prepared you are to set yourself up for success, it's not some random lottery lol. But once or if you start making a decent amount of money (more than you could from most average jobs), then they will start to understand or at least accept your choice.

Was same story with me, they didn't accept it until I could start paying for my bills with poker and I had still had to finish uni but I always knew the 9-5 was clearly not for me, so I finished my bachelors but then during my masters I dropped out because it just got more and more obvious the 9-5 wasn't for me.

IMHO, you're an adult now. You should be making your own decisions. You've clearly done your research and know a lot more about poker than they ever will. Don't let them stop you if it's what you want to do. Do what you gotta do, whether that's live very frugally until you are playing midstakes+ where you can make decent money or telling your parents you quit but keep playing in secret seriously or if you believe poker isn't for you then yeah go ahead and quit it, it'll still be around in years to come if you ever want to come back later.

Anyways, gl in your decisions man.

Thanks for the detailed advice it is much appreciated.

So actually a crazy turn of events. I phoned my parents this evening and said I know longer want financial support. Will be supporting myself through uni with loans.

As the summer goes I will be playing poker full time, just looking at cheap places to live. If you have any idea's let me know.

I'm also thinking about which format I play, I likely could go back to spins but if other backing opportunities present themselves I might be interested too.

After my exams finish I'm looking forward to doing this my way and having independence, will grind harder then I ever have before

Bring it on.

Very well done on making a difficult decision man. I dont want to get deep or whatever, but I really think making a firm commitment to something like that will do you no end of good in your career and personal development.

That said make sure you still call them and let them know you're still smashing uni /nag


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Used to watch your stream in the past and you seems like a nice guy
Thailand is a great option if u want to find somewhere cheap to live and dun mind the heat
feel free to pm me if u have any questions regarding living here.

Thanks Pete, will do GLGL on the live streets!

I will do, currently considering a few places and have had a couple opportunities already presented. Will keep you guys updated!

Brave decision but I think it's the right one just as long as you always prioritise university. Will be following, best of luck!!

You gona go back to cash or spins?

I don't see how a uni student can make a living from MTTs and do uni at the same time.

imo you should go back to cash.

Variance of spins + uni = meltdown


Gl w/e your decision is.

sick life decision

gooooooooooooood luck