The skill part is the easiest one when it comes to poker , if you study enough or get a proper coach you will know more than enough to beat the games but the work thats required to meet the the standars of a professional is incredible and when i say work i mean sitting down and play many hours consistently every day. I personally cant do it , i can play 1-2 hours a week , i dont think i will ever lose in the long term but i wont make enough either.

Gambling is already hard on its own , you have to deal with several aspects who cause damage to yourself like the variance , the fear of losing etc , these things require endurance , on top of that poker requires a lot of mental strength , you have to use your brain alot , make the correct plays , analyze the situation , choose the best tables to play , respond to several tables , all these things add a lot of exhaustion to your brain and tire you out , i dont think the term grind is correct for poker , grind is something that is supposed to be brainless , poker is anything but brainless , its very hard and requires focus.

Its not really cool to try so much only to end up break even or even big loser after a day or two let alone a month , if i rolled spins for 2 days and end up loser i wouldnt really be tired or something like that , that would be called a grind because it requires no brain and doesnt exhaust you.


Cash games for me at this point is a big no even as a hobby , i would occasionally play for a week or so and then spent all my winnings to buy stuff and quit , the only thing i like at poker is rakeback grinding , i like to mass tables especially sngs , this is the closest it gets to a grind , i like the possibility to end up in the money on most of them and also the big starcoin count , this is the true fun for me but since im experienced i know t his is a suboptimal way to approach the game , nothing beats table selecting and focusing , also cash games will always be the most rewarding games assuming you have the stamina for them.

Its so clearly not worth the effort and pain even if you do make it now that I'm kind of curious what a poker pro will look like in 5 years time. Will surely have to whittle down to the geniuses who are totally unemployable, aggrophic and possibly delusional.

OK


well, except for the fact that to be good at any profession takes hard work, dedication...and a bit of luck to get ahead. I mean, it's friggin' playing cards you are talking about.

Try being a emergency room doctor or a neurosurgeon where life and death are in the balance..... a bit more stress than whether you can make the rent next month because you are in a slump at the tables.

Or closer to home, try being a successful day trader. Stress through the roof I suspect.

Playing cards for a living is gambling and is a gamble. You can CERTAINLY choose more stress free career paths with guaranteed money...and for a huge percent of the pokering community..... a path to long term higher earnings and stability. Very few "make it" for a reason. One might choose to buy Lotto tickets and have just as much (no math please) "success". Choosing to gamble for your future is an option for all, just don't expect sympathy from any.

Plus, what good are you doing for society as a card player? As you get older you might understand the question. Try to live life with few regrets.

if it ws that easy it'd be easy to do for 8 hours a day just like other day jobs

Same argument could be said about a lot of careers though. Being a poker player is like being an entertainer. Does society really need movie stars? Does society need professional athletes?

No, we don't. However, many of those types of careers are seen as favorable because they give money to charity or start their own foundation helping kids and they are role models for success. If you think about it though, why should a pro athlete be a role model? They didn't do anything unique or self-less by become good at a sport.

Why can't a professional poker player do some good in the world? If you make it big and can provide for your family, there is nothing stopping you from giving back to society.

Being a professional poker player really is nothing like being an entertainer, for the reason that games would run without professionals in them, so the entertainment exists whether the professional is there or not.

Professional poker players really are social parasites and nothing more.

Since when do different jobs get a ranking based on what they do for society? I can't think of much that professional poker players contribute but in a free society that shouldn't matter diddly squat. I'm sure we can all come up with things people get paid for that we think they shouldn't but that's no case to prevent people from doing those activities.

I was out of line with the "good for society" comment. To each his own.

you're stimulating the economy

This BS amaze me everytime... and for the record in regulated countries poker pros pay a lot more taxes than any other "parasites" 8/5 worker.

A person working a normal job is a parasite? Seriously? Is this another "sticking it to the man" type thing?

Fair enough. I just don't think that you can look at someone's profession and make sweeping generalizations about their contributions to society.

Look at all the pharmaceutical companies that are supposed to be making medicine to help people, but are nothing more than greedy, manipulative, power-hungry organizations who care more about their bottom line than saving lives.

Well, if you want to continue........ I thought we were talking about individual choices and social redeeming values.

Let's compare : Pharm vs. casino biz.

Bah

Please elaborate

Yes, indeed. That was quite the stretch.

Fair point.

If you think being a poker player is hard, try being a sulphur miner. Climbing into volcanoes full of poisonous fumes and getting paid about the same as a farm labourer (about $1.60 per day) isn't much fun, I hear.

Great, they pay taxes (in a minority of countries), but apart from that, they add no economic value to society.

Also, for the record, I'm a professional poker player.

They have to spend their money somewhere...

The fact you consider yourself a social parasite because of your job makes it highly probable you suffer from some personality disorder. People with a healthy mindset don't down themselves so heavily.
You can give so much to other humans outside of your job. Hope you are just trolling otherwise is sad.

Armchair psychology ITT.

It's even harder when you have cash game (Polk) & SnG crushers (Tonka) constantly giving out free poker content. GG

Adderall XR sure helps

Sitting on your arse indoors and playing cards is not and never will be one of the hardest jobs around.

This is an important subject. It is about how well it fits into one's mind, emotions and even physical stamina. Also how well it fits into one's life.

Normal work in the west gives 2 to 3 k per month, minus taxes, and can be more or less comfortable for the same reason. It is 40h per week minus holidays that are plenty together with weekends or so, and some works are 6 months per year, that most might grind instead of poker. Some part time opportunities.

The work isnt poker time, so some rest or and other aspect is covered, and one has evenings that might not make one not to get enough sleep when the mind adjusts.

Getting to skill and stamina levels and experience is the main issue. It takes less energy and stress to beat a table you beat with little thinking, and at midlimits or higher with not too many tables, with enough stamina in the brain then, and not just sitting all days and weeks, and not having enough rest, and not doing other thing.

I and some other find that tv on brings some balance when playing. 50 50 play vs other things might be a good balance, no matter how one opts to split it. The rest also is discipline.

an organism which lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other's expense.
"the parasite attaches itself to the mouths of fishes"

Isn't that just the perfect definition of "parasite"? A poker player sits at a table and feeds on fish at the expense of said fish.

Honestly, how else would you classify a poker player? He is talking about poker as a profession, not everything you do in your personal life because of course playing poker for a living doesn't instantly make you a bad person. It isn't mutually exclusive you know. Actually you are putting the negativity on it.

On topic: no, poker isn't one of the hardest professions. It is just that it is available for every clown to try it and the reality is most people who attempt it aren't even close to qualified. That gives you a huge ratio of attempts vs successes but it is no different than any other form of competition like soccer, football or basketball. Millions have it as a hobby, try to be really good at it but only a very small percentage ever makes it to make any decent money.

Most common professions will become clear to children at a very young age and they can ponder it for like 10+ years before making that decision. It seems pretty obvious to people what it takes to be a doctor and that it isn't really obtainable for the vast majority of us. On top of that it requires multiple stages of education and at each step people drop out to thin the field. The point is that only a very small percentage of kids who used to think they were going to be a doctor actually become one, if they were able to just start out on their own and see how they did you would see the same thing as in poker.