Quote:
Originally Posted by soontobepro
Poker, good for you, lol...
Poker either wastes your time or consumes your life. Let's face it. You either play casual as a losing player, small waste of time, or spend 10+ hours a day full time to play at a winning/pro level. Either way it aint good for you besides providing an income, if you dedicate hundreds of hours to it and have the talent for it. Very few people are obsessed/dedicated enough to make a lot of money at it...like Boku.
I'm really becoming inclined to think that a lot of jobs might be better than grinding the **** out of poker all day long, having no life, to make your 40k a year, or worse go busto, or even worse, having no life X 2, eating sleeping and breathing poker, and therefore actually making good money at it...while frying the **** out of your shriveled, scarred, mind.
Poker is evil gambling.
I have had a great variety of jobs--part-time, full-time, and temporary. I have had active and sedentary jobs, factory office and factory floor jobs, and I have worked all three shifts (sometimes in the same week). I am now a full-time poker player.
Every job has it's advantages and disadvantages, and that is of course true for poker as well.
Disadvantages:
You can work all day, or even all week, and lose money.
You are not treated fairly by the US income tax system--you are much more likely to have to prove that you are a "professional gambler" than if you are a a professional plumber or a professional musician.
A lot of people do not respect what you do. A lot more don't really understand it. Some will even assume that you have a "gambling problem."
It can mess up your social life and relationships. Try explaining to your wife/bf/gf/child/bff that the best games are on weekends, or that you need to grind for 60 hours that week to maintain your VIP level on PokerStars.
Advantages:
You have complete freedom to choose your own dress code, work hours, work rules, days off, and vacations.
You can work where you want--at your home, at a local tournament, at a casino, or anyplace that you can take your laptop and an air card.
As with a commissioned salesman, there is almost no limit to how much you can make. It depends only on how much talent you have, how hard you are willing to work, and how much attention you pay to details such as study time, table selection, bankroll management, and tilt control.
This is the first year that I have played full-time, as well as my first year multitabling, and I'm still learning a lot. I'm not making a ton of money yet, but I'm having fun, building a bankroll, and enjoying the flexibility. And I'll still be having fun a year or two from now, when I expect to be making more money playing poker than I ever made doing anything else.
Last edited by Poker Clif; 03-18-2009 at 12:46 AM.
Reason: fixed sentence with word missing