Background:
I graduated from a very average university with a very average degree (2.2 Bsc in business management) in July 2010. my teachers always told me and my parents I was the type of person who is extremely bright but very lazy/ big underachiever, and this proved the case throughout my whole education.
I had begun playing poker through university, had made a lot of money relative to everyone I knew in real life, and with the job market as it is, I knew there wasn't much chance of getting a super good job straight out of uni so I decided to go pro. With the situation in the UK that you don't have to pay tax on gambling winnings, and you don't have to pay back any of your student loan/ tuition fees until you're in a taxable job worth ~£15k+ a year, it seemed like a no brainer. My aim was always to make enough money that I could start a business. I wanted to get into property development, either buying to let or buying to renovate/sell. This was feasible in the area I went to university, as following the recession there is a lot of house repossessions available for extremely quick cheap sale, and a huge rental market.
Anyway, 8-9months on, I had made a decent amount of money from poker but it was getting extremely boring/lonely just sitting inside grinding all day on my own. Added to that I was living in a ballin' apartment which cost a lot rent wise, and I ran somewhere around $10k below ev (50 buyins at nl200 which is what I was playing) over the course of a couple of months in February/March. My friends would be at work or studying all day, my GF had to work insane hours at that time so wasn't around to 'take my mind off it' and it started to get depressing. A poker/ life balance became impossible whilst throughout university it was totally fine. Added to that I had 5 figures locked on Full Tilt when it went down depsite trying to cash it out beforehand.
I decided to go backpacking, starting in Hong Kong in June, with the plan of then moving onto Bangkok and through south-east Asia looking to move into a poker house somewhere tropical. Didn't really have a planned timeframe, money wasn't really an issue as I (naively) planned to play be able to play poker for a few hours a week, (naively/ arrogantly) thought it would be OK with my GF - she had exams to do for work and I told her I would fly her out there to join me after she had finished them. Was awesome fun for the first few weeks, but then it got to the stage where I wasnt playing any poker, wasnt able to keep up with running my website, and things with me and my GF went downhill, mainly through the time difference, her work hours, and where she lived didn't have internet, making it impossible to skype or whatever (phoning worked out insanely expensive too).
Problem:
I came home after 3months, have been home 1 month now. We got everything sorted between us, I started playing poker again and got my website back on track. I was/am getting back into poker with a new drive and had clear aims for next year. Our plans were to move in together at the beginning of next year, and I was going to try and hit supernova elite, or get very close to it, making it so that I could basically quit playing poker and get into property/ some other business with poker just being a hobby or something that I do for coaching etc. she was going to get a new job which meant she would be working 9-5 and we would have lots of time to do fun stuff and get away from the computer.
However, my GF had an accident falling off a horse a long time ago and fractured her coccyx. It had gotten better however, was deteriorating over time. she has, within the last fortnight, been told she has to have a couple major spinal operations over the next few months and could be hospitalised for a long time recovering (shes actually been told she might never recover). Although we have been together for 2 years, I'm 22 and she's 24, so quite naturally we have decided it's best for us to break up and look to get back together if/when she recovers (fwiw, it was actually her suggestion. she said I can do anything with my life/shouldn't wait around for her in case she doesn't recover, and initially I objected and said I want to be there for her).
Options:
This has obviously messed up my plans and puts me in a strange spot because it leaves my options as
1) moving back in with my mum and basically living on my own to grind SNE. It would be an extremely cheap option and force me to grind, however a poker/life balance could be difficult because I will on my own all day and obv my friends aren't around to hang out every single evening.
2) move to Phuket for 6months and live in a poker house. This would end up being quite expensive, both in actual and opportunity cost because I would be doing a lot more fun/social activities, as well as playing significantly less volume of poker. Originally I wanted to do it, but I think my mentality has changed in the past few months (I didn't used to ever worry about where I would be in a few years time).
I have enough money that I'm not worried for the short term, but I am trying to think about where I want to be in life 1, 2, 3 years from now and although moving to Phuket or somewhere would be extremely enjoyable and good fun for the next few months, it doesn't move me forward in life, and I'm wondering whether anyone has any advice. Granted life isn't all about money, but I do worry about the future and my credentials to land a good job just aren't great at all.
Cliffs:
- became poker pro out of circumstance more than through choice.
- A year on and I haven't really moved forward.
- black friday didn't exactly fill me with confidence about the future of online poker.
- want to move forward in some way.
- Choice between making a huge push for supernova elite then trying to move on in life, or going to phuket and just having a fun time without worrying about the future.
I have spoken to my friends about it who are kind of split on the decision because some say:
“stay at home, have 1 huge year of trying to make supernova elite then go and enjoy yourself once you have the money behind you”,
and the others who are saying:
“you have no commitments, don't worry about the future, go out there and have an awesome time”.
Two Plus Two
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