**** Official 2012 Pokerstars Regs Thread ****

[booger369]

you're praying they ask you to elaborate on your poker listing on your resume so you get a chance to ensure including poker on your resume will be a positive thing and not turn out negative, and thats the one item that may get them asking you questions, no?

[brrrap!]

Originally Posted by hurt

dell 2007fp is the best, it's exactly the same height and the resolutions match. also really great/sharp image.

Samsung SyncMaster 204b is great too but they don't make those anymore afaik.

[ChicagoJoey]

Hi booger

[booger369]

hola. congrats on ur sne/plo success legendary degen.

[OMGitsCheddar]

Originally Posted by coinflip_si

Ive thought about this a lot and spoken to quite a few well informed people (successful recruiters) and its definitely a good thing to mention, just depends how you use to your advantage and also where you're looking for in terms of employment. In stockbroking for example experience in making money from poker is probably the best work background you can have bar any sort of specific training.

I'm very aware that the single greatest determinant of how the poker-job will be viewed is the type of job you're applying for. A couple of jobs in finance will view it very positively while an NGO probably won't.

For me, though, it might just be moot sense I think I'll just try getting a **** job for now - by '**** job' I don't mean like fast-food level **** job but just non-career jobs...like paralegal, clerical, office assistant, even law firm runner. A bit of background on me, I went to a world-class university but got like the least marketable degree imaginable. I have no really useful skills (I mean like I did a little JS,perl programming for my Uni job and managed our website but other than that..) I suppose jobs with high enough turn over and low enough wages aren't really the kind of jobs that will turn their nose up at anything other than a criminal record.

Originally Posted by coinflip_si

So long as you dont make it sound like you were just some bum who couldnt be bothered to get a proper job and instead present it as something which you always saw it as a temporary job which allowed you to make money doing something that challenged you (bit of bs), and that you enjoyed - more so than any available job opportunities in a very tough economic climate.

Yeah, I don't think I'll have much trouble spinning it this way because it's really pretty true. I mean I certainly made more in 2009/10 than I could have doing anything else available to me and I was able to pay off $25k worth of student loans...plus I lived outside of the US for 2 of the 3 years and can say I did a lot of traveling (this is just false though, I lived abroad but did very little traveling but whatever.)

Anyway, thanks for the input guys.
This is pretty humbling for me. I just got back to the US four days ago and am in my hometown for the first time since high school. I really am not picky with jobs right now, I just don't want a job where I'm going to have to encounter ppl I went to HS with - I was valedictorian of my graduating class and I think I would cry if I had to serve my classmates their burger and fries.

[PokerRon247]

What's the actual reason you gave up poker?

[RAW_FORCE]

We're waiting for you with open arms at Merge.

[juan valdez]

in your cover letter its important to point out theres a lot of misconceptions about poker. demonstrate how professionally you treated it and how that translates to other jobs. ie you dedicated x amount of time to study and game improvement which taught you that continuing to grow, improve, and evolve is essential to success in everything from personal life to career.

i personally would position the poker experience as a way to travel and pay off student loans. gain life experience. even if your applying to take out the trash at a legal office youre letting them know that you discovered that you strive to eventually become xyz position in the company.

good luck

[RAW_FORCE]

juan always balancing that posting range with good advice and good laughs

[OMGitsCheddar]

Originally Posted by PokerRon247

What's the actual reason you gave up poker?

I couldn't win anymore. I also really hated it. These are mutually causal of course. If I was continuing to make what I did in '09, I probably would have dealt better with the isolation and social stigma of it. If I could dealt better with the isolation and social stigma, I probably would have tried harder and won a bit more.

Stopped crushing in like Oct 2010. Made a lot playing live in Chicago area from like Oct '10 through March '11. Then BF. Moved to Asia again. Had a pretty big April in spite of BF, but just never really made much after that.

[OMGitsCheddar]

Originally Posted by juan valdez

i personally would position the poker experience as a way to travel and pay off student loans. gain life experience.

Best way to go imo. I really want to be able to use a cover letter for more serious jobs, but mostly I just want to be able to use the cover letter to explain that well this actually is much more legitimate than you probably think it is, rather than try to b.s. that it makes me qualified for XYZ. I could see it being received really badly. But whatever, it's not like I have anything to lose by doing it.

[The Deal]

Originally Posted by OMGitsCheddar

Hey you guys, I'm in desperate need of serious resume advice.

I'm finally entering the traditional working world and have that employment gap problem a lot of us have. I'm making some resumes and I wasn't going to put anything for the time period I was playing cards - I think general consensus on 2p2 is not to attempt to list pro poker player on the resume. My mom is on the hiring committee for the Attorney General's office here in MO so I asked her and she said that I should definitely put it down, just make it sound professional of course. She seems really sure of herself, so I'm going to try that. She's also like 'lol you can't leave a 3 year gap on your resume'.

So, how do I make it sound professional? Like under job duties, what can I put?
Here's my pathetic attempt:
_____

Self-employed
Professional Poker Player (Filed as Professional Gambler) 2009 - 2011
- Completed EV (expected value) calculations, range analysis, combinatorial calculations regularly
- Coached multiple players
- Played more than 2.5 million individual hands; played between 12 and 20 individual tables simultaneously

_____

I mean honestly, it's just "-played a lot" and "-thought rationally about how to play a hand well". I don't really know how to formalize that, or make it sound more legitimate.

You for sure should put this as your job. You ABSOLUTLY SHOULD NOT PUT YOUR INCOME. Take out (filed as professional gambler) they don't need to know how your filed your taxes. If you worked at mcdonalds would you put filed as fry cook? It just plain looks bad. If I got this on a resume I would be like WTF.

-Change coached to instructed or consulted and you may even want to list that as a seperate job for the same time period. As technicaly your coaching business is seperate from your poker playing business.

-List that you used statistical software to analyze your preformance.

-You should also list using graphs and statistics to increase your productivity/ profit.

-List bankroll managment but find a better sounding way to word it such as managed working capital.

-List your decision making. As an online player playing how many ever tables you were, you were making decisions litterly every second that effected your income. This is a very good skill/ trait and will impress the person interviewing you. I actually got a job based on this trait and was told that by the person who interviewed/ hired me.

-If you ever did any kind of promo work for stars or who ever, list that as well.

- If you kept your computer up and fixed bigs etc. list your use of computer knowlege.

There are probably a few more but this what I thought about in the time it took me to write this.

When you interview you need to be ready to talk about all of this this as well. Have well thought out answers and use terms a non poker player would understand. For instance when you tell them about your EV calcs don't say I calculated EV. Explain to them you had to make split second calculations in your head to calculate the expected value (and use the whole word) of your decison and make the decision that would net you the most profit.

Succesful interviewing or even co-working is speaking to their understanding.

Contrary to what allot of people think on 2+2 listing poker as a job is a very good resume builder and it will impress more people than it will put off.

IMO I probably wouldn't be happy working for someone who was put off by poker.

[The Deal]

Originally Posted by OMGitsCheddar

Best way to go imo. I really want to be able to use a cover letter for more serious jobs, but mostly I just want to be able to use the cover letter to explain that well this actually is much more legitimate than you probably think it is, rather than try to b.s. that it makes me qualified for XYZ. I could see it being received really badly. But whatever, it's not like I have anything to lose by doing it.

I wouldn't go too far off into left field with trying to convince someone how legit poker is. You also don't want a long drawn out cover letter.

[The Deal]

Originally Posted by booger369

you're praying they ask you to elaborate on your poker listing on your resume so you get a chance to ensure including poker on your resume will be a positive thing and not turn out negative, and thats the one item that may get them asking you questions, no?

This

[juan valdez]

Originally Posted by OMGitsCheddar

Best way to go imo. I really want to be able to use a cover letter for more serious jobs, but mostly I just want to be able to use the cover letter to explain that well this actually is much more legitimate than you probably think it is, rather than try to b.s. that it makes me qualified for XYZ. I could see it being received really badly. But whatever, it's not like I have anything to lose by doing it.

tldr resume stuff is fresh in my head. may cause drowsiness. do not operate heavy machinery while reading


i caution you not to be so defensive about poker. id state that theres commonly a misconception and then give a couple examples of how you treated it professionally and help them acknowledge how those skills are transferable

every cover letter + resume to every job should be customized. you dont need to start from scratch but just customize it. obligatory poker analogy but do you respond to aggression the same vs different opponents? if youre applying for entry level stuff then pick a position you strive for within the company or industry and describe that as your goal while informing them you can do a great job at the position you are applying for (but not in that order). mention what you like about the company and opportunity and why it would be a great fit. ie if its a small legal firm who specializes in something mention that and why it would be a great fit for you. keep in mind the cover/resume is designed to get the interview and the interview is for getting the job.

youre creating a story loosely based on facts (that you can back up). youre not a guy whos sick of poker. you are a guy who set goals in highschool and got a great uni education. your a guy who had a great uni experience and learned a lot. your a guy who built a successful poker business and gained valuable life experience. your a guy who set himself up financially to pursue what he wants. youre a proven winner moving on to the next chapter in your life.

some resume points

-leave poker nerd talk off resume unless it directly relates. ie no ev stuff if theres no math involved in the position
- use simple relateable skills like strategic thinking, analysis, self starter, dedicated to improvement
-if necessary exaggerate coaching credentials, authoring articles, poker training site content. they cant disprove that stuff and saying you produced training videos for site xyz which has 5k members looks legit
- make sure you can provide a reference for this

imo