You worked as a fresh undergrad right out of college for a couple.. maybe 3 years? I'd bet a ton it was a ****ty entry level job or a gig working for daddy. Either way you don't know **** and you come in here spewing crap that everyone must be unhappy and miserable working a real job... that's what you've said many times. Just because you had a lousy ~3 years and pursued lol poker instead does not mean everyone with real careers hate their jobs.

You don't like me because I'm telling the truth about the current poker climate and you still want to live the pipe dream because you have nothing without it. I get it. I would need to make 150k+ per year and probably 2.5x that if I lived in LA playing poker to match the current lifestyle I have with my JOB. In that regard it's dead. If you want to be a bum/ bachelor your entire life then go ahead I'm sure you can scrape by as a lol pro.

Why would you? And why would you make post after post in pgcs giving encouragement and support when you know how they all end/ what the expected earnings truly are? You don't even play live poker that often (you've said it numerous times) and once again, here you are spewing **** you have NO clue about.

Fyi I was a grunt for years, put in the time and now I get to do really cool **** with great pay benefits in an amazing work environment. You and Cush and many other 20 something morons want all the perks and pay without starting out at the bottom. Life doesn't work that way unless you got a rich daddy bud.

lol you should really get help for these ridiculous anger problems. But you got me, I worked for daddy. My daddy is actually Bill Gates and he gave me a cushy job running HR at microsoft.

I actually haven't ever said everyone is unhappy and miserable working a normal job. There are definitely lots of people happy in their jobs and I've never said otherwise. There are also many people unhappy in their jobs as well. There are also plenty of happy and unhappy people playing poker for their living. Your continued struggles with reading comprehension unfortunately seem to leave you confused.

lol I have plenty of options without poker actually and I'm neither a bum nor a bachelor. Little bit of projecting happening here?

I actually most of the time in pgc's speak about the downsides to poker and in many cases advise people they'd be much better off pursuing a more standard career and playing poker for extra money on the side. There are many positives to full time poker but for most people it isn't the best choice. You should try to learn at some point that not everything is black and white. What might make sense for one person may not make sense for another. The fact that it triggers you this much that some people can make a good living playing poker professionally is pretty ridiculous. I also know way more than you do about the current live poker climate and what is possible to achieve, as do many of the people you continue to argue with (cuserounder being the most recent of your angry rants about live nlhe).

The level of bitterness you feel because some people are able to make a lot of money playing poker is astounding. I again have literally never said anything that implies I expect I should get lots of perks and high pay without starting at the bottom. Neither has cush from anything I've ever seen. That doesn't even happen with poker lol. You have to work hard if you want to get to a level where you can make significant money. You don't just magically show up one day and watch the money pile up.

Anyways, I'm sure that's all going to fall on deaf ears anyway since you have shown a propensity to not actually read and understand things. Won't be responding to anymore of your nonsense. Gl with those anger problems.

I think Cush and many other pgcers are good guys who have taken the wrong path / the path of most resistance and pain because guys like you keep cheering them on and giving them false hope.

The fact that you agree with cuserounder (lol believing 45bb/100 is sustainable at live full ring nlhe) is insane... but it makes more sense why you would make all sorts of other bs claims and opinions irt real jobs / salaries / work environments etc etc. I'm perfectly happy with the amount of money I make playing poker. However, it makes me very angry/ triggered when I see people have unrealistic expectations in and out of poker thanks to guys like you.

So I'll just lay it out for you as have many other long time pros: if you want satisfaction and happiness in the the work place get a REAL JOB instead of poker. If you want to have a nice comfortable life and not have to worry about money then get a real job. If you want anything resembling an upper middle class life with all the great things in it then do not choose poker.

It takes years to get to a comfortable position that gives all the things Cush and guys like you whine about not having in a real job. Stop wasting your time looking for the perfect job at lol entry level and just accept you will be a nobody, you will be a grunt, and that you will have to grind your way up just like everyone else before you.

Again, going through your post history you believe you can get a "decent" 9-5 if you wanted with an ~8 year resume gap, close to zero work experience and a bachelors degree. You are delusional dude.

Good post.

Upswinging (as you may know) have been called out on the extreme bitterness and aggression in several threads and by many other posters too.

Like, its hard to filter out the good points he does make in some posts when its all constantly soaked dripping wet in bitterness/aggression towards anybody that still grinds poker seriously/doing it for a living.

Thx, haha yeah unfortunately I've had the pleasure of reading many of his rants in other threads. Couldn't help myself to try and talk some sense into him but not surprising that he chooses to continue being ridiculous. Just not gonna bother with him anymore though, no point.

Yeah even though most of what he says makes no sense he from time to time will actually say something worthwhile. Which is actually one of the funnier aspects of all of this, it seems like he doesn't even read the posts he's responding to before he writes his weird rants. Most of the things he claims to take issue with aren't even things I've said lol. Or they're some extreme misrepresentation of something said where he picks a keyword from a sentence that triggers him and then just plays madlibs from there and fills in the blanks whichever way allows him to be angry.

Let's not hijack the thread. I think that you have both had your say and another further progress is unlikely. Let's get back to Cushlash.

Cush you're still a young man. When you're in your 20s you think you know what you want / have life figured out .... but you really don't.

Every "old man yelling" were young once and faced the same questions as you are right now. All those older, washed up guys you see at the tables or humping a **** job all had opportunities in life to make something of themselves and they chose poorly.

Spending the best years of your life on long shots, pipe dreams, and no future planning is a great way to end up as one of those washed up losers.

Reading your posts takes me back to when I was just little punk in my 20s, and while I'm in a really good spot now, a part of me wonders where I could have been if I hadn't of wasted years on useless endeavors.

Another solid podcast.

One of the biggest BS I hear in life is when people say "just do what you love and the money will come". First of all, you're not the first to say this. Secondly, it is very cliche. Finally, the person who gave this advice is probably not doing what they love as his/her profession. Some people just like to pass on things they heard as "insights" so they can look as some kind of a life expert. I love to shoot basketball, but no way in hell I can make a living at it no matter how much I love it (Remember, accept your limitation).

If you can find something that you're content with, I'd say that is a win-win situation. Sure, it may not be glamorous job/lifestyle like in the movie but it's something that ok with doing...it pays the bills and you have extra money left for savings. Get in, do your work, get out, go home and see your loving family. What's wrong with that kind of life?

BTW, I was going to post about the American obsession with money but I'm busy at the moment.

I've been enjoying the pods, Cush. Keep it up.

Upswinging, dude you need to chill out. Your way is not the only correct way. There are many different paths to having a rich, fulfilling life. I will say that you're right in that you need to bust your ass to succeed in most of those paths.

I won't defend his tone or manner of communicating, but Upswinging is spitting the truth in this thread. I'm not singling out Cush, because I have seen this in thousands of poker threads, but any time poker players speak about a real job (or actually go get a real job) they immediately complain about it being terrible, boring, etc. Guess what, any entry level job is terrible for a few years.

And by "entry level," I don't mean minimum wage or very low paying jobs. I'm referring to being low on the totem pole at your first job, whatever position or field that may be in. That could be an attorney, financial analyst, etc where you are making good money. Even if you are making good money, the work still sucks because you are doing the grunt work and get everything pushed down to you. But after a year, two years, 5 years, as you move up, it gets a little better. And I'm talking about the actual work and freedom you have, not just the pay. But you don't get the more enjoyable work, more responsibility, more freedom and more options until you have put in the work/hours and proven yourself. I feel like many poker players feel like they should be able to skip that step. When they realize they can't, they go back to poker because they refuse to grind out the real job for a few years before moving up the ladder.

I'm in the legal field, and just about every peer of mine was absolutely miserable for the first 1-3 years out of law school. Then it gradually got a little better over time. And now that we are 7 years out, most of my peers are much more content. They may not love their job (it's a job, you don't have to absolutely love it), but they enjoy it much more than they did the first few years (and obviously have had many pay bumps to go along with promotions or job changes).

Just my thoughts on the issue. I have absolutely no problem with someone choosing poker over a standard career. But for the people who choose that route, I would expect them not to constantly complain about the downsides of poker, or complain about having to start at the bottom if they decide to go the standard career route. Poker players in general seem to have a warped view of what a standard career should entail.

Again, none of this is meant to single Cush out or really be directed at him. It's more of a general opinion about poker players in general.

man i hope i never get old and think like this

ideally you want to love every second of every moment of life

No one has disagreed with most of this though. Everyone for the most part is on the same page in this regard which isn't surprising as it's very obvious stuff. It's not a black and white situation though. Different people have different options and backgrounds. Some prioritize things differently in their life and one option fits better into it than another.

Keyword here is "ideally".

@mavsfan, I pretty strongly disagree with this line of thinking. I was also in the legal field and I gtfo of there because it induced severe depression in me. Then I started writing about basketball, doing absolute grunt work. Researching stats, staying up late working on social media posts for a blog that wasn't paying me, editing articles to grind my way up. And I didn't mind doing any of that stuff even though most people would find it incredibly tedious. A few years later, I got a full time job in that field.

I got very lucky and not all people can find that type of path, but it's definitely not impossible.

If you are passionate about something, you won't mind doing the mindless intro stuff as much. A nice example is Cush's podcasting. Podding is a lot of boring work (I know, I am also a podcaster). Editing is really monotonous, booking guests that cancel sucks, making outlines of stuff you're going to talk about is a pain, etc. But my guess is that Cush won't mind learning that stuff because he likes getting better at it.

Poker is another good example. Memorizing odds and learning how to range people is boring as **** for most people. But for many pros, they love banging out the math.

You can pursue something you don't really care about and still find happiness in climbing the ladder. I have no problem with people who do that. But you shouldn't automatically assume the people taking a different path are doing it wrong either.

How does Cush or any other 20 something know a standard career isn't for them if they haven't given it a real shot? If they didn't have what it takes to move up in a real job why would they make it in a non standard path?

You need much more discipline, perseverance, patience, and work ethic to make it working on your own. If they couldn't cut it in a real job and now they're struggling and flip flopping when self employed- you have to think maybe the work isn't the real issue here.

If someone wants to be self employed, they want to be their own man then that's great. That's the American dream. But any rational person would have multiple backup plans (that aren't other risky, self employed schemes) when/if things don't work out.

There comes a point where a persons pipe dream is actually that thing that's holding them down from having a successful, happy, fulfilling life.

What an unrealistic expectation of life. Only people who don't have much life experience of life say things like this. Life is inherently difficult and full of suffering. Once you realize this, then you can be wise enough accept life for what it is...and maybe have some moments of happiness. It's just a fact of life.

It's literally impossible to be happy 100% of the time. Just think about death. One day, everyone around you takes turn dying. I'm not sure about you, but I can't love life moment when my dad passes away. Then it's my mom, brothers and sisters, friends. Even when I hear about someone I know but are not close to die, you have to feel a little sadness.

Even when you have a kid and if he/she gets sick, you naturally become worry. You definitely aren't happy about it. Maybe later in life, you need an operation. Can't be to happy about that. What about a leaking roof from your house? Or previous romantic relationships that didn't work out. So if a person doesn't feel happy from these experiences, there must be something wrong with them?

I don't mean to be negative, but running around telling people to be happy 100% of the time is disingenuous and counterproductive. And it's not some deep ground breaking life advice.

I feel like you are making some assumptions or misunderstanding what I was trying to say. I don't have a problem with whatever path people choose to take and think it's awesome when someone takes a unique career path outside of the typical corporate ladder. I had a friend who was an attorney who just decided to move out to LA after a few years in order to work in the film industry (director/producer side of things). I thought it was an awesome move for him, and he's really enjoyed it. But it was extremely tough for him the first 1-2 years when he moved out there. No matter if you are in the typical corporate ladder or in a different field, it's going to take extremely hard work and may suck for a few years.

I also never said you had to stay in a field if you absolutely hate it. You can put effort into getting a new job or getting into a new field and have success in other areas. But the key word there is effort. I just feel like poker players typically don't realize that you actually have to put in the effort, start at the bottom, etc in whatever field they choose. And when they realize this, then their immediate reaction is to complain and talk about how jobs suck.

Personally, I don't think it's mandatory to love your job. I don't live for my job (although my schedule makes it seem that way sometimes). I live for the trips and the weekend activities that my job allows me to do. I also respect the people who have found a way to make a living doing something they absolutely love. But those situations are few and far between in my opinion (but congrats to the people who have found a way to do that).

In your example, it sounds you basically did what I said people have to do. You started at the bottom, put in hard work and then got what sounds like a cool job/position out of it. Whatever field an individual decides to go into, they are going to have to take similar actions and put forth similar effort.

You sound like someone with absolutely no work experience. Congrats if you love every second of your job. I understand that some people really do. But if that's the case, you are one of the few.

New Episode: The Importance of Loving Your Job

@mavsfan, my bad, I was definitely misinterpreting your initial post. Your advice is totally reasonable.

Thanks for the shout out on the new ep, Cush.

Sure thing, hope all is well!

New Episode: Road Gambler Wisdom and Online Gambling Legalization

Nice episode, your story about the investment banker reminded me of the mexican fisherman story, not sure if you have heard it:

Source: I copied and pasted from http://renewablewealth.com/the-parab...can-fisherman/ which was just one of the top google search results but is a common story on many financial sites. I think the key is just that there is a balance in everything, don't take anything to the extreme in one direction or the other.