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Originally Posted by poke4fun
You are quite misinformed.
Successful people don't work more hours to make more money; they work less to enjoy the money they make. Only people who choose to work more are those who do not find their income to be sufficient.
Plus working more hours and having better success are not necessarily correlated.
I can only speak to my own experience and the experiences of others around me, which include successful pros who have been playing poker as their sole source of income for more than a decade, and they tell me that you won't get anywhere in poker without a lot of hard work. The people that think that the professional poker lifestyle is about hookers and blow are going to go broke. The ones that treat poker like a business and pour significant time and effort into optimizing all aspects of their business will succeed.
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No, serious pros would spend more time to challenge themselves and to improve their games. Such time is not the same as being at the table.
For any serious workers in any field looking to constantly improve and stay ahead of the curve, a lot of additional self-improvement work are done outside of working hours.
Poker is no different. To be successful in poker, one must invest serious time outside of poker to study. 2000+ hours of poker would probably require another 300 or more hours of studying.
I agree. Studying is important, but so is table time.
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How many people are willing to spend 50 to 60 hours a week playing and studying poker just to make $30/hr?
Anyone who does not already have a large bankroll and wants to take poker seriously as a career choice. Many start up businesses require 80+ hours of work a week. Poker is not really different. If you are one of the people who think the casino environment is toxic and spending 40 hours a week in the casino will turn you into a miserable person then professional poker is not for you.
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Plus people do not work longer hours to try to make more money without a purpose, not if they're already overworking at more than 40+ hours a week. It's not like poker players are saving their winning to invest in a business to get out of poker...
I know tons of poker players try to start up businesses or have investments in real estate. They aren't necessarily trying to get out of poker. It's just smart to seek additional sources of income. My personal goal which I wish to achieve through poker is to make enough money to eventually shift my income away from poker and free up my time so I can spend it on the things I really enjoy, like mathematics.
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People who are playing significantly over 2000 hours? These aren't hardworkers; these are players who are barely scrapping by because of various obligations and splurges.
Not going to talk in circles, but I completely disagree. I don't have any idea why you have this belief so I don't know how to respond.
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You are grossly misinformed. $19k is an estimate of benefit in employee's perspective, not a sticker price that employers slap onto the employment handbook to incentivize employees. Employers often spend much less than $19k as most of them take advantage of various group benefits.
The sad part of being a professional poker players is that most do not invest on themselves, not in the sense of retirement or medical. As a result, many of them find themselves in very rough spots after barely getting by in the years of playing poker professionally.
Yes, I might be misinformed. I have never had a job with benefits. My wife has a job with ****ty benefits (employer pays half of her health insurance or something). However, I don't think you understood the point I meant to make.
I am 25 and I do not have any retirement savings, nor do I plan on starting. I don't think this is sad; it's just a conscious financial decision which I believe to be best for me.
Saying employer benefits are worth $19k is an overestimate because I do not voluntarily pay $19k for the same services. It's like saying a $100 gift card for Cracker Barrel is the same as $100 cash to someone who never spends money there.