I think you misunderstood what people said.

"Don't play poker as a career, go find a career with upward mobility instead."

Most people would actually strongly agree that if you're a winning player, poker makes a great "part-time job," because most don't expect part-time to be permanent and move up.

The upward mobility of 1/2 is moving up to 1/3, 2/5, etc.; and/or potentially piggybacking a large built bankroll into seed money for another business.

in hindsight, a live pro's bankroll should be like-

1/2- 10k, 6k min.
2/5- 25k+, 15k to take a shot

it was calling a 360 river bet in a straddled pot in position. I had strong holdings BUT it was a situation where the villain had approx zero bluffs and was never value owning himself with weaker hands. I discussed it at length with SPC

If I'm gonna' work 40 hrs a week, I'd rather be a dealer makin' $25 pr hr. They may not make that much in Vegas but they certainly do in MD. Some of the servers are pushin' 100k a year @ MD Live.

With nuttin' but a H.S. education. An E-6 in the military, with 16 years service & loads of continuing training & required college to become a senior NCO & a supervisor of 10-20 people makes <70k a year. Of course ~35% of it is tax free. The idea of grindin' out 40 hrs a week, 50 weeks a year playin' poker gives me an upset stomach. I'd have to be in the top 5% skill set of players. Then it really wouldn't be so much 'work' but more like 'free money.'

NOT EVERYONE..

.. but most people's ceiling in poker is low. It is not just poker theory - there are way way more factors capping people.

~~~
- motivation / satisfaction
- competitive drive
- discipline
- critical self awareness and improvement
- money management / ability to live cheap
- availability of a good game
- Fear of losing... treating chips as chips and not thinking of them as losing house payments. counterintuitive - but some degen in you helps at pushing thin spots.

(Now realize how mutually exclusive not-caring-about-money-in-play, yet caring-about-money-off-the-felt are.)

You should get into poker in order to get out of poker IMO. .. preferably getting out with loads of cash - but soon

Got it, thanks for the response. Who's SPC?

SPC = street poker chick = air goddess = snarky librarian. She is significantly smarter than I am

That's not setting the bar too high.

Well said, except that all of it is like playing music to someone who's is tone-deaf.

Unfortunately, experience is one of those things that can only be gained through...experience.

Shats fired!

Right - which is why what squid said upstream was a much clearer version of this.

"Have you ever performed your best at anything in life?" ... or something like that.

I've had a few women tell me "that's the best sex I've ever had!" ........ however, they always went back to the bigger ones........

YOUR best =/=THE best lol

What trimester is this thread in? Too late to abort?

I really think there is something wrong with a lot of peoples psychology in regards to money.

When people say "I want pancakes!" They usually only eat until suited.

In acquiring money that attitude is almost never the same. Most people I know have this sort of bottomless pot with in regards to money and they focus their whole life on how to get/make more with no real clear objective in mind or specific number of how much they need.

Mrs dead fish and I have decided that of we can make a combined ~40k a year (adjusting for inflation) that we can be totally happy!

I know that sounds crazy to some people but my point was that we live a pretty good quality of life on what the majority would consider a very small amoint of income and are generally very happy and don't have to apply a lot of time in acquiring 40k/yr and get to do a lot of cool stuff and spend time together.

If you want to get rich poker is not a good choice. But for the right person with the right mindset it can be great

what you're saying definitely sounds possible Deadfish but if you're gonna have kids then life will be getting a load more expensive in ways you can't conceive without them

Not trolling, and I am really curious. What kind of person with what kind of mindset would make poker a good choice?

Dead fish - you are different. You have things figured out and accurate.

I would totally agree!

I can only speak for myself, I play poker fulltime because I value my time and freedom more then money.

Poker allows me to make a reasonable amount of money, and spend as much time as I want in pursuing other interests or spending time with family friends.

Edit: I guess to answer your question, I think somebody who is not vainly materialistic, has a clear grasp on their budget and real tangible idea of how much they really need/want could be a good fit for poker.

adding to the pro/non pro thing is anopther not new thought that hasn't been said recently and imo is really important....

pretty much everybody ends up disliking/resenting/being bored of their job, whatever it is. I'm in my 40s and I know exactly 0 of my friends who wouldn't love to stop and change what they do - and they are pretty much all successful/wealthy people (1st world problems etc but still true)

when you choose poker as your job, you are almost inevitably going to end up disliking/resenting/being bored of it in the same way as you do for other jobs and yet it will still have all of the disadvantages that we know about in terms of

- unpredictable 'payment'/income flow
- non zero risk of ruin,
- insidiously depressing working environment,
- limited few opportunities for progression within poker
- a shrinking of career options down the track (ie, poker doesn't really qualify you for much else)

AND AND AND AND AND

when poker is your job, you no longer have it as a fun, profitable hobby that you would otherwise be able to look forward to and play 5-10-15 hours per week

poker is a bad job but a great pastime if you enjoy it and are good at it but don't have to rely on it

also...

+$17,332 in 360 hours and 40 minutes this year for $48.06 ph

Come and get me Biznitches

Correct me if I am wrong. Poker is good for someone:

-Has freedom
-Makes reasonable amount of money
-Can pursue other interest or spend time with family and friends

Why can't you do all that with a conventional job that provides stable paycheck, vacation time, insurance, and 401k?

Clearly you painted a picture of poker as a career from one side of the spectrum (after all, you said that "most" people have bottom less needs), so why does having a stable career must be on the opposite side of the spectrum?

Doesn't that describe almost the least likely person who would actually venture into a casino in the first place?

Feely,

I agree with everything you said.

But I would say that if you only need to make 30-40k a year to be happy in the financial aspect of your life you have a TON of options and a radical job change can be less traumatic