I am an IT contractor and deal with my frequent poker gaps by putting my company on my resume spanning years of contracting on and off. I mention the longest engagements during those years and the gaps seldom come up in interviews because I am always talking up experiences and leading their questioning. I have been voluntarily unemployed, part time employed, and full time employed in equal doses the last 6 years of playing seriously.

This x 1000 !!!!

good post.

good reads itt.

I would rather buy a gun than go back to 925, even if it's just to kill myself ;-)
Currently struggling online but live you can play like 10 times higher and have the same edge. Hard to understand why traveling for 25 minutes to get to the casino is such an obstactle for me. Guess it's easier now that I'm completely off illegal drugs =)

If playing poker drags you down mentally you need to work on your mental toughness and make sure you have a life.

Thanks for the reply Dave. I think after talking to friends and family and looking at other threads as well as this I am gonna take a look at some part time work in my field.

Even if this doesnt turn into anything I think it will be good just to let me realise that there are other options out there. I think my problem is that my placement job was so crappy (rubbish pay being the tea boy, part time receptionist, etc) and that was the time was when I had lessons off a pro and started building my bankroll and everything was new and exciting. Then I finished uni and couldnt wait to start playing full-time and expected to be rich in no time.

I think this downswing has really opened my eyes to the kind of lifestyle I will be committing myself to and that its not just an easy way of getting rich quick.

However, I still love poker and dont want to stop playing it, I wish there were more hours in the day lol. I will keep you guys updated on how I get on. Ideally finding some part time job I love that I can count on to pay the rent, basic living costs, etc. While giving me enough time to still play poker, improve my skills, mental toughness, etc.

(think I use etc. too much!)

Same situation as well. 31 years old, 7 year career playing poker, about 0 work experience, ~50k in savings. Having to watch spending like a hawk and have no idea how I will get a real job. How about studying for IT certifications?

Killself may be the best option.

I'd like to see this thread open up again. I know there was a where are they now thread, but I think that died down a while ago. I would be interested to hear other people's stories about playing professionally for a significant period and then transitioning into a job (I have not yet found one). As for me:

25 years old. Played professionally for 3 years. Around 50k in savings and >80k in student debt. Have bull**** degree from high ranking school (I understand this is worst investment I've ever made). Minimal work experience. I had planned on leaving the country (US) to pursue poker but decided to look for job instead about 3 months ago. I'd say I'm burnt out from poker but that has a lot to do with the state of online poker in the country.

Ha, you're still a young chap at least. Thank god I have no debt but 80k isn't too bad honestly. It's only a couple hundred of month, right? Consider that most ppl spend 1-3k on rent.

I did leave the country and bummed around the world for a good 5 years. made well over 6 figure most years but blew it on riotous living. My degree is in biochem from a top school but I don't remember a thing about it. Have a friend in IT who says that's a good path but I could never get govt clearance (important in IT) now with my 5 year jaunt.

Anyway, it's my own fault for sure. I knew it would end eventually but had some addiction and motivational problems.

Do you have the link to the "where are they now" thread? It'd sure be interesting.

its very very mysterius how so many IT related ppl posted in this thread (im a coder also).

all i have to say is that ill be taking edx (google it) classes from september and the future will look brighter

Grunch but how old are you and what kind of job are you trying to get? If you're young I think explaining the gap along the lines of "travelling, odd job here or there to get by, played some poker, enjoyed my youth" can sometimes be better than saying you're a failed poker player. It depends on what other qualities/background you have and what you're going for though.

Also, the schedule thing really shouldn't be that hard. It's part of growing up. I still play poker as primary source of income but certainly live on a schedule. You'd have probably had to go more that direction eventually even if you stayed in poker. Just do it/develop the habits, keep making goals, try to enjoy the small things, and all that good stuff.

eta - oh, it's like two years old, my bad.