Probably truest statement and something people dont think about. I know guys that work on elevators, lay steal, and pipefitters. Young guys in their 40's that can barely walk. They still have another 20 something years of busting their ass before retirement.

you're jaded and thats completely natural. i don't think carmine the tuscan pizza maker is fired up to go make pies for 40th year but it's not a bad life and it's better than his alternatives. even though he can take a small amount of pride in his craft- is that really what gets him out of bed down the years?

to be proud i mean more satisfied with the idea that we are self made, autonomous, play a game for the cash in our pocket. 99% of people don't even believe such a life is possible.

you don't have to lose humility to respect yourself for using your brain and your opportunities to do something unique as part of your story.

i've had some talks with people about this - people who've questioned a poker player's ability to morally justify what they do.

it's funny because if the format changes so do people's perceptions of it. game selecting cash games seems a lot more predatory than entering into large MTTs and winning one. But as we know - it's all the same. It's zerosum and predatory but so is business and so is money.

nice name

who is the real octopus here?

I can't speak about chess pros, but most tennis pros make their money from teaching the game, not so much playing each other.

As for NFL players, they profit from the game but not by taking money from the opposing player. Both players are making money. So not exactly analogous.

That said, I would enjoy a version of that game: you sack a QB, you take a few bills from that player. But if he beats you and hits his target, you owe him. Or e.g. a receiver burns the D-back, he gets the first down then walks back to collect $10K from his foe. (If you beat double coverage, scoop from both players.)

Just make it a purely incentive-based version of football: you tackle a certain player, then collect a bonus from oh wait never mind the Saints already did something like this.

Xenoblade has it right. “Proud to be a poker pro” what the actual **** hahahaha

This is just a load of trash justifications . What jobs are there that grind people’s bodies down to the point of being “mangled” again? It is you with the narrow perspective

Humans are a conscientious co operative species. We achieve so much ie the things that even make internet poker even possible ....by working together. Poker pros contribute absolutely nothing and even gloat ITT about dodging income tax.

To the other poster who justified not paying income tax on the fact he pays tax on consumables .....uhhh yeah dude. Income tax payers pay that too

So yes ....there’s a large existential question mark over the morality of poker for a living. Any other view is not grounded in any reality whatsoever

Lol at this entire post. Go talk to an elevator, construction, or pipefitter on the toll the job took on their body's. Also how many friends they have that can barely walk. Lol. You have no idea what you just said, none.

So every elevator construction and pipe fitters body is screwed? No. Chances are the ones whose bodies are screwed are alcoholics/terrible diets or making poor choices elsewhere.

Ever wondered what the impact is of sitting on your ass for 40 + hours plus forcing the brain to make micro decisions through millions of hands over decades of play (which is it NOT designed for) ....plus stress of swings, social isolation etc etc Yeah. Playing poker is few healthy stuff :eyeroll:

Congrats on banging some drunk chicks on their way out of the club.

I'm guessing the reason most haven't mentioned it is that it really doesn't matter in the long run. You've got a wife now so who cares?

Yes I went out and had a good time when I played poker for a living but looking back I prob spent way too much money and was almost never going to meet a quality, career woman that would want to take a chance on a "poker pro" besides the ones who were looking to get laid three days after breaking up with their boyfriend.

The only people who brag about sex are the people surprised that they are actually having it.

I went to Mardi Gras this year for a week. The only difference was that I had to plan it in advance and I got paid to do so (vacation time).

Guess you should be preaching that air traffic controllers are killing themselves with all those micro decisions they are making every day keeping the skies safe. Must of seen you post this crap a thousand times i think we get your point of view by now. The longer i have been in this industry the more i agree with what you say to be honest. But everyone is different and what makes some people miserable will make others happy and vice versa. I see no need to preach about the pitfalls of this life im sure people are fully aware and able to make their own choices.

To respond to the OP in my 8th year without a traditional job of course i have regretted it from time to time im sure all professional poker players have at some point barring the top percentile. The fact remains my earning potential is substantially higher playing a game of cards than doing any job i am currently qualified for so don't see anything changing until that fact changes.

The last time I remember ever regretting going pro was when I busted my first two 5 figure rolls at college.

Going from being on top of the world then back to nothing multiple times definitely cut deep, but in retrospect was a good thing, taught me a couple of hard lessons.

Thank you for being big enough to admit that

I don’t think they are aware though. Hence the deluded pro poker professional as a career posts in this thread. That’s what gets me involved. I’ve seen lives ruined and it’s not pretty

If anything i regret not starting earlier, same with crypto (even more so), regret focusing to much on my studying (no use for my degree so far).

So so much regret and tons of happiness as well. If success & failure in a regular career impacts you financially/emotionally just take it to the 100th degree in poker. Not only that but outsiders/family don the usually understands either. If you're an aspiring artist/chef/small business owner and times get tough you get encouragemen & In poker you are treated like u have an addiction. I could write a short story of the past 20 years of playing for a living but won't. Best wishes to all that try

it's very easy in hindsight to say "well i should have invested a lot sooner because the price went up". yeah, if you knew then what you knew now, but no one ever does. what if the price had fallen, would you have regretted not getting into crypto then?

crypto is nothing more than pure speculation. but everyone likes to think they are an expert for some reason.

Should prob go back read my original post, wasnt bragging about getting laid. Wasnt bragging about any of it. Didnt say I was going after drunk girls. Said they all came out of the club and borgata employees called the aisle they walked down the strip.

Your bitter about your time that's cool. Dont read half a conversation and make **** up thank you.

Thank you. I can now ignore you. You are just making assumptions with no basic understanding or facts. Not going to bother discussing this. You want to be right, you dont care about facts.

Never said all workers. Said I personally know 3 that are in their 40's with problems. Through the years talking with them its come up that others are just as bad or worse. The OP of that comment sounded like he was in that field and was giving first hand knowledge. You just asume like the ignorant person you are.

Btw the human brain (probably not yours though) processes 400 billion bits of information a second. I think a few poker hands will be ok.

Do yourself a favor. Look so stuff up once in a while instead of just mouthing off. "Eyeroll"

Regretting something is in my point of view often pretty pointless.
People most of the time seem to compare their situation to one of the better alternatives possible.
It is like not cold calling a 3 bet with 7 2 , and regretting folding it after the flop comes down 772.

You can only try to make the best decision with the information available at the time.

good analogy

Good question. I played professionally from 2005 to 2012. In some ways, my poker days were some of the best days of my life. I was able to support myself during college. I got to live in Spain, Canada and New Zealand while playing cards to support myself. I was able to travel to 27 countries with my poker money. Two of my good friends to this day are from poker. I got to play in the Main Event (my dream since I was 16) and the EPT Main Event. I learned a lot of unique skills; game theory, analytical skills, statistics etc. I got great satisfaction from being successful in an extremely challenging profession. I still argue I have the world record for most hands played in 24 hours while maintaining a profit, despite ChicagoJoey's claims to the contrary, which is kind of cool. It was such an unique life and I loved it.

Or so I thought. Black Friday dramatically changed things for me. Profitability went down, stress went up. I had to move down limits and it started to become clear that I was never as good at the game as I thought. My passion for the game, after 7 years, was non-existent. Without passion, there was no drive to continue to learn, which, especially in these days, is crucial for survival. For years, I had just been coasting using the ABCs and crushing noobs. Without the noobs, I was making mediocre money. I started to reflect on my life during this downward spiral. I had **** grades in a **** major from college because I focused so much on poker. I didn't make many friends outside of poker during my college and beyond years, and I tend to agree with some of the posters here that most poker players are negative people. They didn't bring out the best qualities in me, namely being overcompetitive. I was unhealthy and my infamous (well, probably less infamous these days) prop bets didn't help matters. My romance life was non-existent. I had no appreciation for money and spent it on some truly dumb ****. All of a sudden, when I was in New Zealand, I realized that my life was not what I wanted. Would this profession allow me to be my best self? Not even close. I decided to take a step back. I played less poker. Suddenly, I was becoming more social, making more friends, I got my first girlfriend in like 8 years, I was eating healthy and going to the gym. My life was better. Is that just because I quit poker? Could I have done these things while playing poker? I don't know. I think at that point, poker had just been too toxic and the only way to do those other things was to remove it but maybe poker was just the scapegoat.

I decided that I needed to make this permanent. I spent the next 6 months studying for the GMAT. I went to grad school for accounting, got my CPA and started making decent money in a decent profession. My life on average is better than what it was, even during the poker hey-day. I am healthier, more social and more stable than I was back then. Friends who knew me during the poker days and since say that I am almost unrecognizable when compared to the poker version of me (in a good way). I haven't touched a single hand of poker since 2012, although there have been days when I've been tempted.


All in all, I wouldn't say that I regret playing poker. It taught me a lot of skills that are still useful today. I got to live in some beautiful places. It was an unique experience. But, the opportunity costs are real. I went to a really good undergraduate school which I completed wasted. If I had focused on something there with the same zeal that I had poker, I would be making more now than I did at the high point of my poker career with potentially a more positive impact on me and the world around me. But maybe me hitting my low with poker taught me lessons about myself (need to focus on friends and your health) that I would not have learned elsewhere? It is tough to say.

I liked the story Hodge, hopefully we get to hear some more in this thread

Yea great story Hodge. I echo your statement about poker making you more negative. It's hard to have a normal social life and connect with other people when you're losing at the game for any substantial amount of money. Even if you win 60% of your sessions that's still 40% of the time you're in a suboptimal mood, and the toll that takes on your mental health can't be underestimated.

FYP.