That's why alot of grinders play evening and weekend hours with no benefits.

You asked a native speaker for the definition; I'm not going to give you my made up connotation of the word.

If you have no reservations with smoking a lot of hash, then this isn't a compulsion.

With that said, I'm done with this issue and you can argue your perceived semantics with one of your buddies.

Why are they playing these hours if there are no benefits? Surely one would stop playing if they are seeing no benefit.

I totally agree but I also see people working somewhere till they can work somewhere else.
Seems totally rational for people to build different skills and use a less developed skill to than be able to do the skill that matters to them in life.

If someone enjoys a less paying job over the money they get from poker but like a higher living standard cause government isn't caring about the position which does benefit people.
Well why not have that person take breaks so they can earn and increase their living standard for themselves and loved ones.

Then switch back like the guy is saying he does do.

Btw it is very common for there to be some highschool math teachers that are wizards on the online-felt.

no. freedom is forex. you click buttons less

They see. But at the end of the 9 hrhs working day in office there's no benefits.

lol

any aspiring poker regular, get out of online poker while you can. its a depressing industry which overall effect is negative to society imo.

one aspect of poker that is most damaging to professionals, it ecourages imbalance in peoples lives. peoples futures are capped and their energy is better spent in industries with an actual future potential. these people lose touch with many aspects of life, as at end of day, poker encourages long sessions of clicking at a couple computer images and watching flashing coulours/sounds. this makes people dumb

How many years have you played for a living?

As mentioned in his post, he is referring to online poker only. Live poker is the bee's knees.

Online poker is way better than live.

Brian Hastings has a different opinion than OP. Daniel Negreanu insists (as do many others) that at some point as an adult one must take responsibility for one's future happiness or become ingrained in a cycle of self defined helplessness (of varying degrees). Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but chances are the vast majority of users here can subscribe to equivalent mantras.

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I've thought about this for a while, why is this something which I used to think was true but now reject?

Playing poker for a living is still the same slavery as an office job but without any of the benefits. You're sat in front of a computer, alienating friends and family in pursuit of money that may or may not come. No pensions, insurance, credit rating or prospects except that 'maybe' you will be one of the lucky few and walk away with enough money to retire before you've ruined your health so much that you can't enjoy it?

Does it make you happy? If you had spent as much time learning coding, training to be a doctor, attorney - anything with a well defined career path and appreciated by society, would you be better off now, emotionally and financially?

Hmm, great thread this, people may not like the content but everyone needs to think about it.

It didn't feel this way when I was making $50-$150/hour at 5/10 to 15/30 LHE, and playing less than 30 hours a week.

For people trying to make minimum wage micro grinding, I can see that being the case.

So the moral of this story is play poker for a living only if you can make enough to not have to invest countless hours just to make a living?

TLDR: be a *real* pro

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I didn't read the thread. There is a big difference in a single person playing poker for a living and a family person playing poker for a living. I wouldn't recommend anyone who is even considering having a family to spend their 20s just playing poker. Kids and wives are expensive.

If you are good enough to play poker for a living, you should be good enough at something else (computer programming, business, etc.) that you could be doing while you are playing poker. Or go to college at least part time... there are plenty of online schools and there are colleges in Vegas. Don't be lazy.

If you think you could be happy playing 1/2 or 2/5 the rest of your life.. you are either wrong or you are a loser degen. I would much rather be a high stakes fish than a low to mid stakes grinder.

So you would rather lose a lot of money then make a little? I don't see the logic in that.

I have two kids and a wife. It is a big difference. I didn't make the transition until I was in my early 30's and we made the decision very carefully and rationally. I think having a family is what kept me level through all these years. She has no interest in poker which I think is preferable.

Pretty obvious he meant he'd rather put his time into a career that would yield him enough discretionary income to hemorrhage money at high stakes than be a slave to small stakes grinding.

work a job to spew even harder earned money makes sense too

It does from a recreational / occasional point of view.

Actually, a mid-stakes pro was taking a shot at a high-stakes fixed limit game and a wealthy businessman worth possibly 10 figures (he had no idea though) made several bad calls and got there. The tap-the-glass-pro-because-I-lost-and-will-have-to-move-back-down-so-I-don't-care-about-tapping-the-glass-in-your-game said,

"Wow, you must be super wealthy to cold call 4 bets with a pair of fours without a 2nd thought"

Business man says nothing, just making a fortress with black chips.

A couple of more hands dealt and the guy just can't let it go.

"Seriously, sir. How does it feel to have so much money that you can take 8 grand of heat on a two outer???"

Businessman pauses stacking chips, turns to the guy, half shrugs and says, "It feels good."

Poker players can invest in IRA'S, purchase health insurance, and build their credit. You don't need a "real job" for any of those things.

Right. A poker player is a self-employed sole-proprietor and as such, must pick up the slack on the employer side. You are both employer and employee. That said, my health insurance is nearly $600 a month for just myself and about $15K yearly for me and my family.

I like it

Get a wife who gets insurance from her work.