Hence the links to the posts where he states "I volunteer for charity at the moment. I will get a paid job soon though." Again, suggesting that he has just recently quit poker. He needs "volunteering to get some office experience/references."

So now he moves the years back LOL. Just post your s/n and a graph.. After combing through your earlier posts on other threads it seems people requesting your s/n is a recurring theme due to you possibly being fos.

Post your s/n and graph and I'll take my ball and go home. It's really that simple.

He isn't FOS.

i think you young guys should take seriously what OP is saying.
Your attacking him because he is undermining your dream of an easy life. with no boss etc etc.

What about the long term future, if you go pro for 2+ years after college your risking not being able to obtain a well paid career due to what employers see as bumming around!

Dreams are great, but think it through carefully.
You dont have to give poker up, you can still win serious money if your good enough while also having a career.

Youve got to work hard to get on, nothing comes easy unfortunately.

GL

He isn't undermining anything. He says "I made $250k a year playing poker", so he is actually encouraging young players.

why derail the thread discussing the accuracy of his earnings?

if not him I can point to a couple other folks with verified earnings of 500 on up who feel the same feel but just haven't taken steps to get out. How many blog posts and threads in HSNL have seen about big winners quitting (albeit most unsuccessfully), there is something there.

Get a gf

If poker's your thing, you're making good cash and having a blast, ride the wave. I'm just saying, don't think the alternative is selling shoes at the local mall....


A friend of mine quit poker and started selling Shoes at Macys.

It depends of how much money one makes. If one makes just the same as from a normal job, it's too early to play for living and it would really suck as poker is 2-3 times harder than any job. For people who can still aim for a higher salary day job, that is definitely better (counting out the rare exceptions, that you are not going to be) but those who can't or won't, and make 2-3 times more money playing poker over many years, they can more or less easily just play poker and come back to normal work any time they want and stay doing that as long as they want. Poker as a job sucks just as much as just about any job. As a poker player, it would be good to pick a job that one can easily get and drop and get and drop. Some think a part time job is the best, but that's one way and not all jobs offer any type of part times.

I am professional poker player. I have been a full time pro since June of 09, but I have essentially been putting in full time hours since 05 when I was a freshman in college. The financial and emotional demands on me where much greater from 05-09 since I had more financial obligations (paying for school) and literally close to no time to proactivley manage my life and take good care of myself physically and mentally.

My expierence since graduating and playing full time (since 09) has been close to as frustrating as I could have imagined possible. Between bad luck at the wrong times and shooting myself in the foot over and over again with mediocre decision making, it has been a true grind. But I am more hungry, motivated, and inspired to suceed at what I do then I remember being in a long time.

For many people, playing poker may not be the thing that will make you the happiest. But I read all these posts and some of you are clearly glorifying the idea of doing something else because of the experiences you have had with poker. And that's not to say that it wouldn't be a really good decision for some people to step away from the game. But it's situational, and I think some of you are in for a rude awakening when you come to terms with some of the pitfalls of other jobs and career paths. I think poker players in general do not appreciate how much a true grind corporate life can be. Of course you are going to have generally lower stress levels from the fact that you can't lose money at your job. But I see plenty of people in this thread talking about working 500-800 hours a year. You have no experience being a subordinate to a boss you don't respect, or working at a company you feel doesn't value what you bring to the table. Trust me, it's going to feel like a whole new type of grind when work 2000-2500 hours a year, have little to no say in your schedule, and generally have a lot less freedom and time to pursue other interests. And of course, much less potential to increase your earning potential in the first decade of your career. I want to be clear that I am 100% not saying that some people would be better served in this type of enviornment. But it's seem like a lot of you just totally gloss over the actual sacrifices you make to do that.

I think about the points that have been brought up in this thread about the difficulty of creating a good structured lifestyle for yourself are accurate. I know that this has been one of the biggest challenges for me personally since I graduated. Especially since I went from have no free to more then I knew what to with since my life was going a million miles and hour for 4 years. But you have to make things happen, you can't just wish it to materialize in front of your face. If you keep a crazy schedule that makes it impossible for you to have any real ongoing relationships with people who aren't poker players, then of course it's going to seem difficult! But that is not a requirement for playing poker, even though some of you rationalize it as if it is. It may increase your hourly 30% to play during certain hours, but there are plenty of poker players who may be better off putting into 30% more hours and creating a better consistent regime for themselves. (If you feel like you life isn't well balanced as is) And i'm not saying this as if I have it all figured out, because I don't. There is just a whole lot of "grass is greener on the other side" in this thread to an extent that it makes me wonder how much daily interaction you guys have with people who aren't professional poker players and what their daily routine and professional work life actually consists of.

I think what it comes down to is that ultimatley to be really sucessful and happy in any field, you have to know yourself well and have a good relationship with yourself. The specific attributes that contirbute the a person's sucess will vary from job to job, and if you invest the proper amount of energy into knowing yourself you should be able to determine what you want out of a job and in life in general. It's important to always be real and honest with yourself, and also hold yourself accountable for the decisions you make. This whole long post is basically to say that there will be a different "right" answer for everyone. Some of you who quit poker may end up being more sucessful and happy at other things because you derive a lot of moitvation to carve out a different path for yourself from experiences you had with poker. And others will be better served directing that energy and focus into poker and how to create the lifestyle and long terms happiness they seek from the profession.

Nice post gg.

5 pages and still no SN or graph?
OP, why dont you eat your own bull**** and just go work at McDonalds??
Also, anyone that has kids and says "there are more important things than money" is FOS.

Awesome post gg

gl working for someone else then

poker is what u make it

simple as that

i hated poker the last 12 month i did play. i tried to make brakes for a month and so on but it didnt help. now i havent been playing in like 10 month and i love it, i dont even feel a bit desire to play again and that suprise me a bit. i thought that i maybe would start to play some from time to time without the pressure but i havent so far and it feels like im not going to play ever again..

even though i didnt make any money the last 12 month (its completely impossible for me to do something serious if i dont like it) i wasnt and am not close to be busto me neither..

it just feels so ****ing great. i cant remember last time i felt this good as i do now.

Same. I feel great because of quitting

Time to remember that startups often fail, and usually within the first 2 years.

Not trying to be a wet blanket, but as someone who has owned a business for quite some time, I can tell you that I have seen many failures come and go. Nothing in life is easy or "best"... find what suits you.

Many people are indeed not suited to being their own boss at all, whether that is in playing poker, or in "working from home" or starting their own business. I've seen many people go from employees to contractors running their own show, back to employees because they couldn't handle it on their own. It requires a great deal of motivation, and is not for everyone.

+1

+1...amen!!!

These posts are silly. Unless you have a sweet fall back in life, you're gonna be even more depressed with the kind of schedule and money you're be getting an 'allowance. from.

My vote if you're too lazy to do anything with yourself, play poker and get a part time job (or go out and take classes, talk to people, learn how to use your legs and get out on the streets, I dunno something man!)

Seriously check this out:

Why Working From Home Is Both Awesome And Horrible
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home

awesome posts itt

Lebron James is making 20 millions this year, is he encouraging me to start playing basketball?

but how much did you lose?

Lebron James is just playing a game for a living that contributes nothing to society. No matter how much he makes, I'm sure he leads an empty, unfulfilling, boring life. Oh wait...

If you hate poker and can make more doing something you hate less, then it's an obvious decision.

I see a lot of posts by people saying "I hate poker now" or "after 2 years I hated poker".

I think it's quite obvious that if you hate poker and really don't want to put the hours in, you should look to do something else for a living.

However, realise that's this is exactly how a very large % of people feel like in the workforce, so you may enjoy your job for the first couple of months, see after 2-3 years if you don't hate it. (if you still enjoy then wp, you've found a career that you truly like, but this is pretty rare).


But, if you hate poker, that is your problem, why do you guys have to demotivate other people who truly like the game by saying stuff like poker is a horrible career no end etc...
If you can't handle anymore that doesn't mean others can't. I also doubt you're doing a public service by informing people on the evils on pursuing poker as a career.
I think it's more something to do with "I couldn't suceed at this so I'm going to convice others not to try".