Hello,
My name is Simon, Im from Lithuania and am 20 years old. Im currently studying at Erasmus university Rotterdam which is in The Netherlands. I have been playing poker for ober 1 year now and have made about 20k of profits since(check my sharkscope- simugis).
Throughout this first years of my studies at university (in which I study international economics) I have came to a question like most of us does. I dont love it, I dont hate it. I just dont have any alternative that I woulf love to do. The reason I called this classics is because its such a typical question. Should I dropout and pursue with the poker? Should I just go with the flow and keep on at it. Im not sure which of the choices is right and which of the choices is right for me. I am the nost clueless person alive and Ive came here for help. Thanks for your time guys!

I was in a fimiliar situation when I was your age, I started winning decent money in poker while at the uni. I decided to stay in school and I can definitely say that it was a right decision - after 7 years as a poker pro I've had enough and thanks to having a degree I was able to get a decent "real job". Considering that poker is much harder now than when I started, I strongly recommend staying at school and playing on the side.

If you're smart enough to be a winning player in today's landscape uni won't even take that much of your time

Well i can imagine if youre capable of making 20k in poker after 1 year of playing you will definetely be able to get your degree and make a lot more money than most poker pros. So if you dont love playing poker and play it just for the money you should be better off staying at uni.

I do wonder though;
What game formats do you play, and how did you get so good at them within a year?

You’re still very young so I don’t blame you for your ignorance, but what you are facing is very far away from that “classic” question you’re referring to.

You’re not trying to get an obscure degree of very questionable worth that many ridiculously overpriced, irrelevant colleges in the US hand out. You’re at an internationally recognized university trying to get a very relevant degree at basically no cost. That’s an absolute dream scenario for the vast majority of students in the world.

If you come back in a year after making $200k from poker while studying, the answer would still be “get your degree” with the caveat of maybe taking less classes and extend your college career for one or two years so you have more time to play.

you know you can do both. it isnt all or nothing.

and one you can always fall back on, and the other, poker, if you find you cant make it which is very likely than you are toast.

I think youre overlooking something really important though.

I think a lot of people know that getting a degree is pretty much always more valuable in terms of expected income, but for some there would be a huge lifestyle difference if they would choose poker or the degree.

With a degree on a 9 to 5 you can probably make more money which means you could have idk a bigger house, a nice car, a wife, kids, etc. Which for some would be a dream come true.

But if someone were to be an online poker player earning idk 30k a year net he could still live in some country in asia with lower cost of living and nice weather, living in a comfy 5 star hotel, getting his room cleaned everyday, have a big choice of what he should eat every day, and really just general freedom of doing and going what and where ever he wants as he can make money where ever theres internet. Now this would be a big dream for other people.

Now theres nothing wrong with the one or the other, its just what lifestyle one would prefer. So i dont think you can answer hero's question here with a simple "degree = more money so choose the degree or youre stupid"...

I reread my post and counted how often I used the word “money” or referred to future earning potential or anything else along those lines. The answer is exactly zero.

If you bring up the option of moving to Asia to play poker from there, you should mention that you can do all kinds of other remote jobs from there, too. I know several people who moved to Thailand or Bali to do remote work in online marketing/sales or consulting and am pretty sure they work less hours than most online grinders and make significantly more than 30k a year.

You wrote about his degree being worth a lot and how getting a degree like that would be a dream for many students, right? Well getting the degree itself isnt really the goal/dream of going to college, its making good money with it afterwards. So indirectly i think you were talking about money. And about the "dream scenario" its weird to say that just because being in his spot would be a dream scenario for a lot of students, hero should stay on this. Hero might have other interests than a 9 to 5 that pays a lot of money.

a degree doesnt have to mean 9 to 5 job. the act of getting one also prepares you for forward thinking and being in society. so the long term results far outweigh not getting one.
i personally have never worked for anyone or worked a day in my life at a job. but still know that having gone through college that it sure helped propel me to success in life, money and other things as well.

No. Again, that’s not what I was talking about. Sometimes you don’t have to try to read between the lines.

I got my Masters degree from a business school comparable to Erasmus Rotterdam (top 20 Europe, top 100 worldwide in all relevant rankings). I played a lot of poker while in college. I haven’t worked a single day of my life in a 9 to 5 job. If you think it’s necessary to talk money: if someone with that degree wanted to, they could move to a random grind house in Asia, sit next to those guys and use their degree to “grind business” and make more money than most of them in less time.

[post aimed at USA and those thinking they will stay USA in life]

college v poker. very common question here. very common answer here is "get the degree". The question assumes a choice...that the asker could attend college. That is not a given in real life.

To me it is not about the amount of money that will most assuredly be more with a college degree than a poker career....it is the easier path to consistent wages. Benefits (health benes #1) and the option to fund your retirement nest egg with more than Social Security is the best way to age..... thinking about life after 60 is not something most young people do....yet most will get to live at least that long. Seriously, you do not want to have regrets about "what you should have done" in your younger years.

(do poker players pay into the SSA system generally? I don't know, but if they don't there is no SS for them when they retire)

Health benefits will only become more valuable. Socialist medicine (like Canada) have many shortcomings. There is a joke within the trade (my wife is a physician)..."The best thing about the Canadian system is... you're so close to the US if you get really sick"

Consistent earns with benefits (health and retirement) sounds boring...until you need either.

well said.

I am very sorry I might have you guys confused.

Thank you for all of the answers above.

The biggest problem for me is that I do not really love university and Im not doing very great there to be honest. I might not even pass year 1.

In terms of poker i do not really understand where does the ignorance part come in. I just stated my results, I never said I was or am a good poker player.

To answer the format question I have been playing basically MTTs. and I just got really lucky a few times and binked some tournaments. I am really not that great of a poker player.

I think you guys have overlooked the phrase "I am the most clueless person alive" because it really is the truth. I do not know what do I like and what do I not. I am not ridicoulusly passionate about poker, though I like it but I am not sure if I love it and should pursue. I do not have my future planned, I do not know what do I want. I am very lost at this exact moment in my life. I do not have many activities that I find joy in. I have only one friend here in Rotterdam with who I meet every one week. I had a depression diagnosis and have been taken the medicine since January. I came here because I thought you guys have felt similar way at some point in your lives and poker is something that might connect us, therefore I was thinking maybe I could find an advice here. Because as of lately I have tried a lot of places

...you are not a good student...or lack the motivation to be a good student....and you are looking at your options.

The world needs ditch diggers too. And if you read my post to USA players, you will know why I prefer ditch digging to poker.

Nobody loves university, How many times do you hear people past elementary school say “finally Monday again, back to school”?

I’m sorry you’re struggling at school right now and have a hard time finding friends. That might change. I wasn’t a very good student during my undergrad years and probably focused on partying a little too much. I am not saying you shouldn’t drop out. But don’t do it without a plan B. Maybe at some point, poker could be that alternative, but right now you’re nowhere close to it.

He is a good student. Otherwise he wouldn’t even be at that business school. If you are in the bottom 10% of students at Wharton Business School and your parents aren’t super rich, you’d be on the Dean’s List at the majority of other business schools in the US.

said late in May...end of term? Not my definition of a good student if he doesn't or won't apply himself.

If you’re getting dropped from MLB to AAA, you’re still a pretty good baseball player.

Well if youre sure your winnings were all luck and you dont have interest in poker itself you should prolly just cash out that 20k and not persue a poker carreer.
I think a lot of people are like you and have no idea how they would like to see themselves in 20 years. You should probably think about this very well, cuz you cant be truly motivated to do something if you dont understand the goal youre trying to reach with it.

ml, I get why you are defending your point. my wife always says.."well, someone has to finish last" (in med school).

OP may have been a GREAT student undergraduate. I read that OP has given up trying to be a student.

the secret to a good life is to have friends and find a profession that is fun to you and not money being a factor.

for many it is self satisfying to have a profession that has many shorter self satisfying tasks.
like building things, a watch repair person, a fishing guide, etc.

Drop out op and make money playing cards.

Why is this a good option for this OP? Specifically.

It is very true, I am not a good student, not even close. I really do not put ALL of myself to it as of lately. Its hard for me to determine whether or not Im a good player. Ive had several coaches and one contract on staking. If I were to knew that I would have financial security doing that I probably would consider dropping out and maybe taking a gap year or finding something else to do.