Sad but true
Either you got a job/business you like, and play some 1/2 in the evening to make extra moniez OR you are focused on the game completely, playing nosebleed or close to it, so you can start your own cardrunners or similar stuff.
Grinding 1/2 when you are 30 sounds sucks

NOW

fwiw, I work 40-50 hr exec style job. I play poker about 5 nights a week 2 hours or so a session. It is a hobby. I just sub the 2 hours a day most americans sit in front of the TV for poker.

The extra 2K a month it provides is nice too (100nl). It is like having a second 24Kyr household income which is great. I have paid of all our CC debt, took vacations, upgraded our home, and put money away in savings all from a hobby. It doesnt have to be a fulltime job.

It does unless you are set up in a situation where you dont need a ton of money to live the standard american lifestyle.

My goal is to soon purchase some land maybe about 30 acres or so. Then build one of these: http://www.earthship.net/

Grow most of my own food and use solar power etc.

Then maybe I can be a 1/2 pro.

Jesus I am such a hippie.

Party Poker $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (UTG): $218.30
MP: $103.85
CO: $203.50
BTN: $116.80
SB: $190.50
BB: $123.50

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with 4 4
Hero raises to $3.50, MP calls $3.50, CO calls $3.50, 3 folds

Flop: ($12.00) 2 4 3 (3 players)
Hero bets $10.00, MP folds, CO calls $10

Turn: ($32.00) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $25.00, CO raises to $190, Hero calls $165


Fist Pump gone terrihorribad

I'll chime in on the poker vs real job re: life thing. I think for some poker can be a life long profession. It requires one to either not need a lot of interpersonal interaction or be very motivated outside of poker to engage in social activities and build/maintain friendships and relationships. I feel like most people cannot maintain that balance of poker and real life (that is they get sucked up in the poker world and don't maintain good hobbies/activities and friendships outside of poker) and then they burn out and quit poker (and rightly so). For others there's another factor which makes playing poker for a living unappealing, and that is that you really don't contribute anything to the world. As Keyser said it's a predatory game and in the end is very unfulfilling for a lot of people.

This last point is definitely something that applies to me. I enjoy playing and thinking about the game, but I could never do this long term, I would feel as if I had wasted my life if this was my long term career. I want to have a life of meaning and feel like I contributed something positive to the world. Granted one could do this in theory by getting sick good at poker, and doing some really good charity work/donations with a significant portion of your profits, but that kind of idea still doesn't really appeal to me.

When it comes down to it you need to figure out what kind of role poker is going to have in your life that will maximize your happiness and success. I do think it's possible to have a very happy life playing poker for a career if you are diligent about being social outside of poker and keep up with a lot of hobbies etc. But even this most optimal way of playing poker for a living is still unfulfilling or unappealing to many players, like myself. I'm playing for a living now so that I can save up enough money to pay for med school, and I'm almost there. So for me poker is a means to an end. I'll always play the game and I'll always enjoy thinking about poker strategy etc. but once med school starts I'll probably rarely play, which will be a bitter sweet moment but, for me, will ultimately be for the best. Those are my thoughts anyway.

wow...so much this. 1:1 translation of what i talked with pokerplaying friend yesterday

I pulled it off of HEM. Must be a glitch since I live in CO

I would not be playing poker fulltime if I wasn't going to school - the social thing is huge for me, I enjoy working with people.

And I agree with what shpanko said too. Some people are good at balancing poker and life and I think I do a pretty good job of this, but others let poker consume them.

FYP.

And fwiw, I would never be able to live with myself if on my deathbed all I did in life was play small and midstakes online poker on Full Tilt. That's simply a terrible way to go out. But for the demographic I'm in now, online poker couldn't be more perfect.

I go to a really good school, will get good part time job this summer so I can play poker on the side. I don't have a grand vision for my life ala med or law school but we'll see how it works out.

Ya, what Shpanko said. Everyone just needs to figure out what they want to do with their life. And I don't think there are many people here that think they'll still be grinding 100NL to 1000NL full time 5 years from now. Ugg, can you imagine?

Use poker as a stepping stone to something greater. Use your knowledge of poker to get yourself out of debt, and save some money. Use the people you meet playing poker to get into places you wouldn't otherwise get to. A few words of wisdom out there for you young ones out there: In the real world, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

BTW, I live in a town with the 2nd best Medical System/Hospital in the world, so I have to give mad props to the people who become Doctors and Nurses. But what are you waiting for? Get 'er done.

And I defintely don't think you need to be a full time, 30-40 hour a week grinder to be successful and make money at poker. I'm 33, have a wife and two kids (with one more due in the next month), a regular job and play poker about 5-10 hours a week. In 2006 I made 12k, 2007 was another 12k, and 2008 was 35k just from playing poker. That extra money has been awesome for the quality of life for my family. My wife was able to quit her part time teaching job and stay home full time with the kids, and we take a couple nice family vacations per year.

There is even the fact that with the crappy economy, that if I were to lose my job as an EE, I would have poker as a temporary back-up plan while searching for a new job. That peace of mind is really nice. Though, I don't know if I could handle playing poker for 30-40 hours a week. Yikes!

i feel a danger of this topic can become ridic now...but i feel you can take things poker for ur (later) life...
eg not being result orientated is cool in many other situations imo

This might sound dumb, but I definitely have a much tighter control over my emotions these days than before. Also I rarely get upset by small annoying things that happen daily. I really think this is a result of having to deal with suckouts and coolers constantly and just sort of learning to accept the inevitable, unwanted occurrences that happen now and then. Learning how to not go on tilt while playing poker has made me a much more laid back and fun person as weird as that sounds.

sounds spot on and great post before.

you are ov v smart and that is why you kill the game.

Yeah I know exactly what you mean. I've gotten a lot better at handling disappointment. That said, I still lifetilt when I go through four digit downswings

Party Poker $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (UTG): $218.30
MP: $103.85
CO: $203.50
BTN: $116.80
SB: $190.50
BB: $123.50

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with 4 4
Hero raises to $3.50, MP calls $3.50, CO calls $3.50, 3 folds

Flop: ($12.00) 2 4 3 (3 players)
Hero bets $10.00, MP folds, CO calls $10

Turn: ($32.00) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $25.00, CO raises to $190, Hero calls $165

Final Pot: $412.00
Hero shows 4 4
CO shows T T
CO wins $409.00
(Rake: $3.00)

I totally agree with this. My girlfriend gets so stressed out over anything ****ty that happens. Me, it just rolls off my back. **** happens and I've learned to just not worry about what I can't control.

+1

I'm easily the most chillaxed person i know, one of my main mottos is to not take life too seriously, so many people do and get worked up over random crap when it's not worth it.

ATM i'm in an uber awesome mood even though coming off the back of my worst downswing but i'm like hey it can't get much worse than that (cue poker gods) i've refound my game and 'the world is my oyster' at 21

And props to all you guys who have big aspirations for your life like shpanko. The only thing that's waiting for me after Uni is the dole queue lolo.

This is similar to me. Just not usually putting in 50 hr work weeks. And i still watch some tv just while playing

For me, i have a set agenda for poker and what i want from it. I want to make as much money as possible and pay for as much of my undergrad and law school (potentially) that i can from it along with rent and food, etc. Now while i'm not a huge winner (~3ptbb at 200nl over 100k), i'm fairly certain that i could make a ton of money if i was able to devote a ton of time to poker. Unfortunately i could never give up my social life in order to do this. But instead of sitting on my ass all the time and letting poker get in the way of my life, i party a lot and hang out with friends as much as possible and i love it that way. I'd much rather enjoy the best years of my life doing that than i would accumulating a good chunk of money. So instead of playing 30 hours a week (i dont study much at all for school so this would be very easy to do), i'm only putting in 10-15 hours a week, but i'm having the time of my life in college.

I watch a bit too, maybe keith o'man or colbert depending on mood.

Oh and Red Soxs soon, gogogogo

FYI: im 22, and have not finished college.

I think I will need about 3 more years untill I just get my bachelors degree (something you can get when u are like 20 if you try hard in school).

So right now: the best option for income is poker.
Lets face it: I could bust my ass and work in labor for like 30$ an hour, or work some easy job for like 15$ an hour.

I can beat poker for better than $30/hr so right now I play a little bit of poker.

But even now, I contemplate just getting some crappy job, and working like 12 hours a week for peanuts. I think there are social benefits, tilt reduction, plus if I ever try to get a "real" job, I wont just say "uh... i played poker for the last 3 years".

My friend's dad put it well imo (he dosnt like me playing poker lolz): he said to me; if you try to get a real job, and they ask you what have u been doing for the last 3 years what are u gunna say?

I hate giving advice to ppl on how to live. But, I realy feel that if you play NL100-NL400, and are just a good player, not some sick HU player who has a ton of potential, you need to get your backup plan going.

Poker gives us so much free time. And I think you should take this opporitunity and maybe try to get a business going, or start taking some classes @ a communuity college, or just get a part time job, or join some organizations that do stuff, etc.... Just so that you have something else going on.

Bam hits it on the head too; he goes beyond making money. About doing somoething that makes you feel good. Too me winning $1200 in a night is HUGE night ( in terms of money). I play like 2k hands a day tops, mostly at NL100 a little at NL200, and i play weak tag.

I make 1k or 900, or 1.2k, in a session and I dont care at all, even though to me this is alot oof money. My happyness does not increase or decrease. And I feel kinda sad that even when I have a great day (for my standards) I dont feel satesfyied. Yet I can go to the gym, and make the recpetionist giggle, or lift 5lbs more than i did last time, and I feel awesome.

But ya, I'm done tlaking about this. Its depressing 4 me.

On a good note: I won like 600$ yesterday and I am up like 15$ for the month finaly haha. See ya all at da tablez.