LOL at work friends influencing this decision.

I almost didn't want to get a job. But Then my boss offered me work friends and I've never looked back

You're still young so I wouldn't stress too much man. If you really want to try out poker full time and you're worried about the gap in your resume than you can always go back to school and get a master's in a couple years. Getting a masters, will in a sense, reset you a little and you can look for a job as if you're just graduating fresh from college again. Obviously if you're not a big fan of more school than throw this out the window.

Don't think you're gonna find too many post college jobs that are part time. Unless you are looking for lesser quality jobs. It's sad, cuz it would be nice to have a solid part time job and have time to pursue other things on the side (small business, poker, etc..)

I think saying that topping out at a 100k, peak of your career, is pretty low. Especially if you're smart enough to make money playing poker. In the long run it prob makes most sense to pursue some kind of career. I mean do you really want to be paying health insurance for an entire family and having to save for retirement without any company 401k match.

Btw, it sounds like you want to play live and i can't really comment on that cuz i've never played live. I got a job straight out of college that i liked, then jumped to another job that paid more which i ended up hating. I quit that job and have been working on my master's (hence the master's advice above). I started playing HUSNGs, and still am playing, to pay for my masters. I'm also doing an 8hr week internship right now during while finishing up the program (to get experience). I've also been thinking about taking a year after i graduate to move (out of US) and give Stars a full time try just to get it out of my system.

Sooo, am I going to see you ruining my games at m8trix everyday now?

........

I wasn't a pro, but I did make a living off it for a while (not baller by any ones standards).

It wasn't fun. It leads to a pretty anti-social life style and it ruins the game for you. I'd advise against doing it full time for your income.

+1... playing poker full time makes working at a "regular" job seem like a vacation

Thanks for the advice! I'm really starting to consider getting an MBA sometime in the near future. My school has a 1 year full-time program that goes from Aug-Aug, so I think I'm just going to donk around poker and maybe travel until that time and see where I'm at.

A part of me wants to get an entry-level job just to see how much I love or hate it so I can begin to start a career or it'll motivate me to get better at poker lol.

starting next week I'll be taking a large portion of your daily fish

I think I can balance life and poker pretty well. I just want to do it full-time for a bit to build some money and have some fun for a bit. A few years at most unless I can play nosebleeds (probably not )

High stakes/nosebleeds require a sort of sick degen side of a person I think, normal people can't be okay with daily 20k swings LOL. are you siick?


And you should try fishing at bay 101, i hear its great (: jk jk buut,

At least i won't be there because i'm banned from there lolol

LOL what did you get banned for

You should go to Vegas sometime between 12/22-1/1.... or the entire time.. just sayinn.

You may very well be able to, I do not know your personality, etc.

I'm just telling you from my perspective it was one of the worst times of my life because I needed poker to survive. When your livelihood depends on a game that can swing both directions it sucks. If you're just doing it to get extra coin go for it.

glgl op

Few things to address of some of the most recent posts, not attacking anyone just saying. Poker doesnt lead to an anti social lifestyle, that is strictly upon the individuals choices. If anything its the exact opposite because your schedule is what you make it and you always have free time if you want it.

Also saying a real job compared to poker is like a vacation literally made me laugh out loud. Are you playing like nl25 or something? Once again this is the other way around. A real job sucks compared to poker as you have a set schedule, have to take orders from people and chances are make less money. How is that a vacation?! Even if your only making 5k a month from poker, its still far better from a job for alot of reasons

obv saying poker is like a "vacation" compared to other jobs was an exaggeration. but yes poker is great because u get to pick ur own schedule, even though for MTT players ur schedule is quite limited to what the site offers, u still have a considerable amount that u can pick with ur own freewill. this is truely the one thing i absolutely love about poker. but just like what arrono said, it becomes a different story when u r relying on poker to pay for rent/school/life style. and expectually when most of the online poker scene is dead in the US, im forced to go play live and usually the biggest games around my neighborhood is like 2/5, but i guess thats a beat i have to deal with

I've always believed that if you even have to be asking this question, the answer is no. Listen, everyone loves poker when they are 20, but when you get older do you honestly think you are going to want to sustain a living from poker? Societal pressures and responsibilities change massively from 20 to 30 to 40 to 50 years old. There are a ton of people who made a lot in poker that are now choosing to go back for a master's degree, entering the workforce, etc. What does that tell you?

No, it very much matters if he starts a career right out of college, would be very very difficult to "start a career" as you say in your late 20s and early 30s.

Will they? Have you run the NPV calculation that takes into account salary jumps/promotions at the job, not to mention benefits?

No offense but this is a really defeatist attitude.

Blisterfield, I really think you are underestimating the job market right now for someone coming right out of college. I graduated in May and still havent found a great entry level position so Ive been playing poker full time and its great. Im not gonna work for 12$ an hr when I just spent 80k on schooling, just not gonna happen. I see so many people who are 40 and 50 and make 40k a year and they started working when they were younger. In this day and age, starting a career at 26-30 is probably much more standard than 22. Also as far as benefits, the main one u need is health insurance and unless your parents are complete d bags you are covered under them til 26 or 27, one of the 2. At 22 and 23 years old what other benefits do you need

Anyone making life choices based on societal pressures and perceived responsibilities is going to end up unhappy.

OP you crushing the pokerz?

This is what I'm kind of scared of. Working for 10-20 years and still make about 50k(+benefits) a year sounds pretty awful. Of course many people can make a lot more that with that many years of experience, but it would be hard to get close to 100k without specializing in something. For my situation right now, a 100k job seems pretty hard to obtain without getting additional education.

I heard that $50/hr is crushing at 2/5. I'm at about $65/hr at 2/3/5 (so yes?) for the year 2012 over only 300 hours. It isn't a big sample size, but I think it's pretty sustainable for me and I don't think it would go down below $50/hr. I don't think I'm running too hot.

Does anyone have any experience or know anyone that got an MBA right after undergrad with no experience. I'm kind of leaning that direction, but don't know if that's the best choice. If I get my MBA with no experience, won't I still end up with an entry-level job after I graduate? I really want to just grind poker for 1-2 years and make $$$ and go back for an MBA and make like 70k+ right away. Is that average starting salary for new MBA grads?

Its very hard to get into any semi-decent b-school right after undergrad with no experience. And yes, you would still get an entry level job.

My chances of getting into and decent b-schools are slim to none with a 3.1 GPA and no experience. I was thinking about just doing it at San Jose State which cost about 35k for tuition (pretty cheap?) for a 1 year program. If I do end up with an entry level position after an MBA, is there even a reason to go get an MBA then since I would've ended up in the same place pre-MBA?

So you're concerned about getting an entry level job if you get the MBA now without experience, but you still want to play poker and then go get the MBA? Does not compute

I want to get an MBA to skip entry level positions, but I guess it doesn't work that way lol.

Getting an MBA would probably allow you to get a better entry level position in a better industry.

Yeah OP, I think regardless you will be starting an entry level position regardless of what you do. Poker is just fine for now as its an ENTRY level position, you can probably get one at 30 just as easy as u would at 23. As someone else said, doing anything because society tells u too is just ******ed. I graduated in May, play full time online now (US player) and make much more than an entry level job, that being said Im only doing this for the next year to year and a half when I move back to Chicago and look for a entry level job downtown. Right now where Im at though, it would be ******ed to find a 15$ an hr job when poker is so much more than that. If i make 75-100k a year for the next 3 years, Ill have enough saved up to take a 35k a year job to start but doing that now, I find to be ******ed. Everyone in my family started working at a young age, and 6 months out of school Im making more than all of them but my father if I had to guess