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Quitting the full-time poker scene

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Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#31

Post by gen220 »

Tarsul wrote: post #21

I find interesting that no one (yet) in OP or in the comments has talked about my main complaint about playing Poker as a living: it's a zero sum game where you basically only take money from other people. It's not productive. For me, that in itself is as depressing as the grind. But it appears most players don't really care about this, maybe because life oftentimes is not fair and thus being productive is not seen a…

I have a friend who got into poker in the 90s. He did a lot of studying and practicing at home, then took a bus down to Atlantic City to try his luck, goal was to pay for a ticket back.

He ended up making a lot more money than that (more than he’d ever made in a paycheck up to that point!), but half of it was from a guy with more teeth out of his possession than in his possession. Most of his opponents were irrational addicts fighting personal demons.

In the end, he decided gambling wasn’t for him, never went back to Atlantic City.

Zero sum games are really depressing.

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#32

Post by ska »

bsder wrote: post #18
Aurornis wrote: post #11

> Poker has the best hourly rate for any job in India. The money is simply un-comparable to any job a 20 year old can get and is close to VP+ level in unicorn/FAANG companies > Imagine sitting in front of a screen for 12-16hrs a day, clicking buttons > The 95th percentile Poker income is about $200-250k. I knew quite a few people who went through poker phases in college and their early 20s, back before it was heavily…

> Most interviewers looked at the 5 year gap in his resume to play poker and passed. Found a corporation--it's not that hard. Viola! No gaps in your resume anymore.

That works for an automatic screen, but not any real interview process.

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#33

Post by charlieyu1 »

Tarsul wrote: post #21

I find interesting that no one (yet) in OP or in the comments has talked about my main complaint about playing Poker as a living: it's a zero sum game where you basically only take money from other people. It's not productive. For me, that in itself is as depressing as the grind. But it appears most players don't really care about this, maybe because life oftentimes is not fair and thus being productive is not seen a…

You can say this for a lot of careers though.

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#34

Post by nkingsy »

Tarsul wrote: post #21

I find interesting that no one (yet) in OP or in the comments has talked about my main complaint about playing Poker as a living: it's a zero sum game where you basically only take money from other people. It's not productive. For me, that in itself is as depressing as the grind. But it appears most players don't really care about this, maybe because life oftentimes is not fair and thus being productive is not seen a…

Years and years later I still have a fond memory of wiping a guy out for 5k in a 2-5nl game at Caesar’s during wsop.

He was a fellow low level pro that had been bluffing me all night, making nice and chit chatting with me.

Like thinking back now there is just zero remorse. Never saw him again. He didn’t have bus fare.

It is a sanctioned place to have a battle of wits for money. Totally agree it is not good for the soul to grind it out at the tables long term, but for me it was all about the thrill of devastation, giving and taking. Very much not the case that I “didn’t care”.

I met a great friend for a weekend traveling through Thailand after taking him for 10k online and noticing we were in the same country.

I lost 20k in an online hand all in on the flop to a runner runner. I look back on that as a thrill, the most memorable of roller coasters.

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#35

Post by busyant »

97s wrote: post #15

I played back during the glory days of 2000-2004 and through the net-teller shutdown for America. Back then the money was absolutely absurd, because the game was very new online and very few people understood basics. This combined with the massive amount of marketing that was going on for television, tons of people were addicted to the thrill of the game. Every single year the game became more difficult as more peopl…

> looking for soft players that I had datamined

I knew someone on the other end of this.

Back in the early 2000s, the wife of a guy I worked with fancied herself a decent poker player.

She lost some non-trivial amount of money in an online game and was worried about telling her husband.

So, she tried to win it back and lost even more.

I think you know where this is going (if not, see Gambler's ruin).

She lost all of their savings trying to break even.

Stopped paying the bills.

At some point in the ensuing months, my co-worker came home to an eviction notice (plus, his wife was hiding the letters threatening to shut off the heat, etc.).

---they got divorced.

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#36

Post by zone411 »

Aurornis wrote: post #11

> Poker has the best hourly rate for any job in India. The money is simply un-comparable to any job a 20 year old can get and is close to VP+ level in unicorn/FAANG companies > Imagine sitting in front of a screen for 12-16hrs a day, clicking buttons > The 95th percentile Poker income is about $200-250k. I knew quite a few people who went through poker phases in college and their early 20s, back before it was heavily…

Many former poker players move into finance/trading. Could be a viable route.

The owner of Brighton is a former poker player: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2023/sep/20/bright....

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#37

Post by charlieyu1 »

I have to say I can't see how $200k a year is a bad idea. I would do it if only I could make half of that. Is the grind boring? So are many jobs. At the end of the day, if I am going to be making six figures I can spend some money for enjoyment

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#38

Post by urbandw311er »

charlieyu1 wrote: post #37

I have to say I can't see how $200k a year is a bad idea. I would do it if only I could make half of that. Is the grind boring? So are many jobs. At the end of the day, if I am going to be making six figures I can spend some money for enjoyment

It’s almost like you didn’t read all the bits of the post where they discussed all of this.

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#39

Post by zone411 »

coderintherye wrote: post #24
Tarsul wrote: post #21

I find interesting that no one (yet) in OP or in the comments has talked about my main complaint about playing Poker as a living: it's a zero sum game where you basically only take money from other people. It's not productive. For me, that in itself is as depressing as the grind. But it appears most players don't really care about this, maybe because life oftentimes is not fair and thus being productive is not seen a…

The poker player is providing entertainment for others. It's really not much different than working on a company backed by a rich investor where the CEO skillfully plays their cards to maneuver more money out of the rich fish while the other players also try to get what they can out of them.

> The poker player is providing entertainment for others.

Yes, and the top earners in poker aren't always the best players, but rather skilled players who have some personality instead of putting on headphones and grinding and get invited to lucrative private games.

Re: Quitting the full-time poker scene

#40

Post by chx »

Tarsul wrote: post #21

I find interesting that no one (yet) in OP or in the comments has talked about my main complaint about playing Poker as a living: it's a zero sum game where you basically only take money from other people. It's not productive. For me, that in itself is as depressing as the grind. But it appears most players don't really care about this, maybe because life oftentimes is not fair and thus being productive is not seen a…

I am not so sure.

This is like saying you lose on lottery because the state always wins in total. Money wise yes but when you have a lottery ticket you entertain yourself with hopes and can dream about what you'd do with the megabucks. If you feel good for a while because of it ... did you really lose?

Same with poker. Sure, you can only win if someone else loses but what if they had fun?

In other words, is going to the cinema a net loss?

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