Redundancy/fulltime poker advice please

[SuuPRlim]

So you think Jungleman could have made $8m in the last 2 years doing somethng else?

Jungleman was a complete freak of nature though, incomparable to anything anyone else has achieved recently. It won't be easy but you're 21 so whatever, go for it. A friend of mine who grinded nl400 backed went off to live in Costa Rica and has loved life for the past 3 years. Would definitely suggest you do something similar.

I don't mean him specifically, I just mean that plenty of people play poker because they cant make more money doing anythign else, whereas Mantis makes a good point at the non financial points to consider in deciding between poker as a job/hobby, saying no1's edge is big enough isn't right as plenty of people make very good money at poker

[Simon Galloway]

The guys that are smart enough to kill the games are probably smart enough to make good money at whatever they turn their hand to.

[mulhuzz]

The guys that are smart enough to kill the games are probably smart enough to make good money at whatever they turn their hand to.

[ ] true for jungleman

[mondatoo]

The guys that are smart enough to kill the games are probably smart enough to make good money at whatever they turn their hand to.

From the amount of millionaire's that have been made from poker I'd say a very small % of them could've made similar doing something else.

A lot of people seem to also totally overlook the value of being a succesful poker player, even making much lower amounts as you enjoy playing the game and thus love what you do for a living which is worth a lot imo. I don't think there's that many people that play for a living that don't enjoy playing, I also don't think there's that many people who enjoy there job or have the freedom that someone who plays poker has.

[Simon Galloway]

True for a portion of that very elite slice at the top.  But who knows, Jungleman could have been the next Warren Buffet if he had turned his hand to it.

However, as a 21 year old redundant electrician playing HU:

a) Jungleman makes a fortune so that's the way to go
b) For every Jungleman, there's a thousand walking around skint.

If I was OP, I would do a few things:

1) Play smaller and have consistent $5k+ months.  I can't think of a better way to get your mum onside quickly than to watch you do this professionally and realise she might have been wrong.  Live sensibly, have the occasional excess, save up.
2) Simultaneously, learn other skills.  It will give you balance outside of poker and options in life.  Learn a language for a while.  (Let's say Spanish)  Get conversational at it, then go and grind from Spain/Spanish island for 3 months and become fluent.  Rinse and repeat in another language perhaps.
3) Now you have a nice roll, travel extensively if that is of appeal.  Grind-n-go.
4) Treat your poker like a business (to pinch a book title).  That means no slacking off because you can.  a few solid years of grunt work and aged 25, you will be in a much better financial position than the average 25 yr old and you will have had much more fun getting there than those that spent the last 4 years looking out the office window.
5) Now you have money, you have choices.  Set up that electrical business if that's what you want.  Carry on doing what you are doing if you prefer.

OR, take your shot that you will be the next Jungleman and play as high as you can as quickly as you can.

GL with whatever you decide.

[SuuPRlim]

the Jungleman argument is silly, the only reason I mentioned it is because of Exactly what woodsey posted, nice post Mr W.

you're young, free, no commitments and have a hobby your passionate about and the opportunity to make good money doing it and having some amazing experiences in the meantime - I mean it's got a ton of potential negatives but so does everything, life's what you make it and half of that is knowing what you WANT to make it, if you wanna play poker go for it, just be open minded and realistic and above all have a ton of fun.

When i left to live abroad when I was 18 I said to myself I was never ever going to wake up in the morning and not be excited about my day and I can count on two hands the amount of days in the last 4 years I have woken up wanting the day to be over already.

[mondatoo]

the Jungleman argument is silly, the only reason I mentioned it is because of Exactly what woodsey posted, nice post Mr W.

you're young, free, no commitments and have a hobby your passionate about and the opportunity to make good money doing it and having some amazing experiences in the meantime - I mean it's got a ton of potential negatives but so does everything, life's what you make it and half of that is knowing what you WANT to make it, if you wanna play poker go for it, just be open minded and realistic and above all have a ton of fun.

When i left to live abroad when I was 18 I said to myself I was never ever going to wake up in the morning and not be excited about my day and I can count on two hands the amount of days in the last 4 years I have woken up wanting the day to be over already.

This is it in a nutshell for me, even though I've been doing shit the last few months I've still been looking forward to my day, everyday. Whereas when I used to go to work at my job I would just wish everyday away so I could get to the weekend. You spend too much time at work to not enjoy what you do, I'd rather be happy and making 30k a year doing something I like than be miserable and making double that or more in a job I don't.

[DMorgan]

I think the key to playing poker for a living is making the most of the advantages that it affords you. Travel lots, meet a ton of people and just have fun with it. If you're a solid winner, you enjoy playing enough to put in the hours to make a living and you employ sensible BRM you're unlikely to experience any of this 'financial stress' that people fixate on.

The argument about being stuck in front of a computer all your life is bs too. I'm very sure that most people with office jobs have spent more hours in front of a computer in the last year than most poker players.

My only other advice would be to take with a pinch of salt the advice of those that haven't player poker full time or even attempted it. It sounds like a good idea to take in a wide spectrum of opinions but for every blog, forum post and book you read - you really won't know if it'll be something you want to do until you just go for it. I think you should concentrate less on the opinions of the masses and more on learning from the people that are doing what you want to do because really, you know that you can do it. If you doubted your ability to make money playing poker, you wouldn't be where you are.

Truth is that I've never seen a single player that was a solid winner and a sensible bankroll manager that has failed to make a living of poker, or regretted their choice. You have plenty of good contacts around you, so use them and you'll do fine.

Best of luck

[MANTIS01]

So you think Jungleman could have made $8m in the last 2 years doing somethng else?

Jungleman was a complete freak of nature though, incomparable to anything anyone else has achieved recently. It won't be easy but you're 21 so whatever, go for it. A friend of mine who grinded nl400 backed went off to live in Costa Rica and has loved life for the past 3 years. Would definitely suggest you do something similar.

I don't mean him specifically, I just mean that plenty of people play poker because they cant make more money doing anythign else, whereas Mantis makes a good point at the non financial points to consider in deciding between poker as a job/hobby, saying no1's edge is big enough isn't right as plenty of people make very good money at poker

I'm sure a lot of people make good money bud but it's still only a very small % of overall players, and certainly not as many as say they do. Anyway it doesn't matter if somebody makes good money today because +EV career choices should consider the long term. There are lots of pros who are busto today who made good money in the past and other old school pros struggling with changes. A poker pro will say you should focus on the long term but seemingly not when considering your own career. I'd say investing the next say 5 yrs into a trade or business produces a certainty of return across the entirity of your working life poker simply can't compete with. Full time poker will not only be a gamble over the next 5yrs in itself but the decision will also impact future years. The guy with another 5yrs experience should always get the future job/contract ahead of his poker playing rival. You build a career, hence each year of experience, knowledge and networking is a building block for more certain future years. The futures of poker is pretty random imo. Crucially, to assess the trade off correctly you must discount any poker incomes you could have amassed playing part-time whilst building those stable foundations. Playing poker is obv the nutz, but playing full time is like investing ur whole roll into the career game and that can't be good advice. Mum's always know best imo.

[BulldozerD]

The argument about being stuck in front of a computer all your life is bs too. I'm very sure that most people with office jobs have spent more hours in front of a computer in the last year than most poker players.

Can confIrm this

[outragous76]

the Jungleman argument is silly, the only reason I mentioned it is because of Exactly what woodsey posted, nice post Mr W.

you're young, free, no commitments and have a hobby your passionate about and the opportunity to make good money doing it and having some amazing experiences in the meantime - I mean it's got a ton of potential negatives but so does everything, life's what you make it and half of that is knowing what you WANT to make it, if you wanna play poker go for it, just be open minded and realistic and above all have a ton of fun.

When i left to live abroad when I was 18 I said to myself I was never ever going to wake up in the morning and not be excited about my day and I can count on two hands the amount of days in the last 4 years I have woken up wanting the day to be over already.

so its less than 7?

[SuuPRlim]

the Jungleman argument is silly, the only reason I mentioned it is because of Exactly what woodsey posted, nice post Mr W.

you're young, free, no commitments and have a hobby your passionate about and the opportunity to make good money doing it and having some amazing experiences in the meantime - I mean it's got a ton of potential negatives but so does everything, life's what you make it and half of that is knowing what you WANT to make it, if you wanna play poker go for it, just be open minded and realistic and above all have a ton of fun.

When i left to live abroad when I was 18 I said to myself I was never ever going to wake up in the morning and not be excited about my day and I can count on two hands the amount of days in the last 4 years I have woken up wanting the day to be over already.

so its less than 7?

fuccccck, too good

[DMorgan]

lol wp Guy

[smashedagain]

tell us about the days you woke up wanting to be over dave. will make for excellent reading