Life after poker.

Ive had an exceptional run at poker the last few weeks. It was quite exciting to see how well I could do with the help of others online along with intense concentration/study. For some reason i feel that this was some sort of training for the future. Its something I can always be a bit proud of. Just like drinking, partying, etc..., in college I always knew that I wouldn't be able play poker online for the rest of my life, at this intensity. The extra $$ is nice, but a real job using my degree will provide me with more than enough for myself and family.

Stuff i've learned on this adventure -

1. forums are an amazing resource. I was lucky enough to stumble upon FTR via google, the layout is great. The community has been very honest and open, with free advice.. shows that humans are teaching/sharing animals at their core.

2. keeping an open journal/blog does wonders for results. Self reflection, along with letting others critique helps keep me in check.

3. small changes to my body can directly change my mental capacity. a few beers, dehydration, tiredness, or tilt can turn me from +++ev to --ev. Also a concussion did the same Smile

. 8 tabling def uses high level functioning to be successful.

The following quote was written on 2+2, i thought of gabe and renton as I read it, along with all the other young, dare i say genius posters on ftr.

AthenianStranger at 2+2 posted:

"but on the brighter side, a lot of bright young college-aged men could be doing something more productive than playing poker. Sure it brings in a hefty paycheck, but does it contribute anything to society? No. And a lot of you are not just average intelligence, but way up there, the best and the brightest. Sure you can play poker, but you could do a lot of better, more interesting, more valuable things. Do you want to be stuck in some kind of abstract M-M transaction cycle on your computer screen all your life? How much better is this than the unfortunate people who sit in front of the slot machines? OK, so it works, the system works, you can make money. You've achieved the American dream-- work from home as little or as often as you want, in comfort, doing something fun, and making a crap load of money.

Of course it's hard if you're used to it, if you've given up other things to do this. But I have friends who have done it, too, become very good players and made a good, steady sum of money. But they have taken the good out of this legislation and will move on to better things. Is that too much to ask? I find it hard to believe that those who can pay the bills with online poker couldn't do it in some other way. Those who have done it are bright and diligent enough to succeed at many other equally lucrative things. "

A side note, i think of weed and winning at online poker are similar, sure they dont hurt you very much in the short run, but they do take away some of your desire to succeed in the rest of life. I see similar arguments being used by those in about marijuana being outlawed to the current response to the legislation.

I am upset that the bill passed, and I hope it is reversed, I hope to play online poker in the future, but just trying to silver lining. Thanks for sticking with my on my concussion induced rant.

LOL OVERREACTAMENTS

Very nice post, sir.

I hate the narrow minded view that poker gives nothing to soceity. What the fuck does brad pitt give to soceity? Yet no one looks down on his success as selfish. And jsut because your main source of income is not teaching kids to read, doesnt mean you as a person dont contribute to soceity. You are afford a shitload of free time, and yo ucan do some really great things with that time.

I agree with boost's perspective in regards to this.

I think most people (or college students because that was brought up) play poker to make some additional money, even really good players. Only a small percentage makes the step to earning a living only through poker.

At least thats the way I see it. I will keep playing as long as I can make some extra money with it, but my main focus will be college and work.

Why would I even try to rely only on poker earnings?
I would always be scared that maybe some day it's not profitable enough anymore, or it gets banned, or whatever.
The other way around it can be like a safety net. No matter what happens you still get some money from online poker.

Dude , Toma seriously you only had like two losing days and your on a downward spiral ..sheesh

as for the not being productive to society , how productive to society is it when you work in a cubicle fifty hours a week , slaving for a corp. that doesnt give two shits about you and is ready to fire u at anytime just to save themselves money , fuck that..

Yup,

Im definitely overreacting there. but just wanted to relay some of the thoughts that i had as they came to me.. the post was meant as more of a rally to myself and anyone who would read, rather than a lecture to others..

as far as being a productive member to society as a poker pro vs 50 hrs in a cubicle.. i agree, cubicle work isnt the best use of the posters time on here with incredible talent either.. or as the poster at 2+2 said "a lot of you are not just average intelligence, but way up there, the best and the brightest" many of you are students, like me, or just out of school. dont settle.

main point - make sure to grow outside of poker as well. the most rewarding careers/hobbies are service/where you are helping others, or jobs where you are creating something, whether it be buildings, electronics, software, art, or entertainment (ie Brad Pitt).

thats the good thing about combining FTR with poker. It does allow for helping others or creating something ie Renton's guide/rilla's Bankroll Management.

Barry Greenstein anyone?

You contribute to society by taking your natural talents and applying them in a meaningful way. In my opinion the only wasted life is doing something you dont care about.

good luck terry

and more importantly margin--> who is that chick

who says brad pitt isnt smart? And even if he isnt book smart, he is a pretty good actor, and to be a good actor I think you need to be smart in some sort of way. You need an understanding of the world around you ect ect. I think smart is too relative to apply here. Not everyone that is smart in some way is going to be able to cure cancer.

Be a good person, do soemthing fufilling, if everyone did this society would be a lot better.

I hate Brad Pitt for leaving Jen.

Bastard.

Terry,

I wish I could be as positive as you are about possibly quitting this game. I just cashed out the rest of my bankroll into my checking account and it made me really, really sad.

It's not just about the money -- although I sure am upset that I'm losing more than two-thirds of my income and I'm going to be poor as shit now because I live in one of the most expensive parts of the country and my real job hardly pays me anything. At the same time, I understood all along that the poker boom was fleeting and there was never any guarantee that I'd be able to keep making money from it.

It's mostly because I like to play games and poker has been one of the most fun hobbies I've had. I just don't understand why it had to be taken away from me like this. I loved playing and I loved coming on here and talking about hands with you guys. I hope I'll be able to do these things again sometime soon but I'm not comfortable doing them amidst the current chaos. I'll miss it, thanks to you guys who helped me achieve whatever limited success I had and I hope I was able to help some of you guys in a small way too.

mcatdog,

Don't despair man. I think it's just going to be a little break, not an end. And breaks are always good.

You've helped me out with a lot of good advice on this forum. And I'm sure you will a lot more. Enjoy your break.

One of the best things about learning to play and finding FTR has been being part of this community. I hope that despite the recent events, we still continue to have at least a little of what we have had here.

Why are US players not signing up with sites who are still allowing US accounts? Prima or whatever may not be perfect now but if they have a big influx of US players they could become decent places to play.

I am planning on taking a month off to see what comes of this with the smaller sites.

If things don't change, I will probley go play at Absolute Poker or Doyles Room.

Yeah. Its like a lot of us are in mourning. Like courtiebee, i have a lot of stuff i thought i would get done after stopping online play, but i just spend my free time reading about the legislation/poker news. Also watching more tv/tivo. So i'm wasting just as much time as ever, just not making any $$, nor having as much fun.

At this point i picture myself sitting on my bankroll for a month or so, see what develops, then redepoist ~1000$, starting at 50NL again. If Ongame keeps going with a lot of bonuses, things wont be that much different. I never played all that well on party anyway.

If this bill starts cracking down and disables neteller, well then i'll just have to find a new hobby.

I plan on staying out of online poker for a month...maybe do some trips to Atlantic City to get my fix. Then I'll re-evaluate the situation at that point.

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Life after poker.

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Life after poker.