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Balancing Poker With Other Aspects of Life A Young Players View[ return to main articles page ]

By: Stinger885
Published on Jul 15th, 2006
For those of you who don’t know me, here’s a brief introduction. I am an 18-year old poker player and instructor for cardrunners.com. I have been playing poker online for about 16 months. I started with an initial deposit of $50, deposited twice more, and haven’t looked back since, having a lot of success in both cash games and multi-table tournaments. <READMORE>

I have won a pretty good chunk of money in the last year, but in about a month, I am still going to attend college at Cornell University, majoring in engineering. Some may think, “Why go to college when you can probably make more money right now than you will from your real job after you graduate?” I know several people have asked me that question. Well, the first reason for going to college is that, unfortunately, the future of online poker is uncertain, and while I’m optimistic that it will remain legal and available in the future, it’s important to have a backup plan in case things do turn for the worse. I think other young players should think about that before making a decision to turn pro; it is much easier and better to get a degree now rather than going to college when you’re 28.

Also, I think it is very important to balance poker with a social life. I enjoy playing poker and making money as much as anyone, but I know that if I just played poker all the time, I would tire of it quickly and not be a happy person. Also, after some rough sessions or even weeks, I know the last thing I want to do is play poker. It is important that you find something else to do as an escape from poker. For me, that is usually going out to parties with my friends on weekends. I usually leave Friday and Saturday for that, and then still get to play all the great tournaments on Sunday, although maybe my Saturday night partying isn’t the best thing for my Sunday results. This is the second reason why I’m going to college – from what I hear it is “the best four years of your life,” and I don’t want to miss it just because I’m playing poker. Instead, I’ll just do both, and if that means a little bit less time for poker, it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

I encourage others to make a similar attempt to balance poker with other aspects of life. I think people who do so will find themselves much happier with their lives.
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