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TQ response/60 minutes piece/other thoughts

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  1. spiritualized spiritualized is offline

    Posts: 30
    Joined: May 05

    Jun 22nd, 2005 (6/22/2005 3:32pm)

    Hi all!

    Anyone catch the 60 minutes piece last sunday on underage gambling? To summarize: Due to the exploding popularity of poker, more and more kids are gambling after/during school with their friends and playing online. Nothing too surprising or shocking. But what hit me hard was I saw myself as one of these kids had i been born fifteen years later.

    When I was in high school I LOVED gambling, but my friends rarley played. Most didnt even know what hold'em was let alone wanted to study it 24/7. Hence, i filled my afternoons playing sports and chasing girls. When I graduated college I tried playing in some local B&M and hated it. Online sites were in their infancy. So I still didnt play very much and began grinding out a 9 to 5 living as an engineer in silicon valley. A year ago I started playing online and have been a consistent winner at low stakes playing about 10 hours a week. Poker has become a great hobby for me.

    If I was 21 now, I am 100% sure I would have given up entering the workforce and tried to make a living playing cards. Sitting here with 8+ years of experience bringing products to market, I am sure glad I did not have that option so easily back then.

    This makes me wonder...how many bright/risk taking/<SPAN>entrepreneur</SPAN> types are taking up cards instead of starting companies or developing new technologies? 10 years ago, the glamourous thing to do was to go work for a startup and get rich. Now it seems the way to go is play poker. Does this scare anyone? Especially taking into account all the bright, eduacted, motivated kids coming up in India/China. I hope that I am overestimating poker's influence here.

    Anyone have any thoughts on this?
  2. Wein Wein is offline Sunday Millionaire

    Posts: 9,189
    Joined: May 05

    Jun 22nd, 2005 (6/22/2005 3:55pm) in reply to spiritualized

    I have a bunch of friends at SUNY Geneseo and we all are consistent winners. However, we still go to school. The only thing we wish we could do is play poker instead of doing these crappy summer jobs that pay minimum wage (though I live on long island, so wages are substantially more than my friends who live upstate).

    You are right though, poker has become the biggest hobby on college campuses. Theypopulation of my school is roughly 5k, and whenever a tournament was held (the top three got gift certificates to Wal Mart, lol), it drew between 100-200 players.

    Also, on any night I could find a MTT between 18-36 players at frats/houses.

    I sometimes think about putting my entire bankroll into play and doing the poker thing full-time. There's a few things in my way... First off, my mother would be devastated if I went for poker full-time. And 2nd off, poker $ isn't guranteed. I'm going to school for special education with a minor in psychology, and when I'm making 100k+ a year to be a special education teacher, poker will be nice a supplemental income.

    -Wein
     
  3. JHRose JHRose is offline

    Lafayette Hill, PA
    United States

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    Jun 22nd, 2005 (6/22/2005 4:10pm) in reply to Wein

    When your making 100k + a year as a special ed teacher??? I think your kidding, if you aren't you are sadly mistaken...what school system pays 100k+?
     
  4. craftman craftman is offline

    Boulder, CO
    United States

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    Jun 22nd, 2005 (6/22/2005 5:12pm) in reply to spiritualized

    Poker is somewhat popular at my college, however most people play it recreationally or as a supplement to drinking (drink like a fish, play like a fish). We had school sponsored tournaments the past couple of years that drew maybe 150 people (the school is only 3000 people). I placed third in one and won an iPod and a Target gift card, hehe.

    The funny part though is when we got to talking to some kids during the tournament and they were bragging about winning like $20 the other day at poker, and my friend told him he won $14K last week (he had placed third in the UB Sun 200+15) the kid was floored, lol.
  5. Wein Wein is offline Sunday Millionaire

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    Jun 22nd, 2005 (6/22/2005 9:52pm) in reply to JHRose

    JHRose, if you have a masters + 120 credits you are on the highest tier in ten years into the system you're making about 90k. A few after school activities and a few more years into the system and you're making over 100k.

    On Long Island, everyone values education, which is why teachers get paid so well.

    -Wein
     
  6. Readzie Readzie is offline chasing the helicopter pilot school dream one hand at a time...

    Posts: 1,371
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    Jun 22nd, 2005 (6/22/2005 10:46pm) in reply to craftman

    iam going to out right agree with you based on my personal experience.. poker does change peoples dreams and is definitly in some form taking away from some peoples futures.

    As you recall to a while back i post about all my business ambitions and so on.. well since making that 25,000 last month via poker... i dropped all business stuff.. i dropped all of my studies.. i basically set everything aside because i had made nice money 2 months in a row.. so why would i stop. Well it wasnt until this month where iam sitting at -5000 for the entire month.. that i got a slap in the face and realized that i need to get back on track with my goals outside poker.

    I had intended to use poker to fund my dreams because i was not from a wealhty background. However i can honestly say that poker has taken over everything outside from my personal lesiure time and sports. I spend no time working on my business/prototype designs for patents.. i really dont do much expect for work 8 hours at the local resort, then spend 3 hours online playing 5/10nl and 10/20nl poker.. then eat and go to bed.. thats the day.. there is no time for much other.

    Well i dont have much else to say. Today i withdrew 85% of my bankroll and went ahead with my first investment. I will also be getting back on track with my patents and trying to re focus my life back to poker as a hobby... not a career. Alot of posts were made recently that if your making 20,000 playing 3 hours a night.. why change that? well i think i have to agree that i enjoyed it more when it was for something to do.. something to win at.. Lately i find myself counting my money each day... fretting over that bad beat... thinking about how i called this draw for 1,000 dollars.. stuff like that didnt bother me before but now it really has changed me as a person. So in conclusion i say that

    Yes, as a young adult being only 19 for 2 weeks now.. poker has indeed shifted my life's goals and taken some of my life with it.
  7. HelenRNurse HelenRNurse is offline

    United States

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    Jun 23rd, 2005 (6/23/2005 12:43am) in reply to Readzie

    Readzie, You may have only been 19 for 2 weeks, but you're YEARS wiser than your chronological age! Amazing analysis and wish you the best in your 'real' life!
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