Do people become poker players mostly because they don't want a normal job?

I really want to be a pro poker player for this reason.. That's why I'm purposely obsessing myself over the game. A normal life sounds like hell to me. I'm only 16 and when I here my parents and teachers talk to me about how important grades are for the future it pisses me off so much because I don't want to do anything except play poker! I honestly think I'm more likely to live on the streets than get a full time job.

You really should focus on your grades right now, you always need something to fall back on, and if you do not have the grades, you will be living on the streets if poker does not pan out.
Good luck.

Izaak said:

I really want to be a pro poker player for this reason.. That's why I'm purposely obsessing myself over the game. A normal life sounds like hell to me. I'm only 16 and when I here my parents and teachers talk to me about how important grades are for the future it pisses me off so much because I don't want to do anything except play poker! I honestly think I'm more likely to live on the streets than get a full time job.

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So you want to be a poker pro or at least make a living from it.
First of all you have to find a way to fund this game....hmmm.....a job sounds good to acquire funds to support poker...but wait...you don't want a job, how are you going to fund poker?

Seriously though, you're young with a vast amount of learning potential ahead of you, not something you want to hear but it's true.
I'm a 40 year old with limited education because I thought I didn't need school when I was 16 so I ended up dropping out and regret it everyday.
I'm intelligent to a certain degree but all I know I have taught myself but cannot find a job where I can be happy because I don't have any certificates of any kind.

It's all about getting good grades in hopes of gaining more knowledge in any field of your choice.
As for poker, there is a high degree of maths involved and if you don't go through school, poker maths will be foreign to you.

Stay in school, find a part-time job and learn all you can in school and about poker before you decide anything.

Izaak said:

I really want to be a pro poker player for this reason.. That's why I'm purposely obsessing myself over the game. A normal life sounds like hell to me. I'm only 16 and when I here my parents and teachers talk to me about how important grades are for the future it pisses me off so much because I don't want to do anything except play poker! I honestly think I'm more likely to live on the streets than get a full time job.

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dude i respect your honesty and feelings. I am 22 been playing poker straight since i was 17. when i say straight i mean every chance i could. I totally agree though. A regular 9-5 flippin fries is not for me. Sometimes i feel in the back of my head, i am meant for greatness, so i know exactly what your going through. However you need to finish school and get very good grades. I graduated when i was 16, i was able to test out of my classes because i studied hard and went all the way. thats what you have to do in poker train and study hard and give it 100 percent. and sometimes that isnt enough so be careful, you need your grades to fall back on especially since your only 16 you have some options still. Being so young also lets find out where your going, if you start making good profit then you could actually argue not working. I hope you do well.
Hope that helps!!!
TTYL

doing good in school will help with poker + help in life.

Izaak said:

I really want to be a pro poker player for this reason.. That's why I'm purposely obsessing myself over the game. A normal life sounds like hell to me. I'm only 16 and when I here my parents and teachers talk to me about how important grades are for the future it pisses me off so much because I don't want to do anything except play poker! I honestly think I'm more likely to live on the streets than get a full time job.

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Get a Education first then start talking about playing poker.......
All that stuff your teachers and parents are saying might sound stupid, but you will understand one day that they were right....

Go to college get a degree in anything, then if you want to pursue a poker career go for it.
A good college degree lasts a long time.
Good hands and flops not so much.
Just my opinion....

cardriverx said:

doing good in school will help with poker + help in life.

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this.

I was terrible at school, and so far have had manual jobs, the most of which I didnt like. Get a good education, go to college/uni, and get a degree then you can do what you like, and if its poker, fair enough.
Always useful to have lots of options.

For me it is important to have a good balance. Last year I played poker part time and worked part time and it was awsome. I always felt refreshed and ready to play poker because I grinded 3-4 day a week and worked the other days.

I met a guy once who wasn't doing what he had decided to do when he was 16. I'm sure he was the only person in recorded history this has happened to, but, variance being what it be, you might want to consider not going allin just yet.

I knew a fellow who really enjoyed photography and he was really talented at it. He figured it would be great to give up his dull day job and be a full-time photographer, so he got an enterprise grant and did exactly that.

Once the grant ran out, he quickly discovered that it wasn`t the fun he expected. He had to take photos every day, whether or not he felt in the mood for it, because the rent had to be paid. The thing he had really enjoyed as a hobby was now a grind.

He is back in a dull job again now and his cameras don`t get used any more, not even at the weekend. He no longer enjoys photography.

Be careful what you wish for.

u need to understand the emotional side of poker before u play poker for a living. im 18 and when i first realized the money that COULD be made in poker (extremely hard, studying etc..) 2 yrs ago i thought wow ill just play poker ez game. read emotional articles of playing poker for a living and maybe it will change some perspective on it

Izaak said:

I really want to be a pro poker player for this reason.. That's why I'm purposely obsessing myself over the game. A normal life sounds like hell to me. I'm only 16 and when I here my parents and teachers talk to me about how important grades are for the future it pisses me off so much because I don't want to do anything except play poker! I honestly think I'm more likely to live on the streets than get a full time job.

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You're only 16. Why do you think your parents & teachers are stressing to you how important it is to get good grades in school? Do ya think just maybe it's because they 'care' & perhaps they've got a little bit more wisdom than yourself?

Listen to them! Trust me on this, you will REGRET it if you don't. You really only have one shot at it.... so don't fk it up!

And to answer the question in your post title > "NO"

Curious, you're '16' right? Where did you say you play poker?

I'm going to tell you something different than what the others have mentioned . It sound like you are an entroponour and even if you went to college and got a so called "good job" you would still be miserable anyway.

you could leave school and get a trade of some sort, at least it will pay well and use your regular income to fund your poker career.

Times are tough and If I could go back in time I would of left school early and started working fulltime and saving asap and set myself up for the future instead of following the "set path" we are told to take.

You could spend years and thousands on and education and still not get a job in your field.

Anyway you need to think long and hard about your life and don't rush anything. Perhaps finish high school and look to get a part time job for now and practice poker in your spare time.

Ok, I'm sure everybody is thinking this so I'm just going to come out and say it:

Don't be so f****** lazy kid. Suck it up, stay in school, get a part-time crappy job to use for a bankroll starter and play part-time poker. If you are successful at the game you won't be in that crappy job for long.

Best case scenario is where you not only fund your starting bankroll independently, and become a successful poker player, but you are also a self-made pro with a college diploma.

Worst case scenario is where you find that playing poker to support your idea of a good lifestyle is not as easy as you thought it was, go broke and fall back on your college diploma.

Or would you rather be a lazy tool who ends up living on the streets because any other alternative is just too hard.

Do you want to get laid on a regular basis after you leave your teens?

If so, focus on getting an education and get a good steady-paying job.

TheKAAHK said:

Ok, I'm sure everybody is thinking this so I'm just going to come out and say it:

Don't be so f****** lazy kid. Suck it up, stay in school, get a part-time crappy job to use for a bankroll starter and play part-time poker. If you are successful at the game you won't be in that crappy job for long.

Best case scenario is where you not only fund your starting bankroll independently, and become a successful poker player, but you are also a self-made pro with a college diploma.

Worst case scenario is where you find that playing poker to support your idea of a good lifestyle is not as easy as you thought it was, go broke and fall back on your college diploma.

Or would you rather be a lazy tool who ends up living on the streets because any other alternative is just too hard.

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this.

Get the Grades lad, always something to full back on.

Im 18 years old and i left school to become a pro poker playing.

Doing a bit of multi tabing at the min, mostly play at cash games at casino's at £1/£3 blinds. hoping to get myself to the ukipt after christmas!

Do well in school but don't be afraid of what you want even if your not getting support.

My family and friends don't support me at poker! lol

cardriverx said:

doing good in school will help with poker + help in life.

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Best advice for any aspiring player....Look to be honest why not do both, get an Education+Play poker at the same time? If I'm not mistaken last year BW07527 or something down those lines did the same thing? Also while doing the same thing built up a nice B.R+Bought a Brand new car, it was either last year or the year before...My point is you should always have something to fall back on, and that's the reason Players that do well in this game do so well, because of the fat that they know they have something to fall back on...

Imagine for a second that you did have to Pay rent+Bills+Other miscellaneous Expenses that you would normally have to pay to be pleased with your life style.....

Now Imagine you had to do this without a Job and Soley on a 5k B.R? This 5k is your Rent+Food+Living Expenses.....Yet without a Job and you need to build this roll up, then your adding on un-needed pressure, and everyone knows Scared money is the same as dead money....

So best advice I can give you is to A) Get your Grades up B) Get a PT job at the same time flipping Fries or W/E...Keep up the 2 together until you saved enough money up...Then from here pursue your dream once your of Age to Gamble+stay in School try this out and see how it works out, but at the same time NEVER QUIT SCHOOL...

baudib1 said:

Do you want to get laid on a regular basis after you leave your teens?

If so, then start grinding the online tables & move up in buyins asap! Soon you'll have hot babes, huge stacks of cash, & mountains of blow on your coffee table.

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totally agree 100% with this ^

Brilliant ideas are at times made insufficient by a lack of knowledge.

haha

Stay in school you are going to have to learn a lot if you plan on doing little in life. Sounds like more work than just getting a job and bringing home a paycheck. I mean all the planning and forthought that goes into getting by withough working sounds way to exausting to me . I think I will just go to work get on my computer and play some low buy in tourney and take life easy.

Izaak, question for ya here, how much studying do ya figure it'll take to be a winning poker player (winning as in > winning enough to be a 'pro' (aka 'provide a source of income for oneself which you can live off of'). Thoughts?.. ideas?

Am I missing something here? Or is there a country where people can play poker legally at 16? Afaik, the lowest legal age is 18 outside of the US and 21 in the US.

Based on that alone, I was wondering how you plan to support yourself for the next two years while you're accumulating a fortune like Annette O did.

Also, at this point in history only fools think that online poker will always be around--just ask hundreds of thousands of people who live in the US.

Ridiculous thread. If you don't have the grit and determination to stay in school and work hard what makes you think you can spend a lifetime studying a game and then grinding it out all day every day? Generally people who are successful in school are successfull in life and thats not just because they have the qualifications to help them it's because of their attitude to life.