How do you find a balance between poker and uni (college)?

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I am really struggling to find a balance between poker and uni (college). I am 22 years old and studying a Bachelor's Degree in Australia.

Before I began to play poker, I was doing really well at uni. Then I started playing poker: I was grinding heavily and improving very quickly (went from a losing 2NL player on Stars to a winning 10NL player on Stars in under 6 months), but my grades at uni began to drop significantly. I started failing a lot of subjects.

This semester, I was on the same track: doing really well at poker, but skipping classes and on the path towards being kicked out of uni. A few weeks before exams, I decided to stop poker altogether (aside from 1 night a week of pub poker, which I don't consider real poker anyway) and focus on exams. I started going to the library almost every day. I got into a good routine, I started enjoying my studies (mostly maths and economics) and I passed all of my exams.

Now the semester has just started again and I've retained my "uni mood" (really motivated for maths and economics). I am attending every class, going to the library regularly, watching educational YouTube videos, solving textbook problems, etc. But I am scared to start playing poker again. I feel like once I start, I will go back into poker addiction mode and start failing at uni again. I really struggle to keep a balance between the two.

I feel like I'm an intelligent guy. I can excel at maths if I put my mind to it, and I can also excel at poker if I put my mind to it, but I struggle to do both simultaneously. How do you find the balance between poker and uni (college)?
 
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Oleg196

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Balance is not. It is necessary to sacrifice something. It is better to learn and get an education. And sometimes relaxing, playing poker.
 
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Balance is not. It is necessary to sacrifice something. It is better to learn and get an education. And sometimes relaxing, playing poker.

I'm not sure I understand this... are you saying that I should give up poker and focus on getting an education? Or should I try harder to find a balance by going to uni in the daytime then relaxing on the evenings and playing poker?

EDIT: and another question: if I have rent and bills to pay and I am a profitable poker player, is it really a bad thing to want to succeed at this game as a way of paying my way through uni?
 
Figaroo2

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Well sounds like you are going to have to be disciplined about the time you set aside for poker and study.
It should be possible, when I was at Uni I would finish the compulsory work I had to do and then get bored and fill those long evening hours with running and drinking.
You will know those times and those are the hours to play but you will need some discipline not to go on playing for hours. my short sharp focused aggressive sessions are usually the most productive.
So I suggest get your work out of the way first and see poker as your reward for having put in your study time and a chance to generate some pocket money. Don't be afraid to take the odd shot at a higher level, there are some really bad players at 30 and 50 nl on 888 for example.
It seems too much to ask to fund your way through Uni with poker earnings alone as that will eat too much into your study time.
You also need to be getting out and socializing as well at your age there are so many interesting and beautiful people around at Uni. I made my best life long friends (and lovers) at Uni because you have the time to invest in building good relationships.
Honestly buddy there is much more to life than poker, treat it like a hobby for now, study the game for the sake of game improvement, read all the classic poker books and then re-read them because it never all sinks in the first time. I like the inchworm view of learning it is a good concept. These things will bear fruit when you do get the time to put in more hours.
 
Rincewind

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If you can't manage your time properly now while you're young with relatively few commitments, god help you when you get out into the real world mate! ;-)
 
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If you can't manage your time properly now while you're young with relatively few commitments, god help you when you get out into the real world mate! ;-)

I work 20 hours per week and I am a full-time uni student. Please explain to me how someone who works 40 hours per week and doesn't study anything is living a much harder lifestyle to what I'm currently living. Do you think that classes, assignments, tests and exams are all stress-free and easy?

I expect my life to get easier after I've graduated, since I'll be able to work full-time and I won't have any financial stress. It would be so easy to pay rent, pay food/bills and have extra cash for poker if I worked 40 hours per week instead of 20.
 
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