Retiring Poker- Post career options - Page 2

On March 22 2015 14:51 devon06atX wrote: Show nested quote + On March 22 2015 13:04 Twisted wrote: I've recently quit poker as well and I know now that I should've quit 2 years ago. I haven't enjoyed the game for 2 years and when you're doing something you don't enjoy, like someone else said, anything is better than poker. And I was making a whole lot less than you. My motivations are that I want to commit myself to some use in society working with nice people all day. I have a finished bachelor's degree in civil engineering so from the start of the year I've been making preparations to find a job in that field (like creating a resumé, linkedin and stuff). That has culminated in a job interview last friday which went really well and another one tomorrow. Hope I bink one of them. Long story short: when you don't enjoy poker, make the smart decision and quit that shit. It's depressing as fuck. It truly sucks the joy out of life when you're in a downswing. I feel much more happy now not having to worry about the game and actually going on job interviews and such. It gives me a lot of motivation to succeed. I enjoyed reading this post. Hope you snag one of those jobs too, Twisted. Good day kind sir

Thanks!

On March 22 2015 12:15 bigredhoss wrote: Show nested quote + On March 22 2015 11:38 okyougosu wrote: Wat? Coding is extremely boring compared to poker, isn't it? is there any way to make 15k monthly after u mastered Ruby in US? software engineers at Google, Facebook, Dropbox, etc. make about that or close if you count bonuses, stock, etc. and can easily surpass it with some experience. not to say that Ruby is the only necessary skill for those positions, but it kind of doesn't matter, once you reach a high level in one language you can learn other languages fairly quickly, every programmer has to learn new technologies during their career anyway, it's not like you can learn Ruby and call it a life. companies are looking for someone who has certain skills, but also someone who shows the aptitude to develop skills they need/will need. HFT fund programmers have base salaries starting in low 6 figures but can earn massive bonuses (like 3-4x base salary+) with a bit of luck. they don't use Ruby for that afaik though (i think it's mostly C++ and some functional languages depending on the fund like Haskell or Ocaml). or there's the entrepreneurial route which can be high risk/high reward obviously. i think whether coding is boring is highly subjective, a lot of people enjoy the combination of logic and creative process. i mean, there's parts of coding that are probably boring even for people who enjoy coding, but yeah, if you find coding makes you miserable you probably shouldn't pursue it just for money.

It would be fine idea to switch into coding for someone who breakeven at mid/low stakes like me, i know base c++, yet i find it more fun to continue playing poker. Whenever u do certain task in programming u basically know u can never fail... it is just going to take some time until u finish it. Thats the only reason coding is better then poker, no swings, stable payouts etc. Anyways if u want to try out new activity, go for it. As for me, i'd never switch to lower paid job just because i'm bored by the old one, would prob just mix those two for a while.

Thanks for the kind words and wishes guys!

Bigredhoss - I will definitely add Odin project to my immediate to do list.
Twisted- Good luck in your journey. Please update us in your progress.

I do agree with Cloud on some level and it was also the reason I couldn't let go of this game earlier. I dreaded playing the game, but I also loved talking and living poker. I actually never imagined myself to get this good at NLH even looking back from year or two ago. The feeling of constant improving was almost an addiction. However, I wasn't improving financially and it's a big problem if you're only making fraction of what you used to make when you are 10x better.

ill miss u andy, man those days back on ftp back in like 2006 were a lot of fun. came a long way from a cell phone store depositing 500-1k to build a roll.

ur a great guy, i hope u find what u want in the world and find happiness.

i'd keep like 8k to at least play mid limits n stuff for some free $
(if u don't have like 500k in bank already)

Wish you the best with your endeavors.

It's a great community here at LP, the one place you can get intelligent responses on the internet. Sad to see everyone moving away. Though, if everyone has moved on to coding, perhaps an LP coding sub-forum on the sidebar?


Poll: Want to learn/talk about your programming projects on LP?
(Vote): Yeah, it would be good to discuss with people who have similar backgrounds
(Vote): Nah, I'm not into coding
(Vote): Nah, there are better places

It seems like everyone who has had doubts about quitting ultimately ended up playing live or a combo of both with live actually representing the majority of their play. Have you given full-time live a thought yet?

I think you're making a good decision if you no longer enjoy it. You're an LP hero and always will be.

If you do play at all what I'd recommend honestly is that you continue to carve out 1-2 hours a day at lower stress free stakes with a focus on just becoming an even better player than you already are (if you feel like doing so). Like a fun little science project.

Personally I've never played poker full-time. I didn't have the desire when the games are soft and I'm not sure I have the acumen now that the games are much tougher and the rake so high especially at lower stakes. If there was a much lower rake climate I'd happily play a shit-ton. However, given the climate being what it actually is, I think there is much greater $/hr investment in learning to code. If you like building things and figuring out puzzles you'll probably enjoy it. If you end up working somewhere that you make great friendships you'll enjoy it a ton. It's a career of continuous learning and personally I think it's an awesome choice, it's my #1 backup plan if I can't weasel my way into the field I've been working towards for the past 6-8 years. And I'd estimate most anyone with a solid work ethic can become a decently paid programmer within 1 year, and the payscale and ability scale only goes up from there if you work hard.

Honestly, the greatest thing about poker and continuing to play in the games as they got tougher is that we've all learned how to work hard, study, and focus on continuous learning and discipline. That skill is going to serve you well for the rest of your life. I've never worked harder at anything than I have at analyzing large poker databases and figuring out leaks. There isn't anything I can think of that I've done where I had to be so aware of even tiny mistakes because they'll bleed you're entire roll if you make them consistently. You've learned a ton of attention to detail and improvement from playing this game. Use that and you'll be just fine.

I did it a few ago. Started a burger bar and got a maths degree. Good call. Best wishes.

gg wp

Have a feeling you're going to do very well at programming. If you have any questions on job hunting, working for tech companies, options/stocks at startups. More than happy to help out.

just speaking from the rail here but similar to NewbSaibot i'm wondering your thought process on live games? or how that factors into your plan/decision

GL in whatever you decide to pursue in the future Song!

Hey man I've recently just got my degree in IT and programming is something that kind of has to blow ur mind the first few times u try it otherwise your interest level will drop down significantly while your stress level goes up throughout the course, if ur planning to do this for some income it is not worth it if u don't enjoy it. This is how I felt every time I had a coding subject. If you enjoy it though then that's not a problem because your interest level will help you study and get better at coding.

Good luck in the future.

The screen shot of your AIEV is scary.

I have a feeling you won't quit for good though. After being your own boss for so long how do are you feeling about going to work for someone else? Not sure I could choose to do that now.

On March 23 2015 02:08 MARSHALL28 wrote: The screen shot of your AIEV is scary. I have a feeling you won't quit for good though. After being your own boss for so long how do are you feeling about going to work for someone else? Not sure I could choose to do that now.

If I'm honest to myself, poker was never a business to me. It was a game with rewards being fun coupons in life. I've lived lavishly from playing this game and sometimes it disconnected me from reality. Majority of my poker career felt like a long summer vacation. I was a terrible boss to my self and did everything wrong besides pure motivation to beat this game. In a sense, I wish that I had a boss that told me what to do.

On March 22 2015 16:41 NewbSaibot wrote: It seems like everyone who has had doubts about quitting ultimately ended up playing live or a combo of both with live actually representing the majority of their play. Have you given full-time live a thought yet?

On March 22 2015 20:37 Santafairy wrote: just speaking from the rail here but similar to NewbSaibot i'm wondering your thought process on live games? or how that factors into your plan/decision

I think if I be realistic, I'm still capable of making $200k/yr+ online for couple more years if I played poker like my life depended on it. Even to this day, the amount of money I give away by knowingly playing regs that's better than me is a lot of $$. I would probably start by phasing that out if I absolutely felt like I'm struggling as a player. As for live, I've already tried reggn the big games around me but all the games run on set days and I've never been accustomed to playing on weekends even online. The waiting game for tuesday 10/25 at parx is also gruesome. Live line up is incredibly soft but the amount of time it eats compared to online makes my decision easy. I'm cringing typing this stuff because it makes me realize I hate money..

iop, thanks for the offer, let me get back to you in the future!

On March 22 2015 16:34 Silver_nz wrote: It's a great community here at LP, the one place you can get intelligent responses on the internet. Sad to see everyone moving away. Though, if everyone has moved on to coding, perhaps an LP coding sub-forum on the sidebar?

japan update gogogog

Jesus, stop those depressing posts, it doesn't help for me since I can't really works outside of poker...

you're a great guy with great skills and you're gonna do great

aside from poker, you kinda have to choose from like

1: risky/dangerous
2: really difficult
3: doesn't make much money
4: consumes all your time and energy
5: consumes your soul

where most jobs require you to pick at least one of those, sometimes two. figure out which sounds worse to you and go for it. Then there's a whole bunch of, what are your personal characteristics /strengths/weaknesses, choose something that suits you from that also. I actually got to freeroll some pretty sweet "personal development&figuring out future life path" course through my soon- ex-job when it was being shut down. For me there was no point as I've known I'm gonna do teaching since I've been like 15, but for many of my colleagues it was really useful, and even though a lot of it sounds intuitive to me now, sometimes intuitive differs from person to person and sometimes you don't consider even the intuitive. But anyway, from my perspective you're in a sweeeet spot, because you have:

ability, time, money. This means that you just need to figure out what you actually want to be/do, and work towards that goal. For so many people in their late 20s early 30s, they discover that their chosen life path was the wrong one, but then they're kinda life-trapped and just have to keep on trucking, but you've made so much (and are so capable) that you can actually figure out what your goals are and work towards them. And then it's like, you just figure out what you enjoy and are good at (feeling of mastery is for most an essential path of happiness!), and checklist your way towards that goal.

I think programming is a great skillset to have, but it's not easy money.. Unless you have brilliant innovative ideas (in which case having the programming skills to execute them is absolutely fantastic), my impression of most people who code for a living is that they're overworked and at best fairly compensated, usually not so much.. Then again, aside from poker/some other type of gambling/investment, jobs that I regard as "consumes your soul (with a possible +risky)", you're not going to come by nearly as easy money as you have been making. But then if you've been smart about it, you have so much saved up that you can get by with less in the future - you can live much more comfortably if you don't have student loans or mortgage downpayments to worry about. Really though, if I were you right now, I'd want to go out of my comfort zone for a bit, figure out what I'm good at and enjoy doing, my first impression is that programming might not be it.