Playing Poker Vs. Going To College

[79 0]

CoLAgECoLAGe

[sealster 0]

As a freshmen at the U I have to say this is a no brainer. College is the shiznit, whatever you want you can find it in college and enjoy the hell out of it. I thought I'd miss home and be miserable but this is a great experience and I'm only 2 months in. If you want to play poker you can def get in plenty of hands, quite useful in paying for booze and food if I do say so myself. Enjoy college, it rocks, play some cards while ur there and see how much you want to play poker for a living after.

[iggymcfly 0]

I'm not going to read this whole thread, but I will dispense some advice. **** the Ivy League, **** a degree, and **** moving to Vegas at 18. If you actually get carded (which you won't if you're playing mid-to-high stakes poker anyway), you're supposed to be 21 to even be in the casino.The answer is go to a party school for a year or two, take some easy classes, play a little poker online during the week, and then get drunk and stoned and get hella bitches on the weekend. Then, when you start to grow out of that a little bit, have some more money set aside, and don't look like a little kid, you can move down to Vegas if you still want to.

[EurekaKid 0]

I'm finishing my degree in a month or so, it has been a three year course with only 12 contact hours a week. While I've done my degree while still living at home and travelling to University, I assume that you will be "going off to college". Study and poker aren't mutually exclusive. There is plenty of time in a day for both, in the years that you are studying you will be able to work that bankroll and your skills.If your your workload gets too much you can always cut back on subjects or sacrifice something else in your life, like going to parties. Plenty of college students work a part-time job while studying, make poker your part-time job.

[hank213 1,823]

As a non-traditional student, I say go to school for all the reasons mentioned above but for a few more as well.I quit college when I was 21, not to play poker but to chase another dream. It was quite possibly the worst decision ever. What I thought of as my "dream gig" became a drudgerous nightmare in the span of a few short years. Fortunately, I was able to get back in school with the support of my folks, but the experience (college life, not the education) is sooo much less fulfilling.At that age a lot of people can't truly grasp the ramifications that seemingly small decisions can bring to bear on you later in life. This time in your life is about maximizing future options. A decision like this will carry effects for the rest of your life. A degree you will always carry with you, and can be used to open doors. So let's say you do go pro and hit an amazingly bad run, or an investment doesn't work out, or you need to get some health insurance for your family, well that degree will greatly benefit you in picking up a job, even if it's part-time. It's the difference between a cushy, decent paying part-time gig at a bank and slaving in some hot kitchen for peanuts. To sum up in poker-speak: "Always leave yourself outs" and getting a degree is the best drawing hand in the world.

[iggymcfly 0]

You know, I agree that the kid should go to college for a while, but I'm so sick of people on poker forums preaching about how "getting a degree is so important". I mean really, if the kid's got 25K put together at the age of 17, do you really think he'd be in a position where he needs some shitty $20/hr transitional job. Unless he's been running insanely hot and has no concept of BR management, he should have no trouble grinding his way back up even if he does go busto.And really, once you have BR management down, there's no need to go busto in the first place. Don't play in games you can't afford, don't put money into investments you can't afford to lose, and presto. You always have plenty of money. Seriously, a college degree is hella overrated. Unless online poker gets completely shut down in the US (which I don't think it ever will) and your stuck hundreds of miles away from a real casino, someone that's truly good at poker and can manage their BR will never want for money.

[jryan1 0]

Seriously, a college degree is hella overrated.

While I agree with the gist of what you're saying here, I believe you would be a fool to underestimate the power of a college degree, especially from a premiere academic institution. I don't have any data in front of me, but I imagine entry-level salaries are dramatically higher for a student coming out of, say, UNC than someone who is degree-free. Granted, this discrepancy should conceivably be reduced in the long run, as work experience becomes inversely more and more important to vertical movement in the job market. However, a degree provides a 3-5 year head start that can be simply invaluable. Returning to the topic... Listen to the board. I took a year off from school to explore the option of playing poker professionally and ultimately found that the option of enjoying the environs of school (booze, buds, and bitches, to summarize the posts above me) while receiving free meals and a free room and playing poker in the spare times was just too good to pass up. Take your time. Get older. Hell, go to a school near a casino! Brown's close to the Mohegan Sun. Princeton, Penn, and any NYC school are all right on top of AC... Just do the college thing. Period. I promise you won't regret it.