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Hey LP,
Haven't really talked about my life before as I've never seen a purpose to doing so, but I guess that's changing a bit. Over the past 2 years I've obtained a masters degree, and am about to start working on a Ph.D in finance. I've always had been fascinated (and sometimes obsessed) with games of every type, and poker's mathematical side was an additional draw. There are a few casinos nearby where I live so I've been playing live to pay for MBA program tuition, and also for making myself get out of the house and be more social. The closest friends I have since moving to this city are the other poker pros who frequent the casinos that I've battled with time and time again. It was clear that I could make a living (albeit not a glamorous one) playing, and the game had not yet reached the point of being tiresome to me. I still love studying toy games and breaking down abstract concepts to apply to real situations, although none of that is necessary in live games.
I am 100% certain in saying that success at the live $1/2 through $5/10 games I've played depends much more on discipline than skill at the game. Most of the time you would still be by far the best player at a table even if you were significantly worse, but folding for 3 hours at a time while you are forced to sit in a seat waiting for playable hands can be trying to one's patience. The real fun of games comes from learning and improving anyway, so mindless noob-bashing doesn't seem very gratifying for someone who actually likes games and poker.
A couple professors in my masters program were pushing me to apply to Ph.D programs, but it also sounded like a good point in my life to take off 1 year and travel around playing live poker. The flexibility poker can provide is fantastic, and though I don't particularly enjoy traveling, travel is certainly something that would help me grow as a person. I've never been one to readily go outside of my comfort zone. I had tentatively planned on doing poker for a year, so had gotten permission to delay my application for a few weeks to decide if I wanted to take time off to play poker before seriously applying to Ph.D programs. I decided to apply anyway, and against the odds (60 applicants, 1 acceptance; speaking of running good) I was accepted into the program. Since I essentially gave my word my application was serious, I felt obligated to follow through and accept.
I love poker, but after running what is probably 3 standard deviations above EV the last two weeks, I observed something else that is difficult about the game to me: the taking of other peoples money. I don't think it is wrong to do so per se; after all, it is a consensual relationship, and I do not take pains to hide the fact that I am there to make money from it. But if I were to play poker for a living for a longer period of time, I think it would eat into my happiness. Good poker players are usually intelligent and quantitatively gifted people, people that could really be adding a lot of value to society. Instead they end up just redistributing wealth (and occasionally from people who can't afford it) to themselves.
My program starts in about 10 days, so my study of poker will have to come to a pause for the moment. I'll still be at the casino a lot; that's where I do much of my reading/studying anyways (gotta have something to pass the time just folding for hours, right?). Poker has certainly treated me nicely the last couple of years; if I had run a bit worse maybe I wouldn't mind cutting it out of my life quite so much. As usual, I am very grateful to this community and the insightful (though sometimes vituperative) comments about concepts and hands. I think most people here are pretty smart, so on an individual level, whether you are continuing in poker or branching out into different things, I feel confident in your success and would encourage you to step into other activities if you feel poker is not the most soul-nourishing way to spend your life long-term.
In the meantime, I'll try to keep a bit of time carved out for anyone that wants to do practice heads-up matches. ^^
GL everyone
~Nathan
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Smuft Canada. Aug 20 2015 12:21. Posts 633 | | |
| | On August 20 2015 08:12 HungarianGOD wrote:
Most of the time you would still be by far the best player at a table even if you were significantly worse, but folding for 3 hours at a time while you are forced to sit in a seat waiting for playable hands can be trying to one's patience.
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I don't think the "by far" best player at the table should ever be folding for 3 hours straight. Maybe once a month? |
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bigredhoss Cook Islands. Aug 20 2015 12:26. Posts 8649 | | |
enjoyed the blog, don't really have anything to add. are you planning to go into academia or work at an IB/HF after you get your PhD? |
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I don't think the "by far" best player at the table should ever be folding for 3 hours straight. Maybe once a month? |
Fold a hand once a month or once a month fold for 3 hours straight? ;D
In actuality it's probably once every 10 minutes. I think I would play between 1/4th and 1/3 of the hands full-ring, and hands took around 2-3 minutes each. Feels like an eternity after multi-tabling online. Also due to self-control issues, I think I was often too loose.
I tried to get the floor to let me multi-table adjacent tables but they never warmed up to the idea <_< |
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I plan on staying in academia, as I think the life-style would suit my personality well. I've always loved teaching; have already taught piano and math privately, and have some classroom experience as well. I designed and taught a full undergrad course on Starcraft and eSPORTS a few years ago! That was one of the more enjoyable things I've done in my life thus far.
I haven't done academic research before, but I tend to be a very curious person so I'm hoping that I find that side of academics appealing as well. |
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Where are the card rooms you usually play in? |
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You seem like a cool dude man. I wish you the best in life, good blog, do what you feel is best for you! |
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| just playing live poker for fun | |
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PuertoRican United States. Aug 21 2015 01:22. Posts 13141 | | |
gL in life, yo~  |
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Usually play in Niagara Falls in either USA or Canada |
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fira United States. Aug 21 2015 14:53. Posts 6345 | | |
nice post dude  |
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