Is my profession a turn off?

[Crimson Tide]

I read a few pages but mostly I read the part where people were talking highly of themselves so I will say this to the OP, I would date you as long as you have plans for the future.

 

Use the savings you have to start a small business.

 

Something that you are interested in.

[Crimson Tide]

 

It's his life.

 

If he ruined it, it's still his life.

[Citizen Drawn]

I think this says more about the decay of our society when gambling is now looked at as a good way to make an income.

 

Oh but wait, it is no longer even gambling because apparently betting on soccer games and cards, if done the right way, leads to consistently making money. Just bankroll management combined with almost always winning=success!

 

The younger generation seems to have a total lack of work ethic as evidenced in some of the OP'S posts. The guy just graduated college and is already telling us he should not be working long hours.

 

Ha ha ha ha ha. My god man, gambling has not only been looked at as a good way to make a living from the stockmarket it has been positively encouraged since the 14th century in various guises. Just because it began being primarily an occupation of the rich doesn't make it any more or less "respectable"

 

It really us shocking how ignorant some people are when it comes to history, we have you implying that until recently people have sought "respectable professions" coupled with a work ethic (I have no idea where you got this from, many people with money have made or inherited money which came some form of speculation without any creation of assets, e.g, land banking). Then we have TBF talking about how its' bad how "Private investors" have only started playing a part in the stock market, subsequently contributing towards speculative bubbles, when it's well documented how chimney-sweeps got into tulip bulb mania in the 17th century, and were borrowing money to speculate during the great crash in 1929! You would think human beings were until recently busy worker bees doing respectable jobs whereas the truth is over the course of history have worked for peanuts while the rich have speculated with a slice of their money. You may not have noticed but we LIVE in a CAPITALIST, FREE MARKET, ECONOMY which actively PROMOTES this kind of endeavour whether filed under gambling or not.

[Citizen Drawn]

Well can you blame them? The last decade's miracle economy has been based on greed alone. People setting up finance companies and products are hardly working for the good of mankind are they? See I do actually know what you're saying, but we don't live in a meritocracy right now. I made my choice to work for the greater good a long time ago, and as a very productive scientist I'm pretty much looked down upon by those who went off and used their talents to make easy money in finance - which is what most of the generation of graduates from the 90's have done. I don't see the difference frankly, and if he doesn't want to be screwed right now by working his a** of for "the man" that doesn't even notice what he's doing anyway, I really don't blame him.

[tanbark813]

Look at Bernie Madoff or the leaders of Enron. Not exactly spring chickens and certainly without a good work ethic.

 

This reminds me of the quote near the end of Boiler Room when Seth is comparing his casino to his stock scam involvement:

 

"You know, it's funny looking back. The illegal business I was running was the most legitimate thing I had going. I looked my customers in the eye and provided a service they wanted. Now, I don't even look at my customers and I push them something they never asked for."

[missdependant]

You have this young 20 something talking about how he doesn't want to actually do any real work, or spend long hours working, lol.

 

Are there actually people out there who WANT to be working long hours, doing real work? Most of the people I know work long, steady hours in offices because they have to, not because they WANT to.

 

Also.. life is a gamble, didn't you know?

 

If this kid were to die tomorrow, he'd die doing something he loves and knowing that he lived the good life. Kudos.

[Citizen Drawn]

Look at Bernie Madoff or the leaders of Enron. Not exactly spring chickens and certainly without a good work ethic.

 

This reminds me of the quote near the end of Boiler Room when Seth is comparing his casino to his stock scam involvement:

 

"You know, it's funny looking back. The illegal business I was running was the most legitimate thing I had going. I looked my customers in the eye and provided a service they wanted. Now, I don't even look at my customers and I push them something they never asked for."

 

Ha ha tanbark I like your style, that's so true.

 

Lets not forget mortgage brokers that sold products to people that couldn't afford, property developers that sold off their developments at ridiculous amounts, property speculators that flipped these properties increasing the price, banks that arranged the easy credit, bankers that sold off these toxic products by packaging them up exotically, and governments for not regulating it so that they could take a slice of the tax. Did any of these people work hard for the money? No, they just wrecked the economy by creating a giant ponzi scheme.

At least poker is clear cut. I take your money because you gambled it. Nothing more or less.

[Citizen Drawn]

To use your own logic, since 9 out of 10 businesses fail, you must be lying.

[tanbark813]

But in that movie Seth ran the casino. He was not a gambler.

 

Yeah, I posted the quote more because of the work ethics and conventional vs. unconventional positions topics.

 

Ha ha tanbark I like your style, that's so true.

 

Right back atcha, my man.

[kahn2154]

Yes I would date you OP. And I am 29 for the record.

 

I think that you are smart and lots of people that put long hours for less money are envious of you (but they would never tell you that).

 

Having said that, I wouldn't date a gambler who is clearly addicted to gambling and is indulging in very risky behavior. THAT would be a turn off.

 

You seem to approach gambling in a very methodical way and because you are not addicted, you approach it rationally. Props to you for that.

 

You have achieved a lot, albeit in an unconventional way. You should be very proud of yourself

 

Problem is that when they hear I'm a poker player they'll automatically assume that I'm a degenerate gambler. A lot of people can't even be convinced you can win at poker.

 

Out of over 50 million online poker player reliable estimates suggest 600-3000 earn over 50k a year. And there is no study that shows anyone making 6 figures every year playing online poker.

 

You're either pulling that number out of your ass or that study is. I'm a pro poker player and know tons in the community (like this one) and I couldn't tell you a number. There is absolutely no way to find out either as poker sites and players would be the only ones to know them selves and the poker sites could only tell how much someone is up/down on THEIR site. There are countless poker sites and players have a different screen name on each site. So basically a player could be up 50k on one site and down 100k on another, or up 500k on one site and down 100k on another, etc. So basically only the players themselves know how much they are up, so in order for a 'study' to be correct they would have to interview every poker player and hope they tell the truth about their income (and even then losing players will probably say they aren't, winning players might tell they are up much more than they are, or say a number significantly lower than what they are truly up on the year). Basically it would be impossible to find out.

 

Most of these 'studies' you are referencing are right wing bull**** to advocate gambling is bad. I saw an interview on CNBC a few months ago on regulating online poker, typical guests who were for and against it. The guy who was against it kept bringing up that Online poker leads to child abuse, thankfully the host called him out on it, but he just kept spouting away and put a stupid grin on this face every time the host did.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1148592712&play=1 calizag is this you?

 

I guess that is another negative for me, ladies will never date me now because I'm gonna abuse children and become an alcoholic according to some right wing study.

[carhill]

So, OP, do you want to date women or complain about them not wanting to date you because of your profession?

 

The key to dating women is being attractive to them out in the world. What you do in your basement to make a living is just what you do. There are tons of things to do out there in the real world which will attract women to you. Why not get started today? I suggested a couple things upthread to start, which apparently got lost in the bickering. Hope you re-read.

[kahn2154]

Also, lol at the hard work argument.

 

All I heard all my life growing up from my parents was 'study so you don't have to work as hard as me when you grow up.' Now that I'm making good money playing a 'game' my mom is acting like 'meh'

 

I might sit at a PC for my work (is it any different than office work) but playing poker is mentally draining. I'm not doing work for 5 minutes then taking a ten minute break to browse the internet and resume, I'm playing 7-12 tables at one time and having to make a decision constantly for the duration I play. On top of the stress from the swings of poker, like the old saying, poker is a hard way to make an easy living. A full time job is 40 hours a week, there are VERY few pokers players who can play multiple tables 40 hours a week, and the majority of them will burn out very quickly.

 

I'm gonna calizag you here, I remember reading a study that said the average American does 15-20 minutes of actual work an hour. Which means he spends the rest of that time surfing the web, talking about American Idol with fellow workers, etc.

 

So you're telling someone who works 9-5, does 3 hours of actual work a day, and spends the rest surfing online, talking about his golf swing, and shooting the **** with fellow workers works hard, while I'm a joke? Tell me what someone who works an office job does that is so much harder than what I do? We're both using a PC during the time for pretty much all of our work so it can't be anymore exhausting.

[kahn2154]

So, OP, do you want to date women or complain about them not wanting to date you because of your profession?

 

You forgot body, personality(boring), mental issues (no self esteem, self confidence) I have issues

[kahn2154]

Allow me to explain...

 

I know several people that make good livings.. 6 figures and up. They are primarily business owners. They can be landscapers, painters,flooring contractors, deck builders, plumbers, electricians, roofers, etc.

 

What they have in common is that they worked hard, and typically started with nothing. I am in the above group. But through hard work they have something tangible. They are basically recession proof. They have made, and will continue to make 6 figures, or at the very least a living.

 

I was the only employee at my first job that was willing to work 7 days a week. If I went out all night, I still showed up to work on time. I did this for a year, started a business, and worked even harder. I can finally see the light to financial freedom, and/or less work with more travel.

 

Playing online poker is not building anything. If more people start playing, and you play against better players you will lose. I am not sure if there is one online poker player/other sort of gambler on Earth that has made 6 figures consistently for a lifetime. If there are they are a very very rare exception. But I can name 50 business owners that make this amount consistently off the top of my head.

 

There is no substitute for hard work combined with a general and realistic plan of what you want to accomplish. Yes, for a short time period people can get lucky in the market, or playing cards, or betting on soccer games. But an adult should know what is a long term practical plan and what is not.

 

How do you know they are making 6 figures consistently? They could be lying.

 

50 business owners you know that make this amount consistently or in general? If 50 people you know, once again, could be lying, if just in general, well duh, I could name more than 50.

[carhill]

You forgot body, personality(boring), mental issues (no self esteem, self confidence) I have issues

No, you said you have social anxiety. I didn't forget. Like I said, re-read my post up-thread. I've been where you are, a number of decades ago. Read my journals for my forbidden fruit romance/insanity. I think you'll learn something.

 

You can take one step today to change things. Learn about something new. I decided a week ago that I'm going to sell off my race car and buy a BMW and do some road rallying. So, instead of sitting around moaning about getting divorced and no one loving me, I'm learning the science of road racing and the particulars of racing a BMW. One step, one day. BTW, you make a helluva lot more money than I do. It's not how much you make, it's what you make of it.

[sb129]

Kahn, obviously you need to work on a few things, and IMO your profession isn't one of them.

 

If you were a more confident person, you could convince nearly any woman that your profession is a worthy one, because you would believe in yourself and not try to find things that confirm your low opinion of yourself.

 

Self esteem is a very tough one, granted, esp in your early 20s. It took me till I was 29 to really stop giving a sh*t about what other people thought, and the journey was pretty rocky.

 

I can't even give you any helpful tips- the main catalyst was leaving a destructive relationship and it was almost like a light going on.

 

Carhill has given you some great advice, and I agree with it. Work on the things you can change, and ARE good at- you definitely have some positive attributes from what I can see.

 

Are you going to a gym? I think you mentioned you were? Maybe you should try a new programme or get a trainer to push you a little further- the challenge will benefit you both physically and mentally- its so easy to get stuck in a rut at the gym doing the same thing day in day out. Also, the interaction with a trainer will help the social anxiety.

 

The beauty of having some cash behind you is you can explore other activities that you enjoy- I know if I had some spare cash and time I would like to learn more about jewellery design and its construction- there are many things out there that people do for the love of it, and meet people at the same time.

 

Key is- DON'T despair. Nothing is rarely as dire as it seems, and there is often a way out of a situation if you are prepared to think outside the square.

[39388]

The younger generation seems to have a total lack of work ethic as evidenced in some of the OP'S posts. The guy just graduated college and is already telling us he should not be working long hours.

What do you do then? Make hate filled posts and call people liars whether or not there is any evidence of it.

[39388]

I have hired plenty of 20 somethings and they all have this similar mentality. They are entitled to all the material things they want, except for the small issue they have with working to achieve them.

 

Americans are becoming dumber, lazier, and more spoiled with each generation. Maybe parents should just remove their kids from school and teach them how to play online poker from an early age.

It is absolutely frightening that someone with your mentality manages people. I'd rather do what the OP does than work for someone like you.

 

You sure are one to judge morality, when you clearly have very little of it yourself.

[sb129]

I also find it hard to believe that

landscapers, painters,flooring contractors, deck builders, plumbers, electricians, roofers, etc.

are "recession proof" when the housing market and construction industry have taken such a global whalloping over the last year or two.

 

I don't think ANYONE is recession proof at the moment if they are relying on income from members of the public, (except for maybe supermarkets).

 

If people don't have as much ready cash as they used to (and they don't) they are going to re-prioritise their spending, and non essential expenditure is the first thing to go.

[carhill]

Diversity is important, IMO. Hence my suggestion, heretofore unrecognized by the OP, to learn something new every day. Doesn't matter what it is. Diversity allows one to adapt to changing social and economic climates.

 

I know a couple of contractors personally who have used the capital they earned during the boom to now cash in on the bust and buy up cadres of distressed housing as investments, turn their crews loose on them and then turn them into rentals or resell them as viable, affordable and safe housing. Diversify their asset base, keep people employed, make the community a better place. Wish I had their skillset and ambition, but I get by fixing their equipment.

[tanbark813]

I have the feeling some are agreeing with you because they feel sorry for you, or want to disagree with me.

 

Come on, man, you're starting to sound like TBF. "People can't possibly have a different opinion than me."

[sb129]

Ok my bad, I do not want to sound like that.

Perhaps I need to look deeper into gambling as a side job.

 

 

Let us know how you get on. Or if you need any tips.

 

People do often exaggerate their earnings, thats true.

Lots of people don't know their true net worth because they don't know how to work it out.

I have a great job which pays well when its busy, but if I have a couple of slow weeks, its tough. No guarantees here, and I definitely don't feel 100% secure at the moment.

And once you factor in mortgage and debt etc- I probably have a net worth less than $170K, for sure.

 

If Kahn does keep his bankroll and his savings separate, he has such a low opinion of himself otherwise, I believe him about his winnings.

He isn't bragging about anything else, if anything he is beating himself up far more than he needs to.

[headlesschicken]

sidestepping the huge mess in this thread, i'd just like to mention that your profession is not a turnoff to me. then again, i'm a stripper so my opinion is probably colored by my own profession being a turnoff to many people.

[in_absentia]

Wouldn't bother me. I'd probably find it pretty interesting and cool actually. But hey I'm 21.

 

Anywho it's not like people who are just dating you should really be concerned about how much money you have in the initial stages or even have any kinda right to know.