It Begins

Dear friends(both poker-playing and not),

This summer I deferred an offer from a reputable environmental consulting firm in favor of playing poker and sports-betting full-time. I’m hoping these 3 months will serve as a microcosm for a career in professional gambling and allow me to decide whether I want to pursue this lifestyle permanently after I comeback for my last year at Stanford.

Why I Want To Do This

There are a lot of hedonistic reasons that make the poker lifestyle appealing, but I am making this decision because no other opportunity provides the same level of financial security and flexibility with time/travel to pursue my other passions. The most fulfilling job I ever had was at an environmental non-profit in Panama the summer after sophomore year. I had to pay my own way down there and cover all costs but it was worth every penny. There is a large part of me that wouldn’t mind picking up and moving back there to volunteer again for a year, but they just don’t have the money to pay me now and I fear that they never will. There are similar, closer opportunities like Habitat for Humanity that make me feel the same way, but for me, they all suffer from the same problems, a lack of financial safety and practicality. There are also a couple of hobbies that I regret not having pursued even though I’ve been fanatically interested in them since high school. Poker will provide the financial backing and extra time that will allows me to chase all of these dreams.

Poker has also been a dream in itself. I no longer get the rush from gambling, but rather, that degeneracy has been replaced by a more complex set of positive feelings. I am absolutely thrilled when I get the opportunity to execute a new play that someone experienced from Two Plus Two(poker website) has taught me. I feel damn sexy when I catch a “tell” no one else sees, allowing me to make a thin value bet. I look forward to continuing to improve my game amidst a group of people who are also ambitious about beating the highest-nosebleed stakes. I can’t even explain how it feels when I snap off a bluff in a way that screams “DO I LOOK LIKE I CAME HERE TO BE FUCKED WITH?” I am proud when I reflect on how much discipline I’ve shown both at the table and away from it allowing me to have come so far. I love poker!

Why I Shouldn’t Do This

Job Growth/Hole in Resume: This is the largest argument for keeping poker as a hobby on the side. However, I’ve already pointed out that Stanford, much less a full-time job does not afford me the schedule to pursue my dreams in a manner I would like to. It doesn’t even let me pursue poker in the way I want to. I want to continue in my journey in the poker world and eventually beat the highest stakes there are, but I also want to be done with this game by the time I’m 28-30. I don’t want to be one of those degenerates that sneaks out of the house when he should be with his family in 10 years, but I do want to get to the top. That takes an immense amount of time that is better suited for my young 20’s. Obviously, I am still continuing school and can rethink my options if this summer does not go well or I regress to being unhappy in this lifestyle.

Parental Approval: Some of you will be horrendously bothered by the fact that my parents have no idea that I even play poker at this level and would be infuriated that if they found out. There is a huge barrier in convincing them that I know what I’m doing and that it’s the best choice for me. I am hoping that success will lead to support in a F. Scott Fitzgeraldian manner as I don’t plan on holding out on them forever.

Lack of Contribution to Society/Waste of Talent: No matter how much money I make from this, I’m essentially playing a video game. The only part I truly buy about Marxism is that there needs to be a connection between a person’s occupation and their livelihood. Poker has about the largest disconnect there is as I’m just pushing stacks of money around. I plan to counter this effect by ensuring that my other dreams are prioritized over poker and also by researching non-profits and volunteer opportunities that I would want to work for if I decided to do this full-time. I would also be developing an exit strategy by reading everything I could about investing/real estate/stocks to ensure I can create a diverse passive income portfolio for the future.

Getting Engulfed by the Poker Lifestyle: I have seen some degenerate things in time in casinos and know that I am only human and can easily fall to that level. In the last couple of years, with the help of a few close, honest friends, I’ve come to realize that the little bit of change I’ve made has gone to my head, and I’ve started to make amends. I also don’t want to be burned out by clicking a computer screen and sitting in a cardroom for many hours a day. It’s good that I’m finally starting to reach a winrate that doesn’t require me to play a lot in order make a considerable amount and I see myself scaling back time spent in the next few years as I move up in limits.

Background

I’ve been playing poker seriously for the last 2 years. My primary cash cow has been live(in casinos) Limit Holdem at stakes 30/60-50/100, though I’m getting comfortable in online LHE 5/10-15/30. Averaging 8 hours of play a week over the past 6 months, I have made ~19k, a figure which is back loaded since I have successfully moved up recently.

My sports betting experience is just beginning. Despite a limited sample size, I feel I have the resources and track record necessary to beat college basketball and football at a steady clip(ROI>4%), while I’m still learning NBA, WNBA, and baseball. Learning how to win in sports betting is still mainly a training exercise as I hope it to be one of my sources of passive income in the future when my capital becomes large enough.

Re: my current financial status. I have a poker bankroll that sits at ~29k, a sports betting bankroll with ~12k, and a number of investments/pending sports bets with varying degrees of liquidity with ~14k in equity.

In pursuing both of these ventures this summer, a conservative back-of-the-envelope estimate has me hoping to make ~43k(36k from poker, 7k from sports betting) by the time fall quarter starts again. This will allow me to have the bankroll to safely play LHE 60/120-100/200 by the end of summer and make the move towards the bigger, staple online games(LHE 30/60). I want to save at least 80% what I make to continue growing my bankrolls, with 10% taken out towards my IRA/reoccurring CDs. I want to split 5% as a donation between Stanford in Washington and the Pi Tau Fund(AKPsi’s investment fund).

Schedule
6/16 (Stanford): Graduation
6/18-6/25 (Los Angeles): I want to spend my time at home with my parents before they head back to China and reconnecting with my brother now that we have the possibility of a good relationship. I also want to go backpacking or camping with a 1-2 friends in the middle of nowhere to clear my mind and focus on a critical junction in my life.
6/26-8/4 (Las Vegas): This should be the most intense period poker playing. I plan to spend a significant amount of time studying/reviewing hands/watching friends play in order to grow my bankroll and get better.
8/5-9/26 (Stanford): I’m coming back to the Bay Area the first week of August to start my housing lease and appear at another venture that’s still in the works. This should also be another intense period of pokering.
8/10-8/22 (China): Visiting my parents in China and translating at the Olympics.

I’m planning 3 week-long trips to Minnesota(July), Arizona(August) and a 3^rd trip in September to either the East Coast(Connecticut, Atlantic City, D.C.) or Macau. These trips intend to be business mixed with pleasure as I intend to play poker at the casinos in each of these locations, but I mainly want to take advantage of the free time that poker is allotting me to visit friends, travel, and live.

Goals
Recreational:

• Spend at least 3 days a week bboying/dancing. Find people in Vegas who can teach me and help me progress until I get back to the Bay Area.
• 3 gym sessions each week. Running at least once a week.
• Take advantage of my week-long vacations by being led by my friends instead of following the touristy itinerary.
• Read everything on my summer reading list.
• Learn to cook basic dishes and some fancy stuff.

Investing:

• Finish my main texts on personal finance and day trading. Solidifying my knowledge of basic investing topics.
• Setup my IRA and start automatic contributions. Ensure that I am on pace to max out the $5,000 amount by year’s end.
• Lay the framework for my energy startup. Brainstorm other long-term business ideas.
• Help establish more tools for the Pi Tau Fund in terms of both personal knowledge and resources that will be useful to the group.

Poker:

• Play 30 hrs a week. Spend at least 10 hrs a week playing online/live each.
• Study 10 hrs a week. Post at least 1 hand on Two Plus Two for every 4 hours that I play live/every 2 hours that I play live. Watch at least 3 DC/Stox videos a week. Talking about lesser hands with other high stakes players.
• Be playing 80/160 live and 30/60 online regularly by the end of summer.
• Become competent in No Limit and 1 other game that will be prevalent in mixed game rotations(Stud or Omaha).

Sports Betting:

• Read articles to get a true understanding of Kelly bet sizing, calculating my edge on bets made, bankroll management, etc.
• Acquire models or develop actually inputs for sports that I plan to bet for an entire season instead of just following knowledgeable 2p2ers. Deciding on which sports I want to focus on.
• Prepare for the start of football season by reading about off-season changes and learning about advanced football statistics(DVOA, etc.).

Conclusion

This decision has been muddling in my mind since the beginning of the year, but I’ve finally considered all the factors at play so that I can make a move. I am open to the possibility that I’m missing something important either logistically or personally, but I feel like there is a door that I have the skills, grit, and ambition to open.

I don’t want to wake up to a mid-life crisis stuck in a job I feel mediocre about or one that leaves me so tired that I’m frustrated when I come home to my kids. I don’t want to lay on my death bed with only memories of missed opportunities, regretting that I hadn’t taken more risks or chased more dreams. I want to live life on my own terms and this is the path I want to take. I’m ready for this.