erm poker is easy to win at, it's hard to make a living at. I know of at least 10 tables (not casino) that I could go to within the next hour and make about a hundred bucks in not much more than 2 hours, almost guaranteed. Why? Because I know the competition, I know who I'm up against and I know how they react in certain situations, I know I can win, simply because I'm better, more experienced. With trading, this isn't the case, you never know who you're up against. Sure, you can trade a market like the Hang Seng or whatever which isn't arbed to hell like ES, but you're still playing a very tough game. You're always against the best. Notice how those that make a living trading have a well defined edge, they have a method that consistently makes money, usually this doesn't involve shooting for 2 ES points a day, sorry you ES traders On the other hand, it is true that once you try to make a living playing poker, you run into much tougher competition and the guaranteed money isn't there anymore.
Classic quote Rearden. I totally know what you mean - once you have experienced a boom, in *any* field (whether stocks, real estate, sales, commodities etc), normal markets are just not the same. The only thing I would say is this - surely it's better to go round adventuring, looking for the *next* boom, rather than giving up and sitting on your ass playing poker all day? Imagine, you travel round the world, and suddenly find that Argentina and Brazil, after crapping out in 2000-2002, are now on the recovery path. Get stuck in, and by 2008 they will be booming again - almost any business or investment you start there right now could be making 5-10 times your money or more. And you get to bang hot 20 year old babes to your heart's content - and believe me they are better looking than over here! You know, as it happens I was also a keen poker player. I ended up meeting an American girl in the mid 90s, and moved over there to LA for a while. Made a "living" (i.e. about $500-1500 a month) playing poker in the LA casinos (*wild* games, so much action), and for a 19-20 year old kid it was fun and felt glamorous. The thing is, even then it was a grind. Now for pot limit and no limit, I would make an exception. One of the best nights of my life was an insane $1-2 pot limit game in Vegas, every single player a tourist or $3-6 limit dealer trying to make it big. There were guys at that table from all 4 corners of the globe, pots of $1000-2000 when almost none of us made that in a month, guys going all-in without even checking their cards. But that is not poker reality. That's not the cheap cigarettes, the washed-up cocktail waitresses, the ageing props, the bums, the losers, the hard-bitten sharks, the wannabes. Seriously, there has to be more to life for you than this. Play poker for fun, by all means. But if you want a challenge, you want to make big bucks too? Get your arse into gear, go to some new place you've never been, get out of your rut and f*cking do something! Example - Eastern Europe is coming out of 50 years of communism, and from now to 2007 and 2010 they are coming into the EU. Guess what that is going to do to wages and real estate values? Not too hard to imagine, to be honest. Why not rent a bachelor pad in Prague, take a tour round the former communist bloc and speak to the real estate guys there? Pick the people you trust, find some good deals, and invest. Oh and did I mention how hot 20-something Slavic women are? Have you seen "Scarface"? You think you get that sh*t sitting on your ass clicking on a mouse, hoping your AA doesn't get busted by some chump calling station online at 3am? As it says in the film - "The world is yours". You just have to stop p*ssing around, and take it. F*ck online poker, hello big bucks. Come on Rearden, get off your lazy former daytrading yank ass and start living that capitalist ideal!
Ig0r, you sure make some damn good points about playing poker for money. Thing is with trading in a market you are not up against anyone. If its got liquidity and if its an established zero sum trading arena (ie index futures) you only have to devise and play a system to divert a flow of the dough to yourself. I say only have to devise a system .. admittedly its something that most can't or won't do. It could though be that you reach a stage when you up your play in the market to such big weight that you could consider that you are playing against others also operating on a very big scale (the few major or mega institutions/funds). Consider yourself in a very special category of mega liquid wealth when you get that far!
Cutten, you have no idea how much your above advice truly speaks to me. Your points are so incredibly strong, and would easily apply to anyone else in my situation, if not for one small detail you don't know about me... I detest crowds, and I detest not being in control of every situation I'm in. It's not exactly agoraphobia- not fear at all, just extreme annoyance with being around other people. When I can't control a situation, I just leave. I'm extremely ADD, and any little gum chewing/walking behind me/ temperature not cold how I like it/ people just being people- really pisses me off. When I'm not at home, I can't wait to get back to that environment which I control. The last movie I saw in the theater was Hollow Man (about 3 years ago)...are you beginning to understand me? At age 29, I know myself well. I choose to spend nearly every hour of my life comfortably inside my semi-rural mansion, my lovely servile wife attending to all my needs, playing poker online, playing on my MAME system which perfectly replicates nearly every single arcade game to come out from the 70's up until the mid 90's, having friends visit once in a while, viewing DVD's on my home theater systems, and with occasional new pussy visiting me to do the things which a wife cannot do. Any other way of living would just be too annoying... Feel free to tell me what you think.
Rearden, Have you ever thought of giving up drugs? I gave up alcohol and drugs when I turned 30(16 years ago) and have been feeling more confident year by year. I am not saying you should - your success in poker and trading shows you've got your act together on many levels, but it could be worth thinking about.
It's not the drugs...I was insane long before I even touched the hard drugs. It's not a confidence issue at all, either. Being around crowds/at the mercy of others just annoys the shit out of me...I guess it's kinda hard to explain.
You are not alone. Sitting in my expensive chair in my air conditioned house completely surrounded by my electronic communications network I can see whats going on anywhere at anytime, trade, play poker and other games in complete comfort and isolation. If I want company I go to them. They know better than to enter my inner sanctum.