If you had to it all over, would you have started along the AP path?

**houyi** · 04-01-2015, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by 21forme

Absolutely. Read "The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King." Even the "top" poker players are degenerates, going through bust cycles and needing to borrow money for cohorts, and betting on anything and everything that comes along.

Most poker players are probably degen, but at least poker players can readily make bank promoting themselves when they get good enough. Variance free cash ftw in my opinion. Plus, they get some form of respect and social acceptance, whereas APers need to be hush hush about their activities. Poker players also, in my experience, are generally friendlier and more willing to help newbies than are APers, because they don't immediately associate new poker players with the competition. There's good and bad enough for both groups, IMO.

To answer the poll, I'd probably concentrate more on poker and less on APing, but something tells me that even if I devoted myself to poker I probably wouldn't be able to break past decent 20-40 NL tables (i.e. I'd never be good enough for nosebleeds anyway) and might just wind up concentrating on APing anyway.

**bezsprzetu** · 04-02-2015, 03:26 AM

first forum post, welcome

Advantages:
- After almost 7 years doing different kinds of advantage play, my mind became hmmm... sharp? I'm sure there is no school/college/university which would have taught me such an opportunity awareness
- "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" - I can imagine myself doing some error, losing some good opportunity etc. let's say 8 years ago - I'm pretty sure my experience as an AP has got big influence on my current approach to weird situations not only regarding game but also life in general (ability to solve problems - or at least look for the solutions - with much less nerves, emotions etc.)
- Money, that's what APing is all about, right? Maybe that knowledge not only made me a winner, but also saved my life from becoming a degen ploppie?
Disadvantages:
- I could notice several people in this thread used words like 'ploppie' 'degen' etc. - i'm pretty sure fact that APs share 'working enviroment' (that's maybe not the best term) with ploppies and degens IS a disadvantage
- I'm pretty sure lot of people, even including relatives/friends, are able to consider APing as regular degenerate compulsive gambling, just because of fact it's gambling some people are unable to keep emotions and prejudices aside - after I've seen a mathematician believing in a gambler's fallacy nothing is gonna surprise me

**ZeeBabar** · 04-02-2015, 05:13 AM

Originally Posted by bezsprzetu

first forum post, welcome

Advantages:
- After almost 7 years doing different kinds of advantage play, my mind became hmmm... sharp? I'm sure there is no school/college/university which would have taught me such an opportunity awareness
- "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" - I can imagine myself doing some error, losing some good opportunity etc. let's say 8 years ago - I'm pretty sure my experience as an AP has got big influence on my current approach to weird situations not only regarding game but also life in general (ability to solve problems - or at least look for the solutions - with much less nerves, emotions etc.)
- Money, that's what APing is all about, right? Maybe that knowledge not only made me a winner, but also saved my life from becoming a degen ploppie?
Disadvantages:
- I could notice several people in this thread used words like 'ploppie' 'degen' etc. - i'm pretty sure fact that APs share 'working enviroment' (that's maybe not the best term) with ploppies and degens IS a disadvantage
- I'm pretty sure lot of people, even including relatives/friends, are able to consider APing as regular degenerate compulsive gambling, just because of fact it's gambling some people are unable to keep emotions and prejudices aside - after I've seen a mathematician believing in a gambler's fallacy nothing is gonna surprise me

It is human nature and necessary for our sanity to believe we made the right choices in life for the most part. Thus, most active and reasonably succesful professionals in any field will say they made the right choice. Age and maturity is required to admit that had they put in as much effort, practice and focus on any other field or college, they could have succeeded in many other fields too. Age and hindsight is needed. There are a whole lot more AP's that turned to other professions after several years as AP than in any other field.