Playing Poker in the Underground Games of New York City
I’m 23 years old, graduated from college in 2007, and while “working” part time in college playing poker, live and online and, I made a lot of money. I went to school in Boston and moved to New York City to work as trader. Hell, this was going to be just another poker game, buying, selling, gambling. The way these jobs work is you work like crazy for 18 months before getting your first full bonus. Unfortunately, with what has happened in the economy I was fired this winter just before that payday happened. 23 years old, expecting a sick bonus, and I had already spent almost all my money, knowing that I would be getting that money. So here I am, screwed, with almost no money, a $1500 a month studio in Murray Hill, and a terrible economy.
I hit the streets for a few months trying to find new work, but to no avail. No one was hiring, at least not in a job that deserved to have me working for them. I’m a gambler. It’s what I do. I am not going to work for some two-bit advertising or “finance” shop.
Meanwhile I watched fired friend after friend leave New York, usually moving back in with their parents and hoping things would turn around eventually. I wasn’t going to do that. I started thinking about my options and realized that I could go back to playing poker. I had torn it up in college, so why not here? After all, I’ve always heard the New York underground poker games are just insane, with a lot of people who have no regard for money.
I put this blog together to track my performance playing poker in the underground poker rooms of New York City, and write about playing in games. Maybe somebody out there will enjoy reading about them.
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