Thought this would be the right forum to come to for some good advice.
I've been playing online poker professionally for about the last 4 years. Profited six figures in each of these years with last 12 months being my best at around 375k. I had a job in the energy industry and quit about 2.5 years ago because i was making more in poker in about 1/5 of the time. Most of the jobs i held were back office type and some trade support but working mostly at a utility so it was not trading like most of you think of.
I graduated with a finance degree and my goal was always to be a trader, poker was something i fell into when i saw an opportunity to make money. I love poker, but I've slowly been losing my passion . Passion is the key to success. Since I live very close to NYC, i want to pursue a trading job before it's too late (29 now) but I'm not sure what the best way to do this is. I did not attend a top tier school and my overall GPA was sub-par (2.6 but 3.7 in my finance classes) so big banks are out. I don't know anyone in the industry or have any relevant trading experience so hedge funds are out too.
It sounds like one realistic option is a prop trading firm. What I want is to learn the business , work in a team environment and gain strong experience and that would give me an opportunity of a career in trading. Some of the reviews I've read it make it sound like guys are grinding out modest incomes and do not gain a lot of beneficial experience. I realize that the reviews are most likely skewed towards the negative as the unsuccessful ones are most likely to post negative things so I'm not sure what to think.
Would a prop firm be a good place for me to start given what I'm looking for? Which ones should i consider applying to? Also, given i can prove most of my results through data bases, and tax returns etc is my experience something that these companies would look at positively given a lot of the skills are transferable to trading?
Any input is much appreciated.
I've been playing online poker professionally for about the last 4 years. Profited six figures in each of these years with last 12 months being my best at around 375k. I had a job in the energy industry and quit about 2.5 years ago because i was making more in poker in about 1/5 of the time. Most of the jobs i held were back office type and some trade support but working mostly at a utility so it was not trading like most of you think of.
I graduated with a finance degree and my goal was always to be a trader, poker was something i fell into when i saw an opportunity to make money. I love poker, but I've slowly been losing my passion . Passion is the key to success. Since I live very close to NYC, i want to pursue a trading job before it's too late (29 now) but I'm not sure what the best way to do this is. I did not attend a top tier school and my overall GPA was sub-par (2.6 but 3.7 in my finance classes) so big banks are out. I don't know anyone in the industry or have any relevant trading experience so hedge funds are out too.
It sounds like one realistic option is a prop trading firm. What I want is to learn the business , work in a team environment and gain strong experience and that would give me an opportunity of a career in trading. Some of the reviews I've read it make it sound like guys are grinding out modest incomes and do not gain a lot of beneficial experience. I realize that the reviews are most likely skewed towards the negative as the unsuccessful ones are most likely to post negative things so I'm not sure what to think.
Would a prop firm be a good place for me to start given what I'm looking for? Which ones should i consider applying to? Also, given i can prove most of my results through data bases, and tax returns etc is my experience something that these companies would look at positively given a lot of the skills are transferable to trading?
Any input is much appreciated.
