[Anonymous]

I was a professional poker player for about 2 years from 2010-2012. I got very serious with online poker in my senior year of college and did not put in much effort into my accounting courses at this time. I ended up dropping many of these classes and ended with a 2.6 gpa when I finally graduated after 6 years of undergrad. I really wanted to pursue poker as a profession and began taking it very seriously. I played in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in the summer of 2011 and 2012 and had a fair amount of success in both online poker and live poker (poker in the casinos). However, I came to the realization in the fall of 2012 that this is not something I want to do for the rest of my life and decided to chase a CPA designation to make use of my accounting degree.

I enrolled in my local community college full-time in the 2013 spring semester and took many non-accounting general education intro courses to fulfill my 150 credit education requirement. (I was fortunate to apply for my license in a state that allowed me to do this since the business school I graduated from fulfilled all of the accounting and business requirements.) After getting a 4.0 in these classes, I purchased the Becker self-study program in May and proceeded to take all 4 parts of the exam. Thanks to Becker and Another71, I can proudly say that I have passed 3 of the parts and will be sitting for FAR in February to hopefully complete the exam.

I recently reached out to a friend who is currently a CPA working at a Big 4 firm. He has asked me to send him a resume so that he can pass it on to HR and at a minimum have my name in their system. My current struggle is whether or not to mention poker on my resume and if so, what aspects I should discuss. I am a firm believer that many of the skills I learned as a poker player can be translated into becoming a successful accountant including analytical thinking and endurance for long hours during busy season. However, I understand that this may be a poor decision and an interviewer may dismiss me immediately as a degenerate gambler. I felt that it was important for me to do my best to complete the CPA exam before the job search to compensate for my poor gpa, lack of work experience in accounting, and my resume gap from playing poker.

I realize that this is a very long entry but any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone for your time!

[san4596]

I think you should include it. There are a couple of flags that indicate a gambling degenerate. You should be perfectly fine as long as you do NOT have 1) Bad Credit and/or 2) Arrest Record.

I personally had a difficult time getting a day job in business period. I worked most of my college career as a bartender at local night clubs. Going from a bartender to a business man proved very difficult in my area, even though I was an assistant manager for a period of time. I ended up finally getting a job working at a Credit Union with the help of a classmate and some family ties. Worked for 3 1/2 years in the accounting department while getting my MBA, and moved to an accounting firm after that. My resume now only includes the past 8 years of my life.

CPA EXAM: DONE!!!!
Ethics Course: Passed
Application Mailed: 3/16/15
Professional Conduct Exam: 97
Certification Date: 4/2/15!!!

[zieba]

I concur. The traits of a successful player are those which may distinguish you from those less motivated or methodical. However, if you do include it you absolutely need to differentiate your experience from that of some underground illegal smoke filled in some strip mall. If you do include it, I would absolutely highlight WSP ranking, highlight you going deep too.

AUD - 75*, 88 done 5/14! (*exp)
BEC - 74 , 77
REG - 65 , 76 (10 point combooo!!)
FAR - 69 , 75

Dr: perseverance
Dr: intelligence
Dr: luck
. Cr: . advisory score

[zieba]

I concur. The traits of a successful player are those which may distinguish you from those less motivated or methodical. However, if you do include it you absolutely need to differentiate your experience from that of some underground illegal smoke filled in some strip mall. If you do include it, I would absolutely highlight WSP ranking, highlight you going deep too.

AUD - 75*, 88 done 5/14! (*exp)
BEC - 74 , 77
REG - 65 , 76 (10 point combooo!!)
FAR - 69 , 75

Dr: perseverance
Dr: intelligence
Dr: luck
. Cr: . advisory score

[Anonymous]

My friend told me to send him my resume this morning. He took a glance and gave me some comments. This is what I put down in my Experience section of my resume:

Professional Poker Player June 2010-Sep. 2012

• Participated in the 2011 and 2012 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and cashed in the 2011 Main

Event in Xth place out of 6,885 entries.

• Issued shares of my tournament packages to outside investors at a premium to reduce variance and

increase my return on investment.

• Learned to think analytically and adapt to different situations by deciphering variables and making

optimal financial decisions based on incomplete information.

• Gained valuable skills relating to “reading” people, and understanding motivations and behavior.

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. I have to run now but I will keep everyone posted.

[Anonymous]

My friend told me to send him my resume this morning. He took a glance and gave me some comments. This is what I put down in my Experience section of my resume:

Professional Poker Player June 2010-Sep. 2012

• Participated in the 2011 and 2012 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and cashed in the 2011 Main

Event in Xth place out of 6,885 entries.

• Issued shares of my tournament packages to outside investors at a premium to reduce variance and

increase my return on investment.

• Learned to think analytically and adapt to different situations by deciphering variables and making

optimal financial decisions based on incomplete information.

• Gained valuable skills relating to “reading” people, and understanding motivations and behavior.

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. I have to run now but I will keep everyone posted.

[Author]

Replies