Gambling > PhD

After 6 years of post graduate school which opened no doors, at least one of the bamboozled has turned to online poker for income.

I am not surprised. Actually, one of my law school classmates decided on playing poker for income before he picked up his JD. He didn't waste his time or money on the rip off that some people call BarBri as he did not take the Bar Exam. I'm not sure how he's doing, but I'd figure that he's not doing too bad - he had real skills in math.

What I am sure of is that he is doing better than the hapless souls cyber-panhandling on craigslist for legal "jobs" that only differ from indentured servitude in that the servant is required to have a JD and a permission slip from the elites called a "legal license" in order to have the privilege of serving.

Meanwhile, the gambler serves no one. Sure, professional gambling may be looked down upon, but the reality is that much of it is little different than what the "upstanding professionals" are doing on Wall Street. Speculating on whether the price of cotton will go up or down is no different from speculating on whether the NY Giants are favored by too many points on a given weekend in October. The only difference is that there is some external economic function of the former. But when money is risked based on that speculation, the action is gambling whether you're in Atlantic City or at a commodity trading desk. There's no way around it.

I think we will see a lot more young people turn to gambling as a source of income. There will be herds of college graduates talented in math and/or possessing an ability to spot relative value. The jobs at the Wall Street Casinos that they may have coveted will not be there. They will use those same skills at the other casinos.