Dropping out of community college pays off for poker champ
The world has a new poker champ -- whose life story may inspire people to pursue their dreams of being a professional gambler -- but don't let the tale of Joe Cada fool you into following his career path.Cada, 21, won the $8.55 million jackpot in the World Series of Poker, making him the youngest winner of the event.
Cada started playing poker on the Internet when he was 16, and he was so good at math that he later dropped out of community college to pursue a career as a professional gambler.
It's not a career path that Cada recommends anyone follow, although speaking to the Detroit Free Press from his high-roller, 9,000-square-foot suite at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is an odd place in which to be doling out that type of career advice.
"It definitely can be a living," Cada told Freep.com. "But it's one of those things: You have to be very careful when you decide to make it a living. More people lose than win."
Among other reasons, he says gambling can lead to the lowest of the low feelings.
"They don't really know the behind-the-scenes, because you go through big up-and-down swings," he told Freep.com. "At the beginning of poker, when I lost $40,000 or $50,000, I maybe acted differently than I normally was."
Since turning pro, Cada has invested his winnings in a savings account as a backup plan to pay for college if his poker career doesn't work out. Now that he's world champ of poker, he plans to keep playing around the world and put part of his winnings in conventional investments and some back into tournament entry fees.
Half of his World Series take-home winnings are his and the other half will go to two backers who helped pay his $10,000 entry fee. Maybe now after winning the championship and $8.55 million, Cada can negotiate a lesser cut for his investors who pay his entry fees.
When you're the champ, the odds of winning should greatly increase. And so should your cut.
Aaron Crowe is a freelance writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Reach him at www.AaronCrowe.net
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
11-17-2009 @ 6:04AM
ppresmar said...
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11-17-2009 @ 6:16AM
Jim said...
why don't some people comment on the article instead of saying about different sites?
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11-17-2009 @ 8:57AM
margaret said...
I'm with you on this Jim. This should not be allowed it's free advertising! Plus it's sooo annoying.
11-17-2009 @ 1:28PM
chibby329 said...
Haha, I know. I kept going down and it was spam after spam, then thankfully I saw a real comment.
11-17-2009 @ 2:24PM
Aboona Joe said...
same thing with me, and look what the very next "comment" is!
11-17-2009 @ 6:50AM
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11-17-2009 @ 6:55AM
ed said...
More misinformation from Wallet Pop....as is the norm..the entry fee is NOT 150,000 for the WSOP>
Reply
11-17-2009 @ 7:25AM
Rick said...
Cada's backers paid his entry fee for numerous events not just the $10,000 for the WSOP.
11-17-2009 @ 7:28AM
Hugh said...
Quite right, Ed. I believe the entry fee for the main event is $15,000.00 not $150,000.00 - typical Wallet Pop.
11-17-2009 @ 8:35AM
eric said...
if you'll do the math, playing in every event costs you almost exactly $150,000
11-17-2009 @ 9:16AM
Dennis D said...
I thought the entry fee was $10,000 ?
11-17-2009 @ 10:02AM
Katie said...
Didn't his grandfather put up the fee?
11-17-2009 @ 6:59AM
timtomtomax3 said...
I sit in Joey Cadas class as of today!!
I go to his junior high
&& have the same history teacher he does!
My teacher is always telling us stories
about how quiet joey is
&& how HE NEVER TALKED!!
Complete opposite of me
My teacher always plays the lottery
and never wins
boy was he suprised when one of his former students
won
:)
Reply
11-17-2009 @ 8:01AM
debbie said...
another sorry wsop shows how bigg a donkeys they areive been playing poker since the 70s and wow what donkeys and monkeys the great players get donked out and the so called good players the bluffers that get lucky and look goood do to espn well now in stead of aussie aussie suxs suxs suxs or yang o god let me win o god im a dum azz let me win all in plays or instead ofsaying donkey play say cada play im 65 wait till i get their next year i see pass the sugar i will nail hachem with a 5 lb bag of sugar and weres the immagration leting all these forgien a hole fighting us into country threten me i will k-ll you instead of rebuys for bad players if a good player gets donked the poker officals would make a rule 1 outers get the player back in it would change the game i love the donkey plays next year will be my first and cause of the donkeys it will pay for my entire trip and all the wsop events i will play in a TOTAL FREEE ROLL and yall will never see it comin and espn you better have money to put me on the tv and i wont show my cards never worst thing for the game
Reply
11-17-2009 @ 8:09AM
kim said...
Debbie get a grip. You can't spell you, don't know how to write, and you are right up there with some of the most stupid comments ever. I really doubt you could hold your own in one of theses events. You being 65 and playing since the 70's means nothing. If you were ever any good you would have all ready been to Vegas. So just shut it.
11-17-2009 @ 9:23AM
Gary said...
Ladies and gentlemen, we have just found it. The biggest idiot of the year. Rambles on and on and can't make make sense of a thing she says. Joe Hachem would make you look like the sorry moron you are. You have no clue what you are talking about.
11-17-2009 @ 12:48PM
Hypnox88 said...
put the bottle down, sober up and try that again. now, if after that you stand behind what you wrote, I'll meet you at the Palms - I've got $10,000 that says I can take everything you bring to the table in less than 5 hands. It's schmucks like you that make people like Joey RICH!
11-17-2009 @ 1:11PM
gr8bsn said...
Maybe you're not on ESPN because you are incoherent. I suggest "Hooked On Phonics" and some Ritalin for you.
11-18-2009 @ 1:09PM
genarro said...
I am impressed that Kim seems to have actually read all of Debbie's post! I couldn't make it through the first run-on sentence.
We should leave Debbie to her world of Donkeys and unicorns
11-17-2009 @ 7:58AM
john said...
he is not a pro just a donkey that got lucky would u call a person who never play the lotto the first time and they win it a pro tiger woods is a pro doyle is a pro word used loosly in this time and age i have his lil brother and sister swimmin in my under wear who afraid of the lil stain
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