[strider44]

I have many friends who play online poker. I much prefer the weekly face-to-face small-stakes game with a group of friends. This is a big problem according to several of my teaching pals.

[Drammach]

The young man needs to look at this realistically..

His total winnings might be considered a year's salary in some parts of the US, and only 6 months worth in another..

Passing up an oppurtunity to get a good education and a degree could cost him hundreds of thousands in future earnings.. Maybe millions, over a lifetime..
Gambling is high risk for relatively little reward.. If any reward at all.

Best to stick to penny-ante and enrich one's life through the friendships developed through the weekly (monthly?) poker nights..
He will benefit far more from good friends than he ever will from the gambling..