Not many people can lose $10,000 in one day and just move on. But then again, most people don't win $360,000 in one day, either.
Former University student Eric Froehlich recently became the youngest player to win a bracelet in the World Series of Poker and has grown accustomed to the world of high-stakes poker.
But less than a year ago, Froehlich was still a student at the University. Before he left to play poker professionally, he was only a few credits away from a degree in psychology.
"My parents always supported everything I've done," Froehlich said. "I did well at U.Va., but I never was that motivated. I enjoyed the classes, but I didn't feel like I was getting enough out of college."
Froehlich took his fourth semester off, playing poker all the while, and when he returned he ended up declaring his major late and then couldn't get into the classes he needed. Froehlich realized he wasn't taking school seriously enough and decided it wasn't worth it to continue on after fall 2004 -- which ended up being his last semester at the University.
Some people have commented that Froehlich's success in poker might encourage other young poker players to drop out of college and follow the same path. Yet Froehlich would not advise others to do as he did.
"I think it'd be a mistake for 99.9 percent of the people out there," he said. "I've certainly encouraged people to go the school route. You really have to give it a chance at first, but sometimes it's not for you."
Froehlich has been playing poker for just a couple of years and has only been playing competitively for about a year. Though he is only 21 and was one of the least experienced players at the WSOP, it didn't interfere with him winning the coveted gold bracelet in the early hours of the morning June 7, 2005 in Las Vegas.
The tournament Froehlich won was the $1,500 Buy-in Limit Texas Hold'Em event, in which his winnings totaled $361,910.
"It was a weird feeling when it was finally over -- just surreal," Froehlich said. "They give you all this money, all the photographers, you have to do an interview with Norman Chad of ESPN, and you don't really know what to say."
While he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with all of his winnings, Froehlich had decided upon at least one thing: He was going to pay for his younger brother's college tuition.
Andrew Froehlich, now a first-year Engineering student, recalled going to sleep the night before, knowing his brother was at the final table and then waking up to learn Eric had won the bracelet.
"I checked out the coverage on the Internet, and the first thing I saw was a video of his 'victory' speech, and they asked him what he was going to do with the money," Andrew said. "He seemed like he didn't really know yet, but he said he was obviously going to put his brother through college. It was really weird to see that for the first time from a video on the Internet and [hearing] him say his brother and being like, 'Oh yeah, that's me.'"
Eric sparked Andrew's interest in poker and, while Andrew admits to not being nearly as advanced as his older brother, he said he enjoys playing every once in a while.
Eric noted that when he was at the University, he didn't find many opportunities to play poker live, but he has heard of some games being organized since he left. Andrew, though he hasn't found one yet, said he is still interested in playing with others at the University.
Yet Andrew mentioned that "when [people] hear that my brother's a professional, they usually get a little scared, and they don't want to play, even though I'm really not that good."
Since his big win, Eric, originally from Northern Virginia, has moved out to Los Angeles, where there are more poker opportunities. He said he especially enjoys the non-restrictive schedule that allows him to fly home to see his family whenever he wants.
Eric's main source of income is playing poker online, which he said brings in six figures a year. While many people will play for hours at a time, Eric said he usually only plays for about an hour at the highest level.
While his winnings in online poker have amounted to quite a large sum, he said playing online doesn't necessarily help much with playing live games.
"It's a completely different game when you're playing [online] in your PJs, in bed and watching a movie," he said. "Playing online is better to learn basic poker because you see so many more hands online, to just play the cards, but it doesn't substitute for playing live. If you're going to have a huge smile on your face every time you get a good hand, people aren't going to want to play you live."
Although his poker skills have brought in lots of money, Eric said there are always days where things just don't work out. The most he said he lost in one day was $10,000, but as a professional, he has to be able to put that past him and keep going.
"When [you lose] multiple times in a day, it's frustrating, even if you're a huge favorite to win," Eric said. "But you've got to be able to deal with that, and if you can't, then obviously poker isn't for you. If you're going to be able to lose $10,000, you've got to have a lot of money to your name -- you just can't play games where you risk losing everything. It's going to be frustrating, but you've got to move on with life."
For now, Eric said he plans to continue playing poker live and online but has no plans to return to school to finish his degree any time soon.
"I have a hard enough time deciding what to do the next week," he said with a laugh. "Even that tournament I won, I wasn't going to play it the morning of. I just decided that morning to play it and see what happens. I have a lot of freedom right now, and I can do what I want with my life ... I'm not going to ever create some fantastic cure or solve world hunger, but I want to be able to make [the lives of] my family and friends as happy as possible."
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