[zorrb]

It's briefly mentioned in the article but I don't think ya'll realize Haseeb is a (in)famous ex-poker player. He made high quality training videos, and did very, very well in poker. He was also at one time Daniel Cates's (junglemans) roommate (and life coach? lol) who is probably one of the strongest poker players in the world.

All these other things were for sure the real factors into the negotiation/hiring. The bootcamp meant almost nothing (besides the 6m+ experience showing he could train people to code like he's proven he could train people in poker).

[whack]

Genuinely curious: Don't famous/extremely-good poker players make a ton of money playing the game? How does 200k/year compare to the kind of money this guy could have made if he remained in Poker?

[vibrato]

having an expected value over 200k/year playing poker would probably place someone in the top 50 players, worldwide, in my estimation. I would say it's a lot easier job to be a software engineer than keep up with the discipline required to maintain such an edge. 10 years ago it was a totally different story, there was a LOT more easy money around. The level of play has advanced quickly and the boom has been over for years.

[zorrb]

You'd have to move outside of the US to play online. Playing in person is very slow and a terrible lifestyle doing it professionally.

[fefifofu]

I forget the story behind Hasseb, but wasn't he considered a scammer or dishonest? Is that what you mean by "(in)famous"? A quick google search reminded me that Cardrunners drop him.

Anyway, everyone gets a fresh start. However, he'll have to be proficient at shipping code (instead of chips) and be productive if he's to keep his job/compensation level.

[joezydeco]

Don't worry. He'll be in management before his first product ships.