[jrbick]

I'm going to reply to this w/o reading the other replies, so forgive me if this interrupts some hijack-discussion [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

The full-time transition was a great one for me just because of the contrast of how life was before that. Before full-time, I was going to school full-time, working a full-time job, and playing poker on a part-time basis (~20-25k hands/mo.). So, life was busy and I didn’t sleep much at all. But, it helped us get by and set me up for the opportunity of playing full-time.

Past situations aside -

I've NEVER regretted quitting my job to play poker full time. In fact, I'm in the opposite situation right now: I'm going to quit poker full-time and go back to a real job for the sake of my family (meaning – parents et al) and I'm going to be sad about that transition. I am sad about it. "I love play pokah. Pokah so nice." My wife got pregnant shortly after I started full-time poker. So, in my family's (wife and unborn child who we found out 2 days ago is a B-O-Y!!!!) best interest, we're moving back home where both of our parents and siblings live. I’m pretty darned sure that they don't like the idea of me playing full-time. At. All. So, for their sake I won't. It's not worth it. Sure, it's a HUGE cut in hourly rate, blah blah blah. But one thing I think that is key when playing full-time is to not let poker absolutely take over your life as I think it might have for others, especially at the cost of other people. Just. Not. Worth it.

In a real job setting, you always tend to think that there is so much more to life than working the job that you are working. You want to plan vacations, experience the world, to take the time and smell the roses so to speak. And don’t you usually find the time to do that? After work, do you go home and think about work some more? For some, yes they do. I'm not going to criticize that because some people have some pretty cool jobs and love what they do. But those people usually still find the time to fall in line with the rest of us who say "Heck no, you don't go home and think about work some more." You flip on the tv, you have a drink, you watch a movie, you spend time with your family, you go out to eat, etc etc. So why let that change? Don’t let a bunch of juicy tables get in the way of that activity. It will probably ruin you (I’m just guessing that this has been the pitfall of others). Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE this game. I love to work. So, I got to 'play' for 'work.' How ideal! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] That’s probably another topic I’ll address more of at a later date. But seriously, I love playing poker. Every Sunday afternoon for quite a while my wife and I would get together with friends and play for fun. I bought a nice table and we all loved it. No money was ever involved, just friendly competition and good times. Surprisingly, this actually helped my game a ton (seeing/hearing real fish play/talk about the game). More important than that, though, it kept me grounded. It cultured an enjoyment/passion for what I do more and more.

You also asked about the idea of feeling productive, fulfilled, etc. Well, for me I’m probably different than a lot of others around here. I'm pretty determined to not let a job dictate my self-worth. I don’t want a job to make me feel fulfilled. I don’t want to be characterized by the work that I do (except for those traits that do show themselves via the work place – work ethic, attitude, etc). I believe (in the sense of 'faith' more than the sense of 'knowing' though both are involved) in God, who created the world, who sent His Son to redeem mankind from our condition so that we could be reconciled to God. So, yes, let the haters chime in now. But seriously, my life is not centered around work. It’s centered around a life with God. That means taking care of my family. That means taking care of people around me. It simply means that there are more important things than the work that I do. Work is important, but it’s not the sum of life. With poker, I have more freedom to do these kinds of things than I normally would have at a 9-5. So, why not take advantage of that freedom while I’ve got it? There was always time to fit 40 hours of playing into a week. That’s why going home and getting a new job isn’t really that big of a deal. I mean, yeah, I’ll play part-time if possible. Remember, I love to play this game and it was great supplemental income at one time, so no reason that it still can’t be. Even though it means less money it’s not going to ruin me. I'm still going to love my family and love the people around me. Let me be defined by those two things. Everything else is just details. I bring this up because it might be one of the defining factors as to how I’ve managed to play full-time and not become a corner-piece of the internet. I just view life in a different way that others might. I’m not saying at all that people who don’t have faith in God aren’t able to have the same attitude about life that I do. They certainly can and do. I've been reading their journals. I just figured I might as well be transparent about things.

EDIT: I just read the poster who talks about his full-time job and the benefits of his job (insurance, retirement, etc). I will say that that is ONE regret that I have - is not setting up a health insurance plan before quitting my job. Slight flaw in my preparation. So, now I'm stuck paying for my wife's doctor's bills out of pocket. Not utterly terrible, but not good either.