Anyone quit their job to play poker full time and now they think that

[RobDoral]

[ QUOTE ]
...it was a mistake?

Just curious...
From
most of the posts I've read anyone who has played poker for their sole source of income
"loves it" - "would never go back to their old job" - "things are great now" - etc.
(and I would expect that majority of 2+ 2 ers to be winners in the game...)

But, I would like to hear if anyone (hope the Zoo gets lots of traffic)
thinks it was a big mistake for them to "go pro" (even if they made a lot of money...).
Other reasons could be: they are simply "not happy" - to "not feeling productive" - "lack of fulfillment" - "not feel they are doing meaningful work/contributing anything to society" - etc.

My story: I still work full time...haven't yet quit my "office drone" job, but intend to within the next 3-6 months.

Ps. Now that I think about it, being a pencil-pusher/paper-shuffler/office drone
doesn't really "contribute anything to society," so full-timers, please forgive me if that
may have insulted you! lol

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm going to skip trying to incorporate the rest of the replies and just jump in. I have a full time job but I pretty consistently win more per hour playing poker than I make in salary (but it's fairly close). I actually like my job and adding in health insurance, retirement, other benefits and the fact that I'm guaranteed a series of raises by union contract means I probably make more at my job and I certainly will in the future (but that assumes I'd stay at my current limits instead of moving up where the money I might win could surpass my salary again) . But it's still work and it sucks to have to get up every morning, put on a tie, sit in traffic. Now unlike a lot of people I work the equivalent of 10 months a year so I'll have some full time poker time during those vacation periods if I want it.

My wife actually offered to let me give pro poker a try but I decided against it for a few reasons. 1) The benefits I get in addition to salary are pretty important and the older I get the more critical they'll be. 2) Having a consistent salary means I can plan to buy a home and do other things where borrowing money is necessary 3) Poker doesn't make the world a better place and in fact it probably makes it a little worse. Now this may true of many jobs, not mine, but I really don't want to explain to my daughter that I prey upon weak and stupid people so I can take their money away (I don't have a problem doing it recreationally).

My bottom line is if you don't enjoy what you're doing for a living you should probably do something else. If that means someone wants to be their own boss, quit their job, and play poker as a pro, cool. If poker is no longer fun when you need to win to pay the bills, getting some of that pressure off your back might be worth it. Right now poker accounts for about 1/4 of what I make a year and I'm ok with that. If by some snowball's chance in hell I win a major tourney, you better believe I'm going to quit my job, but I'm personally satisfied with playing poker recreationally and buying something nice for my wife or kid (or me) when I have a good run.