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

[revots33]

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BTW - right now I'm sitting outside my front-door soaking in the 70-degree temps on this gorgeous day...while getting my work in.

Somewhere else in this city are tens of thousands of people who are trapped inside some stuffy office environment just wishing they could ditch their job and enjoy the day.


If these people met me and knew how I made my income they would certainly not be saying, "That must really suck. I'm so glad I get to get up at 7am every day and come to my stuffy little office."


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MicroBob I think you just summed up nicely why so many people are in love with the idea of playing poker for a living.

I happen to like my job (and am probably not good enough to make a living at poker anyway). So I have no plans to go pro. But my real question to the pros, is how do you handle the inevitable big downswings? Surely a run of 20 OTM in SNGs, or a long losing streak in ring games, must be really hard psychologically when that is your only source of income. For myself, I know I've considered quitting the game after a horrendous run - and it's only extra spending money for me. If it was my only source of income I'd probably be running back to my old job as fast as I could.

Have any of the pros considered quitting during the depths of a monumental downswing?

[Pokerprowannabe]

Also, with as popular as NL holdem is getting, I can see more and more good players trying to get a piece of the action. Anybody who has read a few books IMO is much better than average. For example, I just started playing online last April and I "make" about $1000 a month from SNG's (ok, not that much for some, but I also have a full time job) and I don't feel I am THAT much better than the average player, I just try to play smart and pay attention.

Makes you wonder how many "fish" will be around in a couple years. My opinion of course.

[PartySNGer]

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The only thing I regret is that poker doesn't help improve the world all that much
That is the only thing.

I've never missed out on the other stuff. The benefits other posters mentioned more than outweigh the trade-off I've made.

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If you make a lot of money, just donate a lot to charity like Barry G. You'll still be making a much bigger contribution than 95% of the jobs out there.

[ilovebadbeats]

I never really considered I could be outside by the pool on my wireless 3 Grand laptop multi-
tabling in the sun! wow - I can't wait!

I honestly don't care if I never "get rich" playing. I would rather make only 20 Grand a year playing poker than making 65 Grand a year
working in an office, kissing the bosses butt, etc.
And with rakeback and bonuses,
I think it would be hard NOT to make a decent wage from playing 30-40 hours a week (average) throughout the year...

As some have been saying: "you have to have a passion for the game"
AND I agree with this.

If, for example, you hate poker and hate reading and studying about the game, but just
play it to pay your bills and have trouble "putting in the hours" or "motivating yourself to play", then
I think these are
warning signs that playing full-time may not be for you.

As for me:,
On my days off I actually can't wait to start playing right after I wake up!
The way I think now is: "so many games and so many tournaments (and so many FREErolls even that I get invited to but DON't have the time to play in!!!) to play,
YET so little time"
Even if
I quit my job and play 10 hours a day for 5-6 days a week I think I'd still want to play more and
not be
getting in enough of the action that is out there...I'd still feel I'd be missing some good "action" and tournaments
if I played 60 hours+ a week!!!
(maybe I'm in the minority thinking in this way...but I do love the game
and I would say that I would live to play the game and devote myself to becoming the best player I can possibly be when I quit my job).

OTOH I kinda feel though that I'd be "throwing away my degree" and work experience, etc. by
moving into this "new career," but I think, deep down inside,
I was made for this!

If I ever got "burndt out," etc., I'd just take off for a MONTH - 30 freaking days with no WORK at all, just fun!
and then
I'd be ready for more. I think the people that get all burndt out and want
to quit were never really that passionate about the game in the first place, but just played it
for some money/"to pay the bills"

And being ridiculously OVER-bankrolled helps you never go bust...I'm talking about having 5000 Big Bets for your limit that you play and
rarely "taking shots" at higher limits will ensure that you never go bust.
(not to mention rakeback + bonuses cushion your bad weeks/months)

In short, I kinda "feel trapped" in my current job...I am "feeling boxed in by it all" (anyone remember that commercial where
they say that and they show a guy in a giant box all touching the walls of the box, acting confused and half-heartedly attempting to get out of the box? anyone have a pic of this...should be good for a laugh!)
And
I feel
that it will be a hugely positive change for me and that if I manage all of my new-found free time well, that I should be
able to lead a fulfilling life and
to donate some of my winnings and do volunteer work and/or have a part time "real-job" doing something I believe in and helping people/helping
"make the world a better place!"

If I ever end up on the WPT and make some big MTT cashes, I can say right now that I will
be making large donations to organizations/charities I believe in and
"doing good" with the tons of cash I won. But I'll deal with that
"when I get there!" thanks for everyone's advice and the links!

[LozColbert]

I'd never want to do this as a career. As a short-term job, it's not terrible, but it gets old too.

[beeyjay]

I took a semester off school last spring to play more. I planned on going back to school - no ideas of quitting and doing this for more than a semester. What it really comes down to is I wasn't disciplined enough to go to class when each class was costing me so much money.

I made some money, I had a super relaxed lifestyle but to be quite honest it kinda sucked. Not only does sitting behind a computer day in day out by yourself become an incredible grind, but even when I wasn't playing it consumed my life. I was pretty good about playing x amount each day and getting the hours in. However, when I wasn't playing, I often felt like I should be, was reading/studying the game, or just plain thinking about it.

I don't want to make this sound like I lost all my friends broke up with my family type of thing, but it really did consume more of my life than I was necessarily comfortable with.

One factor that played into my understanding of all this is that I haven't had a "real job" in years, and maybe most importantly, I've never worked a "real 9-5 type job." With that looming over my head as I graduate in may, poker looks more and more appealing - at the very least as an addition to my income from a job I really enjoy but that might not pay the best.

Just my thoughts.

[gino195]

your personality type MUST be appropraite for that type of lifestyle- being able to work alone (very tough for some), self motivation, and a true passion for poker since moneymaking is not enough of an incentive imo (it might be for a selected few but very rare).
the contribution part to society is quite easy- if you're a doctor/nurse/firefighter please don't quit your dayjob(just being selfish), as a politician/telemarketer/spammer please do!
as for most of us who have/had regular jobs, we don't really contribute to society.
as a former option trader i'm basically doing the same thing with the exception i enjoy what i'm doing now [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] and when i screw people out of their $$$ they're to blame since all the info is in front of them not in the back offices and fine print of an agreement.
didn't care if i won/lost 100k a day at the firm now i give a damn about my decisions (and outcomes) and (unforunately) care alot over +-100$).

[grandgnu]

I went semi-pro late last year for three months, then Empire split with Party and the Omaha hi/lo tables I played dried up.

I returned to Party in late December and since then I've been fortunate enough to drop one of my 8-hour shifts at work (I was already only working 32 hours a week by my own choice, I could've had a management position but didn't want the stress)

I had an amazing January, more than quadrupling my bankroll. Then February just sucked, I'd be multi-tabling and instead of winning on most of my tables and losing on a few, I was losing on every one.

I'd make the nut full house and someone made quads two days in a row. I was burning out from the grind of multi-tabling the cash games.

So, I switched gears, and started playing some of the multi-table tournaments. I've had a 600% return on investment thus far, just bubbled from the final table in last nights 40K guaranteed Party NL Hold 'Em tournament, which had 2,103 players. I took 12th place.

When I was running bad, it was extremely disheartening, because I really needed poker to make up for that shift I had dropped (now only working for "the man" 24 hours a week)

Poker provides me with a much better hourly rate, but I'm not ready to quit my day job yet and it's just a semi-pro venture right now.

When we've paid off the credit card, car loan and my wifes student loan, and have 6 months living expenses saved up, then I would consider poker as a full-time venture.

FWIW, I view poker in the following manner:

80-85% to make money
15-20% for fun and to challenge myself

I'll tell you this much, it's sure a hell of a lot more enjoyable when you're winning. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

You must absolutely be able to handle bad beats, because you are likely going to be playing much better than your opponents, and there will be plenty of times they knock you out of a tournament with a dumb hand or where they scoop a monster pot that "should" have been yours.

I'm still working on my emotional stability, I've thrown some chairs around the house and punched things. I'd recommend investing in a punching bag, something that you can get the stress out on. Best of variance to you.

[Flintoff]

Ive been doing it for 3/4 months and there are times when I wonder if Im doing the right thing.

It gets so damn lonely sometimes.

Dont get me wrong - it has its good points. Lie ins whenever I want and the money is better (though Im not making THAT much more)

Im hoping things will improve though as the sun is starting to shine again here in the UK and I can get out golfing every day [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Telex0]

I'd never consider quitting a "real" job for poker, mostly due to the lack of a qualified resume long-term that I don't know if I'd be able to rely on or not.

Right now, if I decided to switch jobs, I have a current and very good resume that will get me a new job very quickly and easily.

If there's a 3-year gap in employment, and you say "I was playing online poker professionally", how is that going to look to a potential employer? Has anyone encountered difficulty in getting a job after a long-term poker career?

I'm not sure I'd be interested in hiring someone like that, who would most likely be "out of date" with regards to knowledge about the job, at the very least out of practice and although I'm not sure about other fields, I'd love to know the experiences of other people with regards to getting back into a job situation. I imagine some jobs are easier to get than others after a lengthy hiatus, but honestly most skilled professions aren't something you can take a break from and expect to just get back to work immediately with a huge gap in your experience, especially with something that might be unbelieveable to many people in place of your work experience. (mostly the same reasons that parents who quit their careers to raise children experience difficulty in getting the same quality employment when they decide to go back to work I think, but perhap a little more difficult to justify to an employer?)