I'm going to get flamed: Day Job vs. Poker...

[Moose]

As far as I'm concerned, poker is a fantastic second source of income but a rather horrible primary source of income. That doesn't mean it CAN'T be a source of primary income. It just means that, in terms of respecting the laws of diminishing returns, you have to overcome a HUGE spike to "make it" with your poker winnings.

One thing which I haven't seen mentioned in this thread but should be discussed is that, just as you can have poker as a secondary income to a primary job, there is nothing to stop you from having a little job on the side to help you with the poker. Something you might do when the poker games are especially tight and you wouldn't really want to play in them as much anyways.

And if you're worried about the resume gap, start your own business in something that you like. If you say you took 6 years off to play poker, you may be sunk before you start. If you say you took 6 years off work (true) and started your own business (also true) and wanted to get a day job back because you couldn't make it work (exceedingly true)... well, I wouldn't call that "telling the truth", but I'd call that "not telling a lie", which is all you need for a job interview at any rate.

And this cannot be stressed enough -- sock away a few ruples for expenses. If you have six months of living expenses saved up, not only does this reduce pressure, this will give you a chance to see if things are starting to fall apart with more notice than waking up one morning and noticing your are broke. That is, if you see your 6 month expenses dwindle to 4 months, then to two months, etc., then you know that you aren't makin' the bacon fast enough.

If nothing else, make sure that you will still find value in failure. If you can honestly see yourself saying "you know what? It was a great experience, and the worst that happened in my life is that I lost $50k in savings", then by all means, at least give it a shot.