[Nichlemn]

I'm wondering, what level of poker income would you be indifferent to taking over an alternative career?

In the short term, I think a considerably lower level of poker income could be acceptable to many. This is because of the utility gained from the fun aspect of poker, which unless you really love the alternative career, should be considerable.

But in the long term, I think unless you're making far more in poker than you could possibly see yourself in an alternative career, the alternative is the best bet. The reason is that poker will almost certainly be less profitable in the mid to distant future, and I think it's wishful thinking otherwise. Poker is a fad at the moment. It may take many years to decline by a noticeable extent, but I find it hard to believe that fish will keep playing at the same rate as regulars. It's not like a high stakes pro will suddenly become unprofitable, but it's likely they'll be much less profitable in the future.

Also, economic theory suggests that if poker really is as easy for most people to be able to make a great living as is claimed, more winning players will emerge until this is no longer the case. However (and we all hope this will usually be the case) hopefully the publicised lucrativeness of online poker will attract more fish, thus helping fuel more easy money stories. But as mentioned above, when the fish stop coming, there will be disproportionately sharks remaining - who will have to revert to cannibalism.