[JavaNut]

Very nice Aaron.

I began playing about 2 and a half years ago, loading an account on PokerRoom with $100. Within 3 months this was gone (after being up to $200+). Added another $100 cleared the bonus and have not looked back since. I have withdrawn about $1.500, lost about $300 playing live, so I have a net withdrawal of about $1,000. I have a current roll of $800 spread over several sites. Plus I have got 5 2+2 books as bonus, sweet. A good portion of my winnings is bonus about $850.

Of course have I dreamt of playing professional, but I don't think I will ever be in a situation where it will be a real choice for me.

I was at one stage trying to build a larger bank roll, but now it is not that important to me, I am comfortable playing at levels suited to my roll. So I guess that when (or if) my roll gets above a certain level I will just cash out a bit of it.

So to put a point on it, my roll is only there to allow me to play poker (in principle without paying for it, other people pay me for playing) therefore I take care of my roll as I do not want to have to add money.

My current project is to improve my SNG play, trying to increase $60 by playing $1.20 SNGs. The aim is to be killing $5.50 SNGs, $109 SNGs is far out of my aim. At the same time clearing small bonuses here and there.

So all-in-all I agree with you all the way but I would like to add one little thing, and that is the initial investment. Unless you want to be a 'burn $50 once in a while' player you need to risk something in the region of $200 to have a solid initial roll even playing at very low limits, to prevent you from going broke while you adjust to playing real poker and to taking care of your roll. It will take time, you will tilt, you will leave tables too late etc. so you will need a big roll not to go busto before you learn how to handle both up and downswings. That initial investment is needed to be able to become a casual player. (You can of course sacrifice a small amount before trying to become a casual player to get a feel of if you are even close).