Quitting my crap job to grind 2/5+ live??

[SirFelixCat]

My $.02...

I'm also about to take my shot come Feb. 1, albeit in a different situation. I'm 32, but single (live-in gf though), no kids, no mortgage (yet). I will have 6 months living expenses as well as a $25-$30,000 BR on top of that.

I've been in my field (aviation) for 14 years now...started w/ USMC and have since moved on to general aviation and now, a government contract. Simple fact is, I'm burnt out. The money is decent (won't get rich, but more than enough), but the thing is, they could offer my triple what I make and it wouldn't change a thing. Not to mention I still wouldn't be making what I make playing poker.

I have WONDERFUL support from my gf as well as her parents, as they are also self-employed and fully support doing something that I love, not to mention that they have seen the results as well. I think happiness >>>>>> money, when it comes to your desired "profession" whether that be teacher, doctor, cop, or poker player. I just don't want to be 75 years old and look back on my life and regret NOT HAVING TAKEN MY SHOT...

So what if I fail (although I am determined to not let that happen)...I'd rather have taken that shot and failed than not have taken that shot at all. Regret is the ugliest thing in the world, imo. Much worse than failure.

I used to be like OP and hated playing online. I was a perpetual fish. But things changed a while back and I'm now beating 200NL and being coached as well. I still love playing live, but I really think the main reason OP doesn't like online is that it's a MUCH tougher game than live. Sure the human aspect is not there etc, but the amount of money that can be made, just from the sheer number of hands played (rakeback) is really missing value, imo.

I do think, though, that finding a good mix of live/online is key, though. Not only will it help stave off burnout, but it will allow you to mix both 6max and FR games in and allow you to play vs different skill levels.

Now, I'm not sure how OP is, but for me, poker is simply a passion. I don't care how ugly the downswing may be, and there have been a couple REALLY ugly ones, I'm still itching to play the next day (2 at most [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ). I do think that that fire, that burning desire to play and to improve is also quite vital to sustained success. If you don't have it, then, well, it just turns into yet another 9-5 type thing with no benefits.

The only reason I'm still at my job is I want to build myself a bigger security blanket before the switch. But still, it's a forgone conclusion. Also, moving to Vegas to make the availability of live play easier for me, for the above mentioned reasons.

Plus, all-in-all, if I fail, I have aviation to fall back on (14 years of experience) and know that I can ALWAYS get a well paying job, if I so desire. But the freedom/happiness is much more important to me than security.

GL OP and GL me!