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

[MadeHand]

Some very good responses here so there isn't much to add really from me.

Bear in mind that you will have long losing runs in calendar terms playing live. Think of the extended losing sessions we all experience online running into thousands of hands and you may play only 1/10th of the number of hands live. That adds up to a long time live even at the softer 2/5 game. When I was in Vegas recently playing 10/20 NL I was down over maybe 25 hours of play due to cold decks etc. I met another pro who been out there for the whole 2 months of WSOP and was also down despite nearly reaching final tables and playing alot of soft cash games at the B. That kind of variance is something you must be prepared for, particularly as you will be paying living expenses all the time (no variance on not paying utility bills).

As for the human aspect, we all know that poker is made up of some decent people and a**holes. That said, when I think about it, I have met a good number of interesting, funny likeable people in my poker endeavours. If there is one good person you meet out of 30 then that's one more than you would have met if you hadn't played (unless you really are missing out on alot of potential friends by sacricifing you current job.) Heck I even met a gorgeous girl on my flight out of Vegas last time I was there, wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for (online) poker.