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!

[Triumph36]

the problem with this plan, as i see it, is that OP will not be able to move up. that's just silly. 5/10 live or 10/20-10/25 are easy games too. if OP grinds some online even at 1/2, he could make some money to take some shots higher in live games. playing 2/5 live for a year just seems like a huge beat.

[PrimogenitoX]

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playing 2/5 live for a year just seems like a huge beat.

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[spino1i]

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Stupid question: Is a live 5/10 NL grinder considered a "red chip pro"? I mean 5/10 is also often played with all $5 dollar chips but I dont know if I would still consider them to be merely a "red chip pro" and only capable of making a marginal income? What do you guys think?

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aren't light-blue $10 chips standard now?

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where? Only place I can think of that has that color is the Wynn. That 5/10 game is horrible.

[haakee]

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where? Only place I can think of that has that color is the Wynn. That 5/10 game is horrible.

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Lucky Chances has blue $10 chips.

[spino1i]

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I've never seen a 5/10 no-limit game played with primarily red ($5) chips. I think spreading such a game would be legitimate reason for homicide.

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I can name like 7 games I know of that do this:

Lucky Derby 5/10
Mandalay Bay 5/10
Cache Creek 5/10
Petaluma 5/10
Commerce 5/10
Hawaiian Gardens 5/10
Hollywood Park 5/10

I even watched a capped buy-in 10/20 (buyin was 1000 minmax) play with 90% 5$ chips and 10% 20$ chips. It was the biggest # of chips I have ever seen on one table!

[spino1i]

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where? Only place I can think of that has that color is the Wynn. That 5/10 game is horrible.

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Lucky Chances has blue $10 chips.

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yeh but they dont have a 5/10

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Anytime I see someone about to quit their job to play cards, I don't think, I know it's a bad idea. If you only have 1000 hours experience you don't really understand a whole lot about gambling, especially gambling for a living. Play cards on the side, get a different job, but strongly reconsider not working just to play poker. It's a LOT harder than you think. The swings are a lot bigger than you think. The risk is a lot more than you think. Rethink.

[OnYourBike]

Going full-time is usually the only real way of finding out if you have what it takes. You sound like someone who took his shot and failed.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Actually I successfully played online for about 3 years. But doing so made me 1) hate playing online with a passion (I always liked live far better anyway), and 2) start to hate playing poker altogether. Since I had plenty of opportunity to do things other than play for all my money, I decided to just work instead of play, and go back to playing on the side like I always did anyway. And if anyone thinks playing for a living isn't work ...

Funny but dealing or supervising poker isn't anything like playing for a living, and it's hardly work at all most of the time.