PLEASE HELP ME MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.

I spent my entire poker bank to remodel my house 3 months ago (Idiot) So I borrowed $25,000.00 (home loan) so I could get a poker bank. Consolidated all my bills and guess what I have a $12,000 poker bank. Now what? I play $9/18 $10/20 in So Cal and over the last 1500 hours I was making $23.95 per hour. My monthly nut is $2000.00. My question is I want to take a 6 month leave of absence from work, but can I really depend on my poker skills to pay the bills or am I stetting my self up for a complete let down. I’ve played a lot of hours, but I always had my job to fall back on. When the job is gone and my kids are hungry, and my wife wants a new washing machine what do I do? Work or Play. PLEASE HELP ME MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION. Together we can all make a difference.

Just remember this famous quotation "You can live in your car but you can't drive your house."


Jimbo

Keep working--don't quit your job. You lose benefits. Plus, you will have to pay a lot for health insurance.

First thing to consider about your bankroll- With a monthly nut of 2000, your win rate just went down to $11.45 for calculating your necessary bankroll. That is excluding taxes, so your actual result will be worse. Assuming 160 hours per month, you have to win 12.50/hr to cover your nut. This is money unavailable to the bankroll. So go calculate a bankroll based on an $11 win rate with the same standard deviation. I'm no math whiz so you go do it. If you can't do it, you shouldn't go pro. I bet your bankroll requirement is much higher than you expected calculating it that way though. Also, since you have a job, and live in SoCal, why aren't you beating the 20-40 games? Pros can. Good pros in LA will bounce around playing 20-40 up to 80-160 depending on the game. Can you beat a soft 80-160? I don't mean to sound harsh, but you have a remodeled house, a wife, kids, a job, and only play 10-20. A lot of pros would envy what you have. Don't f*** it up. Tell the wife you'e keeping the job but are going to play more poker to get her a damn washing machine. How can you take care of a wife and kids in SoCal in 2000/ mo anyway? Now if your wife will keep you as a trust fund pro, please come back and give me lessons. That is my ultimate goal. I just have to convince her. "Her" being my wife, not

yours.;-)


Also, if it's just a leave of absence, your risk will be less. Just make sure you can get the job back.

1st glaring problem is that you have a nice debt out there. $12,000.


why not pay that off first along with your other bills. Consolidation is there for a reason. Once your debt free, THEN try it.


"When the job is gone and my kids are hungry, and my wife wants a new washing machine what do I do? Work or Play"


if your even asking this question, then you should keep your job. This question could very well affect your play during a bad run. You need enough to live on thru the bad runs. ESPECIALLY with others dependin on you. if you were single, hey, what the hell, go for it. but its a little different here.


some things to think about...


b

Wow just slap me in the face. So much for dreaming. I have to keep the job. Thanks for being so frank...I'll keep playing and playing.

If you were single, I'd say go for it. But, you have others to look out for. Playing poker professionally is, in my mind, a very selfish thing to do. Or, it needs to be selfish. Especially in the beginning. I am a pro - in the beginning (just passed 1 year), so I know.


I play 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. This is just in the casino. I also play 20 or so hours per week online. I read countless articles, books, and online posts. I post nearly every day questions about the game. I talk to other players every day about situations that come up. Basically, I spend a lot of time learning the game, and keeping my edge. This is not possible with a wife and kids. Better to keep an easy job, though it may not seem easy sometimes.


And the mood swings... well, I don't really want to get into that.


Besides, I don't really need another 9/18 pro to compete with.


soda

I spent a week stuck in Vegas last year after 9/11. I played 14 - 18 hours a day in the Bellagio and Mirage. After that week, watching these pros sitting there trying to chop up my money, I decided I would never play full time even if I could win enough to. Health insurance costs are staggering and rising all the time. Keep working and enjoying the game. When its a business, it's not as much fun. Good Luck.

First, $12,000 (600 big bets)is a big bank roll to play $10/$20 on a part time basis, unless you are experiencing larger than normal swings. I have been playing $10/$20 HE for several years with a $6,000 (300 big bets) bank roll and have never gone broke.


Second, unless you hate your job, or it is damaging your health in some way, why would you want to quit in the worst economy in the last 15 years? Focus on time managment instead -figure out a way to keep your job and still find time to play poker. There are thousands of players (me included) who do this all the time.


Third, it you are determined to play poker as a full time professional, at least give yourself a fighting chance. This means working to get in a position not to have to worry about living expenses for at least a year.


Roy West says, "play happy or don't play at all". How happy are you going to be if you are laying awake at night worrying about feeding your family?


Irish Mike