[2ndGoat]

I really couldn't figure what category to post this in, moderators feel free to move it! Post is a bit long, but I'd really apreciate honest advice from anyone willing to read through it...

A few weeks ago I turned 21, and to celebrate, my parents took me to Altantic City (my first *legal* session there) where I met a couple friends from New Jersey, and promptly ditched them all to play some 10/20 hold'em.

Up and down (and way up in the end), but the moral of the story is, I had a hell of a lot better time playing in the Borgota (those waitresses! damn!) than I do in a cube at my current job.

Now, I've just recently graduated college with a genuine degree (B.S. computer science), and I have what is by all standards a pretty good IT job. But 2 months in, I'm already feeling pretty listless at the thought of staying in corporate america for another 2/10/40 years.

On the other hand, I propped online this summer quite successfully, but after playing 25 hours a week for 4 months, I got tired of that too... a bad run lasted long enough to sap my will to play, and it coincided with the start of the 40 hr/wk job.

So it would appear *neither* occupation is really that great a fit for me, but playing live, I felt much more attentive and interested in the game 6 hours into a session than I ever did 90 minutes into an online session. So perhaps I'd enjoy that for longer than the online stint. On the other hand, the end of that last session was an absurdly good run (65 big bets in 5 hours), somewhat coloring my experiences, but I've had other live sessions with different results but a similar mental state.

Now my first question to all of you: In this day and age, where would you go pro? I've only ever been to Atlantic City, and would be sort of biased to set up shop there since I've got all my friends and family on the east coast, but I might also entertain a fresh start elsewhere...broke up with a girlfriend of 5 years a month or two ago, and a lot of my friends have turned into jerks. So vegas, california, or just traveling cross the country like a nomad from oval table to oval table are thoughts too.

Second... what regrets do you pros out there have about the time you've spent in poker? Has it been a lonely profession or have you made good friends as a result? Did you find yourself able to tackle problems like saving for retirement, health care, withholding some taxes from yourself, and getting financing for a house or car? If I did go pro, it would probably only be for a couple years, mitigating a lot of these types of issues, but who knows.

A month ago I started joking to myself about going pro, 2 weeks ago I started entertaining it, and now I'm staring to take the idea just a little bit seriously. Either way I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do it for another 4-5 months, to give my IT job enough of a chance and get a very safe bankroll saved up to start out with, but I'd sure appreciate some advice right now.

Sincerely,
2ndGoat