[adios]

I've read most of the responses in this thread but not all so maybe someone has already stated this. My take is that if you were making more money and the hours weren't as long your job would be somewhat more tolerable at least. Why not hit your employers up for more money and less hours? If they blow you off find something else perhaps on Wall Street or somewhere else. If you get stonewalled by your employer then I think it offers a perfectly legitimate reason to seek employment elsewhere not that you needed one since IMO if someone offers something that's more desirable to you you're not obligated to stay. From my experience, company policies are not as rigid as employers make them appear to be. They'll bend if they value you and don't want to lose you. As far as poker is concerned, I think you probably want a bigger roll but if you're good enough and your nut is low you can make it on what you've got now. Personally I believe that you one should play many games well but NL hold'em does present some excellent opportunities so I couldn't fault one for pursuing that game. Limit hold'em is good too but the games have gotten tougher over the years IMO. I definitely wouldn't leave out Omaha, Omaha/8, Stud and Stud/8 if you're really thinking about making your living playing poker FWIW. I also wanted to comment on your being responsible, nothing wrong with that and IMO you're probably not missing a whole lot by being "irresponsible." So to sum it all up, IMO the advice to suck it up is ok but you don't have to bend over for your current employer either. To pursue poker, I think you probably need a bigger roll and perhaps need to be a little more well rounded in what you play. I realize plenty of posters on these forums make money by being specialists more or less but FWIW I don't think that's the easiest way.