[Soul Rebel]

lehighguy - I was in a similar situation for over a year and then quit about a month ago. I'm a little older, 24, and I spent a year and a half out of college as an analyst with a commercial bank. While this was obviously a lesser job than what you've got, what matters is that we both hate it. Mine was not nearly as intense as wall street, but I hated the culture (very sales-driven) and hated the work. My workweek wasn't nearly as bad, more like 40-50 hours a week, but I hated waking up in the morning and going to bed at night because I dreaded going to the office. By October of this year, I had already decided that I would be quitting this Dec (bonus time), when they told me that I was being relocated to a new office, and that I was expected to commute almost 2 hours each way, in South Florida traffic. I decided that was it and told them to shove it and quit (it's fun telling people at work that you can make more money playing poker, they never know what to say). That was Nov. 1. I was pretty sure that I could make at least as much money, if not more, playing cards until I found a new job.

Bankroll-wise, I only had a $3-$4k bankroll when I quit, after coming off a huge downswing at the 5/10 shorthanded. It sucked having to go pro with such a small roll and only a year's worth of taking poker seriously, but I had a month's worth of expenses saved, so I figured I had that long to build my roll up before I had to start living off of it. Obviously there was some risk there, so I lined up a buddy who would stake me if need be, dropped down a level to start off, and made sure I was always playing my best game. I can't remember what you said your bankroll is, but you're clearly a good enough player where you can get it back up to where you want it rather quickly. With no job tiring you out, I think its very feasible to start with a roll below what you'd like.

I've been amazed at how much better I've been playing and improving this month. I've spent it mainly learning NL, and that's going very well. The main thing with my improved win rate is that I'm not coming home from work and playing tired. I no longer want to get x number of hands in before bed, I play when I'm in the mood and I'm rested. That alone made a huge difference in my win rate. I wouldn't let the pokertracker numbers and the bankroll make this decision for you, have confidence in your game. Like you, I have no idea what my next job is going to be, quite possibly it will have nothing to do with finance, for the same reasons you talked about. But I'm enjoying the poker lifestyle enough that I'm going to take my time figuring out what the hell I want to do. I hope this helps, good luck bro.