[Nomad84]

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With your small sample of playing and win rate
you are excited by the prospect of the card life.

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More precisely, I am excited by the thought of taking some time off to enjoy myself, while making a little bit of money at the same time.

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I have done it. It was not exciting. You do not
have the tools yet to decide whether you are
BOTH a winning player and truly can handle
the pressure of HAVING to making a profit.
Yes, some days you will lose...and some weeks
AND some months!

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I agree that I don't yet have a large enough amount of experience to say for sure that I can beat my current limit long-term. However, I do know that I can beat the lower limits. I addition, I won't have the pressure of having to make a profit. I have enough savings that I just don't "need" the income. I don't expect it to be too much different from my current situation in that regard. Right now, I'm a student with no job, who happens to play poker. I am living off of my savings, primarily, but I am also making more than I am spending each month. If I don't, it isn't a problem. If I do, great. I expect to have a year's worth of living expenses when I graduate, which should result in relatively low financial pressures. If I have to move down in limits, it won't be a problem. As painful as it would be, I could make enough money to get by just by 4-tabling the .5/1, although obviously I don't want to do that. Also, as far as poker being "exciting," I don't expect it to be a lot of fun to put in hundreds of thousands of hands, but I expect it to be better than the alternative, at least for a while. Keep in mind that I really am only interested in doing this for a year or so. I also think it would be worth it for the freedom it would provide for vacations, etc.

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The effort you would put into becoming a great
player could honestly translate into a fantastic
job with a better lifestyle. Rewards come to those
who work hard - no matter what field you are in.

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I understand this, and I know that I will most likely make more money as an engineer, but I expect to work as an engineer anyway eventually. I am really just interested in taking a break to get a better idea of what I really want to do. I still think I would like to go to grad school, but I think I may have waited too late to start in the fall, since I haven't taken the GRE or submitted any apps. I'm not even sure exactly what I'd like to study if/when I do go to grad school.

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You must ask yourself: What do I love the most?

Best of luck

-ZEN

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Thanks for the advice and kind words.