The 6785th "I'm going to play poker for a living" thread [LONG]

For the last year I have often thought, "If I had more time to devote to serious play and study of the game, I could easily play online poker for a living." Well, yesterday I quit my job. This was no starry-eyed poker scheme, my boss of 4 years questioned my integrity so I resigned.

Now I have all the time in the world, and I get to find out whether I was fooling myself, or if I have the intelligence, patience and discipline to be a professional poker player. It is a frightening and exhilarating feeling.

A little background. I consider myself an above-average player, like everyone else I suppose. I have been a consistent, if modest, winner playing Sit-n-Go tourneys and small no-limit cash games on Party. I have had a few large cashes in MTTs, and have done quite well in live cash games. I have taken poker somehat seriously, but not nearly as seriously as many of the posters on these forums. It was a hobby to me and I treated it as such. I own all the right books and understand most of the concepts in each, but I have never undertaken a serious, in-depth study of poker theory. My understanding has been wide but not deep.

Well, now I am actively trying to expand my knowlege of every facet of the game. I have been re-reading SSHE, and plan on attacking the small stakes tables soon. I will be re-reading TOP after that.

Above and beyond this, does anyone have any specific advice on where to start? What are the softest games? The softest times? Should I focus on small stakes hold-em until I build my bankroll or should I throw in some STTs? I am looking for any advice to help me squeeze every last dollar I can out of the game. Your responses are appreciated.

TMA