Playing for a living (long)

[MegaBet]

Great great post Merrell Fan!

I'm a relative newcomer to doing this professionally, so I'm still in the "I'm loving having no boss" honeymoon right now. It's fantastic to hear about your experiences, ups and downs, just to get my head straight about the whole thing.

My biggest worry? I used to work for an investment bank and it's an area I could get back into tomorrow if I needed to. However, I'm concerned that in a few years time when the poker craze has died down, as most people have predicted, would the 5 years I took out (arbitrary figure) come back to haunt me? Can I write that from 2005-2010 I was a professional poker player, and still be able to get back into my old industry if/when I decide to settle down and be more "responsible", etc? I have a good bachelors degree and 7 years experience working in both London and New York.

Another benefit of doing this in the UK is not having to pay any taxes on my winnings and not having to have medical insurance. Would appreciate your thoughts, or the thoughts of others here.