Discussion about poker for a living

[whittiphil]

Ok so here goes.

I started playing poker about 3 months ago, lost a couple of hundred, but then built my bankroll up to about $2.4k. I'm quite sure that with rakeback + bonuses I can make $16/hour quite easily just playing NL$25. In New Zealand dollars that is $22 per hour with no tax (no gambling tax in NZ). After tax most people my age get half that.

I have exams right now, they finish 29th October, then I have no job for summer. It would be stupid of me to not play poker right? Any job I get will be boring, won't pay as well, and I will have to work 5 days a week all summer. If I play poker, it will be somewhat boring (but more fun than data entry etc), will pay better, and I can choose when I work.

Is there a downside to playing poker this summer instead of working? I feel there must be one, but honestly, if I put some serious poker thinking + playing in, I could double that hourly rate by the end of summer, then I'd be [censored] sweet for the rest of next year at law school.

It seems some players develop a love/hate thing with poker after a while, anyone else end up like that after a lot of play?

If it matters, I live at home at the moment, planning to move out next year, and my parents are pretty cool with me playing poker, so it doesn't adversely affect my life that way - although if I'm playing close to 40 hours a week they might revise their opinion.

Thoughts?