You Can't Go Pro Without Already Being a Pro

[Arnfinn Madsen]

I think the essence is, lehighguy; that it is difficult for anyone who would like to respond constructively (like me [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]) to know how you will do if you go pro. I love it, not for the money (I made more in the job I quited), but for the enormous freedom. It am 30 years old and being allowed to once again live like a student, is great.

Poker is going good and motivation is there, but will it be for you? Almost impossible to answer. I think it is easy to make good money from being a poker pro if you have the right personality/talent and hard if you haven't. You are the one who has the most information about yourself, so bottomline it will in the end be you doing the decision. How good you are in poker now, isn't really very important (if you don't have low funds) since you will have plenty of time to study the game when you have gone pro.


All this existensialist questions/searching show however that you have to change some things in your life, you don't seem happy/satisfied.

[MicroBob]

I had way less than 500k when I went 'full-time'.

but my situation was significantly different in many ways.


- my job at the time (blackjack dealer) paid very little. and i could always get it back very quickly if I wanted/needed to.
- i was able to cut down on my hours at work when I was running decently, and dedicate more hours to poker.


For me going 'full-time' was more like 'taking-a-shot' because I thought the chances of having to return to my job within 3-4 months were extremely high and I was comfortable with that.
I had a pretty short bankroll and limited experience at poker.


To my mind...I didn't necessarily need 500k hands to prove that I was 'getting it' and was a 'proven winner'.
I didn't think I was that good when I tried it...but i believed I was smart enough to learn the game and get better WHILE i was doing it.
This is a pretty contraversial way of going about it though and wouldn't be responsible for many people's situations.



But if you are determined to try to do this then you are either going to have to put in the hands, or just take the plunge (because I suspect there isn't any kind of option where you go part-time at work and cut back on your hours to just 30-35 per week or something like that).

Having some sort of back-up plan would help your confidence of course.

But you are correct that there's no way you are going to be able to play 500k hands to 'prove' that you are lifetime winner while continuing to work 50-60 hours at your job.
I suspect that 15k or more hands per month might be a stretch.


Seriously....there's no way you could take a 3 month 'leave'?
there's no way you could get this job (or semi-similar) back if things go badly in poker?

my suspicion is that if you are good at something then you are good at it and there will be a place for you SOMEWHERE if the need comes.

you have made it sound like leaving your job practically makes you completely incapable of being hired for the rest of your life. And I simply do not believe that this can be true.
You might be better off in a different job anyway, even if it is less money. Working fewer hours, in a job that you enjoy a bit more would probably be best for you.


I suggest more seriously considering your other career options for if/when poker doesn't work out and then just leave your current job that you ahte so much.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

i went pro with like a 1500$ bankroll lol

[Voltron87]

your parents have worked hard so you could get an education and be an intelligent person who could make their own decisions, not so you would do exactly what they want. now you are starting to use this to make your own decisions, you are an independent induvidual with options and choices and can make them yourself. they should be happy.

[PokerBob]

there are many other things (beyond the 3 mentioned here) to consider before one decides to give going pro a shot.

[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.

it is possible that you give poker a try and make your parents proud by doing what you love(if you are very successful at it). If poker didn't work out as you had expected, then sure your parents will be like I told you so and then you can say, yes dad, you did......and then get a job again. no love lost.

[NorthernGuy]

If you want to quit your job and play poker, then do it. Remember to first pay back your parents for all the money they paid for you to go to school, since you are going to waste the degree they paid for.

[SmackinYaUp]

Soul - I don't think you made a retarded decision going back to law school. It's only another year of school, its not like you're in prison rotting away doing nothing. Plus, even if you don't become a lawyer you have the knowledge and experience that not many people can say they have. You still have an extra degree, and later on in life, it might come in quite handy.

i sent you a PM