When to go pro?

[raptor517]

if the job is easily replaceable, by all means quit. however, 40 hours a week for even a month burns a lot of people out. be ready for it. i got burned out, but it took me a while. also, your numbers are quite low for the 11s and 22s, i would suggest working on your game quite a bit before quitting yer guaranteed income job. holla

Thanks for all the reply's and votes.
I have stoped playing MTT's and worked my BR up around 2gs. I have on regular occaions played for 8+ hours and yes its a grind, but no more than griding on the phones at work for 8 hours.
I am like the teenager who dosnt listen to the advice of his peers. Just about 45mins ago mangagment wanted to talk to me about my tardies. I tld them that I am done and I quit my job. Im sitting at home now unemployed.
I will stick to the 20's and look for another job at the same time. But hopefully I will not have to take another job. I will keep you updated on my Failure or Success if you want.
I will spend the day in preperation for tomorrow when I start full time at the SnG tables.

[RikaKazak]

First off I turned "pro/playing for a living" couple years ago back when NL 200 was the big dog on pp. I made the switch playing cash games (so now you know my background) but I think a few things I have to say will be relivant. First off it KILLS you mentally. When you play for a living your win rate drops, due to the extended hours you play, the love of the game goes down, and the fact there's so much more added pressure.
Online poker is going to start getting harder here in a few years once the boom dies down, so I strongly encourage you to think about the future, what is going to happen to you when all of the people that play 109's and 215's have no more fish and move to the 55's and 33's. (this is just my prediction, I may be wrong) I would say, keep your job, but play poker for a 2nd income if you like. Keep your options open. And once you're confident you're ready to make the switch, and don't need 2+2 for advice, then do it. If you have to ask, I don't think you're ready, only you will know.

As far as a stat perspective, your stats seem low to me.

Also, I just helped a guy out wiht the transfer to living off of online poker, and ummmm.... he was going to play 40 hours a week, LOLOLOL to that comment. People who actually do that know it last for a year at MOST then you die out. 40 hours a week is impossible to keep up to. Do the numbers at 20 hours a week.

[raptor517]

good luck. holla

[stanzee]

A few of you have mentioned burnout. As a lot of people find multitabling almost automatic, i'm guessing when you burnout, you start losing motivation and put in less hours, yes? or do you actually start making bad decisions and lose money? just interested...

From my point of view, i've never consistently put in 40+ hours per week, but when i do, i will make sure i'm a winning player in a variety of poker disciplines, so when i get bored of SNGs i can play ring games/short handed poker/and maybe even Omaha and 7 card stud.

[fnord_too]

Does your job have (good) benefits?

If not, quitting your job should be a pretty easy decision, whether you do it to play poker, go back to school, or just get another job. If it does have benefits (when I say benefits I really mean health care, and to a lesser extent 401k or retirement or profit sharing), then the decision is not quite as easy if you are leaving to play poker only. IMO there is no reason to stay in a job you hate for $12/hour. At the very least, you can get a better job.

[Degen]

burnt out as in, dreaming about flops and pushes and suckouts and then waking up feeling like you'd rather go clean up overflowing toilets than play a sit n go

[Nicholasp27]

well, if u had been getting 25% rb that entire time, then your roi would actually be 11.31% overall...but u missed out on over $500 in rb!

i assume u got rb 500 sngs into it and now have a 25% rb program

actually I have only had Rakeback on my last 387 sngs at the 20's. So my ROI would be a little higher had I had it for the full 2010.

[benfranklin]

[ QUOTE ]

I am like the teenager who dosnt listen to the advice of his peers. Just about 45mins ago mangagment wanted to talk to me about my tardies. I tld them that I am done and I quit my job. Im sitting at home now unemployed.

[/ QUOTE ]

If getting to work on time is a big problem, you most likely don't have the self-discipline to be self-employed.