my thoughts on turning pro

[doubleas]

I went into my son’s room this morning to wake him up and as I was doing so, asked him how he slept and if he had any good dreams. He said that he dreamt that I didn’t have to go to work anymore and that we could do whatever we wanted to do after he got home from school every day. Wow! What a dream! I told him that it would be nice if that could occur. He even impressed me by stating how we’d have to have enough money to pay for the house if I didn’t work. That’s my son!

You know, I could make my son's dream come true if I became a professional poker player. It was pretty scary how quickly I daydreamed about said circumstance on my drive into work today. I was daydreaming about how I might start work around 11:00PM (EST) and finish up around 7:00AM (that is when the most people are on and probably when the drunkards/tired and tilted players play) in time to wake up the family, say hello and then head to bed. I’d sleep while the kids were at school. I’d wake up around 3:00 and spend the rest of the day/evening with my family having a good ole time until I headed into my office to work. What a life! This aspect is definitely a reason to go poker pro.

My current occupation is one where I get respect, team dynamics, and am able to see the fruits of our labor in an end product delivered to our government for use to protect our country. My new occupation would be alleviating gamblers from the entertainment budget. I’d be providing a service to the general public. I’d give them plenty of opportunities to put a lot of money in a pot where they’re drawing without odds and allow them the possibility to double their money. Hmmm…this aspect doesn’t really seem too appealing for my soul, but then again, I am spending a lot more time with my family. This aspect is a reason to stay where I’m at.

I’d be sleeping during the middle of the day in my new occupation missing out on those beautiful days that everyone seems to find a way to be outside. Oh wait. I currently spend most of my waking hours sitting in an office anyway. Push

As for finances, I currently make a very nice living and can afford to pay for a nice house and we never have to worry about paying the bills every month or whether we can go out to dinner tomorrow night. It is a monetarily worry-free life. Playing poker, I’ve proven that I can make about $20/table hour consistently over the last 6 months. I often two-table my sessions. We must deduct the time taken for choosing which table to sit at since that does take up quite a bit of my time as I’m pretty selective. OK, let us just pick $35/hour playing poker. If I worked a normal work schedule, I’d make about $70K/year. Now let us include the benefits that I now have to pay for myself like health, dental, etc., weeks of aces losing, the one time I take a shot at Spirit Rock in the big game and lose a $10,000 pot on a 2-outer, the cost of a new monitor after I put my fist through it, the cost of a new closet door after I put my foot through it, the cost of a new car after I drive into a wall, the doctor’s bills after I get therapy and the cost of the new lock put on the office door because my wife doesn’t want me to come out until I calm down after each session We seem to be leaning away from turning pro don’t we?

Hmm…but the time spent with family seems so appealing. There has to be more advantage to being a poker pro right? I can’t think of any. Until I can continually beat the $5/10 NL game for $1K/night, I don’t think I can turn pro. By then, one night will pay for both a new monitor and a new closet door. It may take a couple weeks to pay for the therapy though.