Advice From Current Pros- Quit a $100K Job? (long)

[MarkL444]

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the game isn't nearly as fun when you feel that you have to put in a certain number of hours or play a certain number of hands per day

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[mmmmmbrother]

come to canada. i cound never imagine paying health insurance

[jba]

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come to canada. i cound never imagine paying health insurance

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a) you have to live in canada
b) you always get what you pay for

As a lawyer myself (big, big, big, DC firm), my take is that if you really are likely to make $25k-$35k per month then, given the other things you say in your post (especially regarding your ability to find another firm job if you want), this is a no-brainer.

[9cao]

Canada consistently has one of the highest standards of living in the world.

I work in Canadian health care and I can say that although it is not without its problems, it is still some of the best in the world and universal for EVERYONE.

Poker winnings are also tax-free in Canada.

I am surprised that more internet poker pros don't try and move here.

[sholvar]

The answer is not so difficult, as the most guys make it.

Poker can give you some things:
-money
-a good job that you love
-something like freedom

you earn good money I think. And you have something like freedom, too. If you dont hate your Job as the hell, you have really not only one reason, to play poker for a living. Dont touch a running system! Poker is a Job as most other Jobs, too. It is not the american dream and not the paradise.
Think it like a pokerplayer:
you risk:
-your job
-your familiy
-your luck of having a normal good life

you have the chance to win:
-a job
-your family
-luck of having a crazy good life

Your odds are not 50%. Fold this Idea! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[LImitPlayer]

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Poker winnings are also tax-free in Canada.

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Poker winnings are not tax free in Canada

[dogmeat]

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Another consideration is taxes. You can get away with not declaring any poker winnings now since you have a legitimate source of income. But you lose that, and you will have to deal with declaring poker winnings as taxes and all the headaches that comes with it.

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There are no "headaches that come with" declaring your poker earnings, unless you get a headache from paying the same taxes you would pay working for somebody else. I'm sorry I have to pay 15% in Social Security, but I also get all the write-offs for travel/expenses/car etc. It's a good trade-off.

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[PokerPaul]

If yo seriously think your gonna make 25-30k a month, then that will be over 300k for playing a game u love.

if that is indeed realistic, then it should be a no-brainer.

Howevr, that figure does sound a bit overly optimistic. maybe im wrong but i'm pretty sure that even many of the top pros you even hear about and see on TV dont come out ahead over 300k annually. Some do, but many do not.

Keep in mind that the limits you might have been playing to achieve those win rates might have been different, since you could play with an ez mind cuz you still always had your paycheque to fall back on.

Now if its your sole income, you might find yourself playing a little more scared at those limits, and you might be more comfortable going to a level or two lower, which could also reduce your expectations.

[jba]

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I work in Canadian health care and I can say that although it is not without its problems, it is still some of the best in the world and universal for EVERYONE.


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You misunderstand what I mean when I say "you get what you pay for". I am in no way qualified to judge whether or not canadian health care is better or worse than it is in the US -- though I have heard some things, they are all anecdotal.

My point is, if you live in canada you still pay for health insurance in the form of taxes -- it is not free. You get what you pay for. If you're a canadian lawyer earning 100k/year, you "pay" much, much more for health care than your US counterpart.


edit: and you have to live in canada