I'm thinking of quitting my job

[mhlandry]

[ QUOTE ]
Recently, I started getting much better, read more (about 10 books) and in the past 4 months, I'm up about 14K. My winrate is now consistently about $40-$50/hour online. I'm pretty confident I can make at least $60K or more if I could do this fulltime.

...

Any ideas, advice/pitfalls?

[/ QUOTE ]

What games are you playing? And how many hands have you played in the last four months? Is this the game you're going to stick with? What if you decide you want to move up in limits but find the going rough because it's a different style of play?

My sneaking suspicion is that you don't have enough hands to determine how well you're really playing...

[montechristo]

don't do it. play poker part time. being a low limit grinder sucks.

Without advising you one way or the other:

One thing I can say is things change psychologically when poker becomes your only source of income. Bad beats probably won't roll off your back as easily as they did. I'm talking from personal experience as someone who jumped too soon. Bad beats used to roll off me like nothing. I had a perfect mentality, it's only money, and it's other people's money anyways.

When you hit your first long bad run, and you will hit one sooner or later, the bad beats sting hard. Not tilting becomes a lot harder when you need that money.

So if you do decide to do it, be prepared for that. Also, make sure you are definitely bankrolled properly.

Don't let anyone make this decision for you. If you KNOW you can do it and really believe in yourself, then you can. It's like that Nike commercial..."The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right." Just try to be as prepared as possible and don't rush into it.

Don't do it.

I think sometimes people don't realize that it is WORK that sucks, not their particular job. Making poker your job would be a doubly-bad move becuase it will take one of your favorite hobbies (which you probably like for as much as any other reason, becuase you are the boss, you play and stop when you want) and turn it into WORK.

Go to a career counselor, and brainstorm about career choices, and make a leap somewhere else maybe, but not poker. Keep it a hobby - thats why its awesome.

First off, I believe one of the major obstacles in playing professionally, even for the very small percentage of money successful players, is maintaining a quality life away from the table. Maybe you will be good enough to be a successful pro, but can you sustain a rewarding life and preserve your relationships with those you care about?

Secondly, your law degree is good currency for many career choices, so you might consider a job change that gives you more satisfaction.

Finally, I would avoid using your short term run at poker and job dissatisfaction to justify the jump to full time poker player. Give it some more time, like years. In the meantime, you can build your bankroll and your expertise.

From one who has played the game for over thirty years and played professionally for ten years.

Don't do it. If you think you are bored now just wait until you play poker for 40-50 hrs/wk for a few years. Get a different job. Anything else but don't do what you say you want to do.

[Python49]

play until you go on a -300 bb run (if ur a limit player) or until u've been stacked about 10 times... (variance), and then u'll realize that u dont want to depend on this game for a living.

[xtingshun]

Under what conditions is it good to take on this quest? Yea this guy spent 100k on a law degree, etc... I too agree he should stay in some form of law, part-time or something. Then again in the law field I think it's usually all or nothing.

14k isn't enough of a bankroll to begin the quest? I know you need living expenses, rent? utilities? say there is no car payment, uses public transportation. What would it take?

I got out of the Navy two years ago, and I've been going to school. A couple of the semesters I've dropped down to part time so I could play and focus on my game more. I play online, but I'm comfortable making 1500-2000 a month, around the 18k+ area.

My rent is fairly cheap $275(my half). I have no car payment, as I paid my car off shortly before leaving the Navy (it's a 97 Civic, good car) and my insurance is $65 a month. My cell bill is $50. No large bills, I live in a smaller city in New Mexico where it is inexpensive to live. I still very much enjoy poker and constantly find myself wanting to read more about it and discuss hands with friends.

I also enjoy taking trips to Albuquerque and playing live. Some tournaments ($45 buy in) and some 4/8 or 10/20 depending upon who is in the 10/20 game. I usually make some money playing live (anywhere from 100 to a recent run of 1700 in a couple days)

My point is, everyone says not to do it, etc...etc... But I think it depends on every person and what you want/need to do. After having spent 5 years in the Navy I needed a way to make money without having to listen to someone. If you want to jump on the edge and try it, do something. It's your life, and you only have one shot to have fun with it. Be responsible but don't be one of the sheep you see walking around hating everything they do and then 10 years wishing they would have done something different.

[Lucky]

You have no idea yet if you have what it takes. Also, you'll eventually be bored with poker the same way. Dont quit yet.

Your in an ideal situation.

My advice is to look at your legal career. How can you change that to seek high profit clients that require little of your time? As with most businesses, 20% of your clients make up 80% of your money. Find a way to optimize that condition and use poker as the cussioning that allows you to do that.

Think of poker as any other business. You need 6 months to 1 year in living costs saved up (not counting your bankroll).