I got laid off from my job back in February so I've playing professionally since then. I was receiving unemployment and severance until July so now I'm on my own. I have around 70k on poker sites, and another 20k or so in the bank to pay off bills. My plan so far has been to cash out 3k a week no matter wins or losses. I play plo and nl up to 5 10 but Mainly 2 5 and I prefer hu.
My monthly nut is high , I created a budget, my mortgage and tax is around 1800, have other general expenses like food, car insurance, utilties, I also have budgeted 600 a month for dates, 600 a month for travel, 500 a month for random things, so with this Monthly nut is around 5k a month, but I also took out a personal loan which I owe 26k on at 8% interest for 7 yrs at 450 a month, and another with 14k balance which I owe 2% on for 2 more years which is 630 a month These 2 loans add about 1.1k a month to my monthly nut so the total is around 6k
I've been thinking about paying these 2 loans off or at least the higher interest one to reduce my monthly nut. Would this be a smart thing or am I better off holding on to the 26k or 40k for now to build my career and give my self more time? I took the loans out to Jumpstart my career which I was able to do. Also I withdrew my 401k for about 75k so I will owe penalties and tax on this in April, and I have to pay tax on 18k of unemployment.

Whats my best bet to ensure a successful career? I am definitely a winning player vs recreational players who are my targets, I dont like to risk to much playing regs hu given my lack of a huge bankroll. Any advice would be appreciated.

My advice has nothing to do with poker or poker skill.

If you go through a bad swing your going bankrupt. Hell, you can be a winning player for 12 months straight and be in financial trouble. 3k per month in winnings and your cash balance shrinks 3k each month. Get at least a part time job and you can still play poker 30-40 hrs a week. 6k per month nut is quite a bit to be playing 2-5, especially HU where rake can seriously cut into your earnings.

I don't think it would be that crazy for variance to cause you to lose 10-20k in a couple months. Then you have 12k over the same 2 months in expenses. That can cut into your cash level big time. 401k early withdrawal fees are huge also.

The question about paying off your loans comes down to what you expect to make because of the loan balance, so if having the extra 26k will let you make an extra 26k*8% ~2k per year then keep it. But if you don't need that to play comfortably then pay it off. 8% is pretty huge. Your on pace to pay about 38k over 7 years for your 26k balance.

I would just hang on to the 2% loan. Thats a pretty low rate.

I would just get a part time job, play as much poker as you can, get the 8% loan paid off, pay yourself back your retirement money and then reevaluate.

I don't think you'd be GII good if you go full time 2-5 HU right now.

Sorry for being kinda harsh, but like I said it has nothing to do with how good or bad you are. You just have a lot of expenses right now that aren't going away any time soon.

Hope this helps in some way.

Thanks for the advice you gave that really helped. Do you play for a living also? How did you come up, and what games do you normally play?

Whats your opinion on game selection and rejection in this whole scenario? I've noticed that there are a lot of bad players playing PLO so I've tried to get into this, but I need to work on it a little more to really increase edge. I avoid regulars HU, and try to target bad players HU to reduce variance. At what level of bankroll would you suggest I need to be to be safe. Any advice on how to build up. THanks

I don't play for a living. I was just an Economics and Finance double major at a good school and graduated with 3.95. Sorry I can't help more with specifics.

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...but I think the riskiness of you playing for a living right now stems mostly from such high monthly expenses. If your expenses were cut by 50-60% and you had that much cash I think you could do it now. I just think your expenses will catch up to you if you go through a rough stretch

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No career. Too much money, too small tables, too much questions. Buy a camera and go take photographs for newspaper.

Ok, so I just reduced dating costs to 200 a month, I'm going to start making my girlfriends pay more or stay in and cook, and I paid off the 8% loan, and going to pay off the other 2% since the balance is 14k, plus going to stop buying stuff, so now I see my nut can be around 3500 realistically plus taxes. Does this seem more reasonable to succeed as a pro. I will be playing with a 30K roll and going to drop to 1 2 and focus on grinding with only an occasional 2/4 to play against big droolers if they come around.

Any advice on how to be really stay disciplined and make this work. Also how can I reduce taxes as a pro?

I think it will be tough but I think you can give it a shot for a few months and see if it is working out. You can always go get a day job if you need one. At $3500 a month you aren't doomed if you go through a bad stretch.

You said you have essentially been playing professionally since February. How has it been going since then? Based on your performance in that time period is it reasonable for you to make $4,000 a month on average?

Its interesting, Ive been a little pessimistic about things, but looking at the data I've made 28K since Feb 1st for an average of about 3400 a month, but I've really played around a lot of the time, and taken a lot of time off, plus I've made a lot of mistakes playing in games I dont belong in along the way, so I think its a matter of improving my discipline and having a strong gameplan to succeed along with improving my actual game. My hourly is 52 an hour so far during this time, but I definitely can improve on that, so I need to put in more hours and more study time. Any advice on how to improve discipline and any advice on a good gameplan as far as structure. Thanks