Ok well tbh I really don't know where to post this so i'll post it here. I'm feeling a little burnt out from my job lately and have had a few ok cashes online I think i've decided to take a break from my job and play some poker.

I've made enough to pay my living expenses for 3 months and have a $4000 roll playing some 1/2 live where I currently work (2 hours drive to the nearest casino. Now this alone wouldn't be enough for me to decide to take a 3 month break from work but since i've talked with the boss (my gf lol we live together) she has said shes ok with using her money on extra things etc while I do this.

I figure worst case scenario I bust my roll on a huge downswing really quick and I need to find another job isn't really that big of a deal because there are tons of jobs where I live. I'm not looking to make it big time and become the next great thing, just a little break to have some fun and relax not worrying about working for someone else.

The casino where I work has a mix of 1/2NL and some Limit 10/20 DC with 2/5 with a max 1000 buy in on weekends. The 1/2 games are pretty donkish as im sure they are everywhere, the 10/20 limit DC is filled with regs and the 2/5 has a wide variety.

I guess my question here would be is there any advice? Should I just forget about the whole thing? If I don't I plan to pay myself an hourly what should that be to start? Should I stay away from the weekend 2/5 games, or maybe take some shots but not full $1000 buy ins right away. Or use the money that I pay myself to take shots if I want to. I also plan to stay away from the table games except with my pay.

if this was me i would work my bankroll up to what it take to play for a year bc if you think your going to make money in 3 month your just going to wasted you bankroll on bad players who are going to hit you everyday on the donkey table i would think this out all the way and play part time online and live games then take off for 3 to 8 month to play fulltime

Where do you live?

I think if it's a true break from work and you do plan on returning after 3 months, give it a shot. If you're going to try and play for a living, I suggest having a roll of at least 25 buyins plus a year of expenses set aside to give it a true shot.

That 2 hour drive is going to be a killer. Those hours on the road add up. if you are decent and the games are good, you could probably average between $20-$35/hr. but with that long drive, I expect you will play longer sessions and be prone to losing focus or getting tired. Good Luck though.

no the long drives is what I have to put up with now, I deal at the casino in my City I can't play here obv. The nearest casino other then this one that I can play at is 2 hours drive away. the games ARE juicy, I just salivate at the mouth when I deal them. FWIW I used to actually live 2 hours south of here and would drive 2 hours to play at the place I work now. In about 10 trips in the year prior to me working here I made about $8,000. I moved here to help my sister through college because rent can be killer for college students, got a job at the casino so I never continued playing. Obviously I know that I had to run super good in that time and 8k in 10 sessions isn't sustainable at 1/2 but yes the games are really soft.

I live in Saskatchewan Canada, jobs here are pretty easy to come by, big blue collar area, lots of Oil Fields, which makes the games softer imo, lots of riggers with too much money.

This cannot end well...

What is "Limit 10/20 DC"?

Dealers Choice - Hold em, Omaha Hi/lo, Omaha High and its a kill game.

1. You don't need to pay yourself an hourly since you've got your life roll to live off of.

2. Your bankroll is small but fine if you can return to a job if you go busto. It was a little unclear whether you're taking a formal leave of absence from work or quitting and hoping to get rehired later. At any rate, so long as you have confidence in finding a job before your life roll runs out, you're fine.

3. You should probably start off by shellacking whatever games you can shellack. If that means 1/2, do that for the time being. You can take shots at higher games by parlaying big wins at 1/2 - if you double your buy-in, take a shot at 2/5, and then drop back down if you lose half.

4. Stay away from table games altogether. Treat poker like work. Plus, table games are EV- if you haven't figured it out. Bring a book or something to read if you need a break.

5. Enjoy yourself. Not many people get to do this, so basically make the most of it.

Wow that sounds like a lot of fun!

2 hours drive each way will kill you ... especially at 6 am every morning driving back.

Also playing poker will change your mentality about working all together i think you'll find it quite hard to go back to working after.

IMO, take 1 month off as holiday or drop to part time for a few months.

If you are serious about making poker a full time career then you would want at least 6 months of living expenses already paid for, at a minimum. 12 months would be much better. However if you are able to just return to your job after 3 months, and are relatively happy to do so then your plain is fine.

Also, are you planning on playing online at all? If not that 2 hour drive each way is really going to kill you. I would recommend playing online during the week and then playing live at the weekends+Friday. However if you are a live only player then i suppose you have little choice.

Either way, best of luck!

Ya man if you're going to try poker for a living and you live 2 hr from a casino then it's time to play online. Just try and beat 50NL at first and move up to 100NL when you get into the groove of things.

4k fine if you need more than that for live 1/2 you shouldn't be playing.

I also think the 2 hour drive will kill you, i used to put in long sessions and i remember a 1 hour train journey being murder when im tired

If you can get another job easily. Go for it. You might go broke, you might break even, or you may not may not be looking for another job for awhile...

Either way, enjoy your time off. Don't spend all of it playing poker. Have some fun.

Was employed by GF...

Now is going to play poker for a living two hours away...

Yup. Agreed.

im not employed by gf.... shes the boss, not my boss, never heard someone call their woman the boss before?

There seems to be a big misunderstanding about me driving 2 hours. Im not going to have to drive 2 hours. I have to drive 2 hour now because I work at the casino thats 3 mins walking distance from me now. I work there I can't play there. If I leave my job then I can play there so there will not be a 2 hour drive, more like 2 blocks walk.

Well then if you have a job to fall back on, go for it, make sure you constantly analyse your play and work on reading physical tells and assessing opponents ranges in common spots. Don't underestimate the value of stealing dead money from limped pots

Actually it can. This isn't the usual "I hate school, I have $3000, I'm moving to Vegas" silliness. This is a guy with an alternate source of income to help support him (his GF), a small track record (not nearly enough), no plans to move to play, 3 months of living expenses plus a small bankroll, and a promised backout plan (easy to get a new job).

It probably won't go the way he hopes, and the risk of ruin trying to do this on a $4K bankroll is high if he starts trying to do $500 2/5 buys. But what are the consequences? He gets a new job he likes better than his old one and he's a few $K poorer.

"I also plan to stay away from the table games except with my pay."

Just Say No. -EV games are the downfall of a huge fraction of wannabe professional poker players. Besides... what "pay"? You won't have a job so you won't have any "pay". Anything you win playing MUST be put back into the poker bankroll--if you try to keep playing $500 buyins with a $4000 bankroll, you WILL go bust eventually. To make this work long term you have to grow that bankroll rapidly at the outset and hope the variance monsters don't jump out from under the bed and eat your bankroll in the first two weeks. Control your spending, *STOP* all table game play completely, and save every possible dollar.

I would do it differently. But then, I'm fiscally conservative.

I wouldn't try to do this with $4K in the roll and 3mo rent in the bank. Drive a couple hours a couple times and play at the distant casino before you quit. If you can snag $800 every session you'll have a real bankroll in a few weekends. Start now controlling your spending and saving every dollar.

If you really hate your current job, get a new one first. Play poker on weekends. I just don't understand this apparent need to dive head first into unemployment before you try to transform yourself into a pro poker wiz.

But if that's what will float your boat, and you're sure you won't be left without a home in the Saskatchewan winter, give it a whirl.

Obviously written by someone who hasn't lost 8 of the last 9 all-in's for >50BB they've been in, each time being somewhere between a 12:1 and 53:47 favorite as the money was committed. Variance happens.

I can assure the OP that the 2 hour drive will appear like hell after a while. I tried it for 2 months every weekend and eventually hated it. I combined it with a FT job, drove down on Friday, played late, slept, and played Saturday to 2 am and drove home.

The two hour drive is going to get very old, trust me on this. Back and forth every day, no way that's gonna work out. Better consider getting a cheap apartment, month-to-month or something.

Very cool that you work for your girlfriend (kind of strange though), but it helps ensure that you can get hired back easily if things go wrong.

I envy you OP.
Good luck

Go for it. You sound like a young guy with minimal responsibilities (no kids/mortgage). Take the 4K stick to 1/2 and see how it goes for the next few months and reevaluate and see where your bankroll is. Assuming you play 40 hours a week for 3 months that will give you about 480 hours of play. If you can make $15 per hr (which would be what a decent 1/2 player should be able to make after rake/tips/expenses), you will add $7200 to your bankroll and have $11,200. At that point you can make a decision as to if you really want to give it a shot...although keep in mind you will have to start taking out living expenses as your 3-months living expenses is gone (but you have at least built up your BR to $11,200. 11K is enough for 2/5 with $500 max...not sure you should play 2/5 $1000 max with 11K.

If you can make more than $15 an hr great you will have a bigger BR.

My statements above about going for it assume no kids, mortgage (or other real responsibilites) and that you are young and dont need a lot of money at this point.

Most important the GF sounds like a keeper.

Wrost case scenario is you go bust and you go back to work. 4K in the overall game of life is irrelevent.