I'm 31 1/2, two kids, married, so I may fit the profile for "late 30's, early 40's"
I have had fair/moderate success as a pro, I have had 12 to 13 years of consistent winnings(2 years were not by a lot but my game improved a lot). Overall, I have done alright and HODLed some. With that said, it can skew my current perception, as in my poker career may not be as bright as it seems in the present because past performance has me perhaps, more comfortable than I should be(person dependent).
Anyway, I think poker would easily go best with a more primary job or income stream. It is all user dependent but in short, I think challenging yourself in another career path and playing poker on the side, when you want to, is a better choice, especially if you intend to get married and have a family.We'll see if that ever happens though
.
If I retained my poker knowledge as is, information of the games as is, and outlook of the games as is, but you take away all of my past poker winnings, I would probably rank poker behind a long list of other jobs going forward. It's so hard to say though because I can only speak on my behalf, in which case, if I am advising against it as a seasoned vet (undefeated like a veteran army) it probably ranks about where I said, above.
Of all my years in poker, I would have to say this year is the year I put in the least amount of hours, or so it feels.
Perhaps the craziest thing about poker, when compared to many other games(I guess more so physical games) is that at least I would argue, you can get better at it by simply thinking about it, wherever you are if you are a critical thinker. You may not always have Flopzilla available to spit out answers but I believe by thinking critically about hands, you should be able to formulate some EV answers. Yes, perhaps in basketball you can visualize making shots out of game to help you make them in the game(visualization), I believe in it, even if it's only a small EV gain, it's all about EV gains. I wanted to some this up though by thinking more along the theme line of, "poker should be played in smaller quantities(when you really feel like it) and in environment's that get you excited."
Firing up 16 tables of $20 SNG's for 50 hours for four weeks no longer seems as attractive as playing a $2k main one time a month, to me, perhaps. There has to be a sense of urgency and desire to want to excel, in short. that's hard to hold on to when you play a game day in and day out(and it's pry hard to hold on to in your average 9 to 5) We're a slave to the dollar, a piece of paper, or perhaps a bitcoin, a computer algorithm
Last edited by p2 dog, p2; 12-05-2017 at 12:27 PM.