Not even sure what this means.

I was lucky enough to land i a FT job not to long after Black Friday so i didnt lose my house. I would not say its a great job but it is certainly a decent one.
I play online for supplementary income now.

It appears the Federal Bill will fail, So i am looking hard at my options in order to make a plan going forward.

Anyone else can offer their experiences?

played mainly live for approximately 2 years at uni from 2007-2009, played with my student loan, nlhe 200, sometimes took shots at nlhe 400

standard day – wake up at 5pm get to the local casino for 6pm, play the daily tournaments, if i didn’t run deep/bust early i’d start grinding cash otherwise if i do run deep i’d sit on the cash tables at around midnight until the casino closed - 6am. then get mcdonalds breakfast and get home at about 7am, stay up and go to morning lectures or tutorials and come back, sleep till 5pm, i'd repeat this routine regularly

after doing this 4/5 days a week for 2 years, i eventually went busto and realized how bad of a degen/player i was.. it was depressing to realize just how much time i had wasted nevertheless i enjoyed this depressing experience

Several people have stated that once you play poker for a certain amount of years it is very difficult to get a regular job due to the gap on your resume, outdated skills, not being able to adjust to a strict schedule, etc.

The reason many players like to play professionally is because of that freedom it offers initially. It seems that after you grind poker for long enough it turns into a job and your options are limited if you do want to get out and chose a different career..hence the comment of it being difficult to get back into the grind of life.

I guess I didn't realize "the grind of life" is having a 9-5 job.

+1

I get frustrated working at home because it's hard to put in the same hours with poker that I did with some regular jobs. To me, one of the downsides of playing poker online is that people free to interrupt me when I'm working (even after I explain it to them.)

I once got a call to take one of my granddaughters to the emergency room because the other grandparents were all at work--even though two of the grandparents worked at the hospital and could have picked up my granddaughter and taken her back to the hospital in less than half the time it took me.

At one time I had a full-time job where I took all the overtime I could get (sometimes I worked 60 or more hours per week) and I was in an elite National Guard unit that met once a week. During that time we adopted three brothers ages 6, 8 and 9, I home schooled the boys during two summers so that they could catch up academically with their peers, and I ran for local office.

If we get federal regulation or there is some other circumstance that causes another poker boom, you would be crazy not to put in a ton of hours to get in on the front of that boom before the new players find out about things like coaching videos. Of course, whether the new players watch coaching videos or not, in general you will outplay your opponents when you outwork them.

I noticed a couple days ago that Leatherass has a couple books out, and from what I've read in the articles and reviews it sounds like he talks a lot about poker players having a poor work ethic. I completely agree.

100%

For everybody else it's just like "oh he's playing a game, take a break!"

Leatherass states, that if you put the same hours into playing and learning poker as you would work every normal job, you'll be a beast at poker.

I like to hear more stories if any? This thread was going good until some posters went to talk about other stuff not related to the question.

As someone who has been playing poker full time the last 5 years, 3.5 online and 1.5 live (post BF), I'm now starting to transition to the semi-pro lifestyle.

Although I'm happy with my life right now as a full time poker pro, I've come to understand the value of pursuing other things in addition to poker

I was very hesitant about adding another profession to poker. I always had plans to do something else besides poker, but didn't know at what point in my life. I commute 2 hours to AC every week (can't move closer), and play about 30 hours in 3 days of 5/10 on the weekends. So the other 4 days I'm not really doing much, and it's been this way for at least 8 months now. I got so used to having all this free time, I didn't want to give it up. I recently realized how silly this was, that I had all this free time and wasn't doing anything productive with it.

I've done very well with poker, I still enjoy the game, and I can see myself playing it for the foreseeable future. I may have to cut back the hours a little (though, maybe not), but I know it'll be worth it.

One of the best things about poker is that it's a fantastic fall back plan if other things don't work out.

That's not unique to poker -- it's something that people from many disciplines run into when they go "freelance". I've heard the exact same complaints/problems from freelance programmers, graphic designers, etc, etc.

The bottom line is to treat it like a business. I've seen some freelancers rent small offices just so they actually physically go to work, and can do their work undisturbed. It's ironic, I know, but it helps some people deal with the issues you've mentioned.

Bump

The answer to losing and small winning players is YES, I regret playing "professionally"

innaccurate and arrogant. pretty much sums up all your posts, gtfo

LOL@1/2NL live professional poker LOLLLL
I'd rather be incarcerated and get raped.

Why's it inaccurate? Even if we allow that someone can play 1/2 NL live for a living, while leading an adult lifestyle, he's not far off in saying it would be a frugal one. You're not bringing in all that much playing 1/2 unless you play a ton of hours, spend little on going to the games, and skirt on taxes.

I'd have to agree... after rake and expenses, even a very strong winning player would have a hard time building a roll and paying for living expenses. I'd consider 2/5 the min stakes live to be able to make a decent living at, too.

Why waste your time grinding 1-2? You would be better off working at McDonald's, where you have guaranteed wages and some upside. I just do not understand how or why anyone would want to do that

Incorrect. I'm an IT guy and due to the nature of the niche I'm in, I've changed jobs 8 times in 12 years. Every job I've had (even contracting) had a matching funds 401k, paid off-time, and medical insurance. I just took a new position this past July with all of the above, a new personal-best salary for me (not $160,000 like the other guy but it does have 6 digits), plus I work from home. Oh, and I don't have a degree. My wife has an Associated degree in something she doesn't use, and has had 3 jobs since I have known her. All of them have the same benefits that I have enjoyed. She has worked her way up in her current job from making $12.55/hr at the receptionist desk to making around $65k as customer service lead.

Both companies are growing, are hiring, and would be grateful to have any number of critical-thinking type people who are smart enough to consistently beat poker games.

I didn't start in IT until 1999, so I'm not one of those people from another time that you're referring to. I work with a guy who is 25 years old who has only been out of school for 2.5 years, and he makes almost as much as I do, and enjoys all of the same benefits.

I may not sound like it, but I am (very) liberal. I believe that the concentration of wealth in this country and others like it will be its ultimate downfall. I believe that in general, rich people don't do enough to better the condition of those around them. However, I also believe that there is a vast population of people who sit around complaining about how bad things are, while having no commitment personally to better their station in life. These are the people who say things like "You were born at the right time" when observing others' successes.

cliffs: suck it up and get a job.

Everything's relative.
It depends on how much your life sucked before you started playing poker for a living. Losing massively in poker might be less miserable than the best alternative.

For anyone satisfied with his/her current job situation, there's absolutely no reason to convert to poker.

Long story short: For me, everything else was pretty much hopeless. And I have a degree from a tier 1 university (obviously there were other reasons barring me from a normal job).

good thing we have you here who has figured it all out to tell the rest of us how we should go about our lives.

FFS i feel like at an FoF meeting or something.

Nothing to do with how to run one's life. Everything to do with not sitting around lamenting how there is no such thing as a job with a decent salary and prospects for retirement. That's all I was responding to.

Phil Hellmuth

What if i want to forego a job with decent salary and prospects for retirement that is at fingertips for myself and anyone else who would want it, for the freedom that poker as a career can offer, instead of "sucking it up"

Who cares? Do what you want. Never sure why people care what people think, or feel the need to substantiate poker as a career to anyone that asks.

Except for my closest family members that were puzzled why I ditched a well-paying career in my 30's for online poker and asked out of genuine concern, I usually would play up the degen angle and have fun with people when questioned/lectured. I don't give a **** - leave thinking what you want; at least you won't be hitting me up for money...