I hear what you're saying, but for many people this is the case with a reg job, as well. Far too many people start saving too late in life and wind up having to work longer than they want to. Some get pushed out at 60 and have to work at Best Buy or somewhere. To do poker properly, you have to view it the same way you do a career and plan ahead otherwise you'll be 65, propping day games for a small hourly, and getting torn up by young players. I'll be out of the game at 50 and will only play 2 months a year during the series.

I don't regret my choice. Occasionally in the beginning I'd question it during downswings but after a few years and your hourly stays pretty much the same you have confidence and faith in your ability so it makes it easier. In the beginning your constantly questioning your ability. Every once in a while ill think about a real job, but the days I play with my son all morning, then hit the gym, the stroll Into the casino at 1pm I think I'm sure happy not to have a real job. All that being Said my Main goal is to setup buisnesses/investments for a lifetime of passive income. I love poker, but I love my family, golf,vacation, leisure much more. I'd love to have a full passive income by 40 , but hey that's everyone's goal

These two remarks aren't very consistent. Most folks in most jobs have not alternative employment. In many cases there is no employment available at all. Your first comment is exactly what the other guy was talking about. Think of the average guy, who has no university education and maybe didn't finish high school (that's average in the USA) and has a limited skill set, acquired in whatever job he's been working. His options to find a new job are far more limited than you seem to think, particularly if he is already in his 40s.

Most people play poker for a living to work less hours, not more. If u worked a 40-60 hour work week I wouldn't waste my off time at a poker table. Maybe if I was single without children

If you have solid experience and skills which it sounds like you do and you're not desperate then why not include poker on your résumé and even highlight how you've learned from it. IMO if an employer doesn't value poker experience I probably won't enjoy working for them anyway. At least this will my approach.

Why more people don't do this?! Think about it...you slave away in an office until 5 or so, beat traffic, cook dinner, clean up, hit the poker tables, go to bed and sleep 5 hours max, just to make another 20k a year? rofl You do realize you're working 12 hour days for 68k a year (granted, 20k is tax free). Your gross per hr is 22/hr??? and that's not accounting taxes and all that jazz taken out of your actual pay. ****...if I'm going to be working 12 hour shifts, I'd rather play mtts for a living outside of the country and make tons more. Sure, 20k a yr for someone happy making 48k a year in a job might be fun...asking for those extra 1-2 wks off a year to go on another vacation, buy a few nicer things...but working 12 hrs/day for 68k pre tax on 2/3 of it just makes me cringe. FYI I make 42k or so a year with small bonus included...and I used to grind poker mtts after work. It's so draining waking up tired every morning, spending my whole free evening playing, and then before I knew it, waking up to repeat work again. Felt like I had no life. I felt like I had way more freedom/happiness when I played poker online for 12 hrs/day (if I chose to) and made more money (more risk but didn't affect me). I feel broke as **** now with an office job, and 20k/yr extra wouldn't change that for me personally.

So the answer for this person is to pursue an off-the-books, unusable-on-a-resume gig with no guaranteed income that only started existing when people fell in love with ESPN's Chris Moneymaker coverage?

mtts are variance filled torture
he said he made an extra 20k a year he didnt say how many hours he played and he clearly enjoys poker. most middle class people would love to make an extra 20k a year from a hobby.i know a few people who play 30-40 hrs a month and make some extra money. hell i know people who play that much or more and suck at poker but do it for fun.he obviously enjoys playing and when he coes home instead of watching a game or whatever he probably plays while he watches a game.

Great thread and after reading so many posts I wish to contribute with my perspective as well.
I have been playing for about 9 years now, some years I have played many hours every day and some years just a few hours per weekend. I feel that I have been a winning playing for so long now that I could probably make it as a pro if I really wanted and dared to.

Now I’m 32 years old, I have a girlfriend, family in the making, mortgage on a nice apartment and I have made a nice career for myself.
My job is within the gambling industry which I love, I make descent amounts of money, great colleague’s and flexible hours. Now this is an office job, I have a boss (albeit a great one) and I need to put on a suite ever day even the days I don’t want to. Sometimes I feel that I work to long hours and wish I had more freedom to do whatever I wanted, usually that is playing more poker.

For me being a professional poker player has been a dream for many years. Many nights after a successful session I lay in bed thinking that maybe I need to risk a little to live your dream, the old “you only live once”. Doing something I love for a living every day for potentially huge amounts of money would be something.
I should say that I live in Sweden so playing online is not an issue for me.

But I don’t know, as I said I have great colleague’s which I hang out with on my spare time. There is a huge security in knowing that there is a monthly paycheck that covers all my needs coming every month. Of course I wish I had more money and there are things I wish I could buy and things I could afford, but for the most part money is not something that I think of.
I think that by making poker your only source of income this might change. I always feel really bad after a losing session as it is now, how would I feel if this could jeopardize my ability to make rent this month? Would I turn in to a loner with huge mood swings? I don’t want that.

This is really a question that I struggle with, I badly want to try the pro poker life and I think I could make it. I don’t even think it would be particularly bad for my CV in case I didn’t make and wanted to go back to my current career. But even though playing poker for a living sounds fantastic when I say it to myself. I feel that there are just too many downsides and I’m worried how going pro would affect me as a person, It already affects my mood when I have great session or even more when I have a really bad one.

Perhaps many of the posters here are really young and I think some of you might have the wrong perception of what “working for the boss” means. Most bosses and most companies are really cool and want you to enjoy your job. Doing the old 9 to 5 for the boss is not all that bad, there is a lot of good things coming with it.

For me I will continue to struggle with this question and maybe in a few years’ time I will feel that the time is right and make the move to playing pro or perhaps that will never happen for me, but until then I would like to read more stories from the other side, from those of you who are actually living my dream

Cheers and thanks for all the stories.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95264319@N07/9447958467/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95264319@N07/9447958467/

Not sure why you keep posting your results, but buy the Poker Journal app and use the edit button, ffs.

Jasp.....it sounds like your life is in good shape and you have a fair bit to risk. TBH you missed the boat to turn pro (~2005 at the latest imo) Just keep doing what you are doing

you make it all sound so grim. I just grind 2-3 nights a week or none if I feel like it

The problem with going back to full time pro is you wont make "tons more", probably wont make anywhere near what you hope to. MTTs 2013 are far harder than 2007. All the smart MTT guys I know saw the writing on the wall in 2010 and cashed out their rolls to do other things

I was slow and made myself miserable trying to make it happen until mid 2011. I worked harder than I ever had and made loads of improvements to my game....made less money

Sad reality. Poker is fked......unless you are really REALLY good. People say MTTs are soft but theres no where near as much dead money as there used to be. No French No Italians No Americans...all the pros from those countries moved abroad...

The sad thing is so many peeps just cant let go of the dream. I still know guys who were the same as me in 2008, easily making 60-100k a year playing 30 hours a week and studying 10, and had 100% of their own action etc....now they are 50k in make up grinding 60 hours a week and losing touch with reality.

No one even remotely successful at poker only plays live MTT's.

My biggest issue about this topic is the number of variables that differ from person to person. So many people say "If you could make $2K a month with no boss, pay rent, feed yourself, etc. It is great!".

For me that wouldn't be great. I have a wife and two kids and make close to 6 figures a year, have health insurance, a 401K, and college tuitions to plan for in the coming years. Life happens.

For me to come anywhere close to making what I make now in poker, I'd have to play (and be successful) in the nosebleed cash game levels, or take shots in MTT's with large fields and smaller buy-in's or smaller fields with large buy-ins. And I'd have to win or place high in several of them a year.

Life doesn't crush dreams, but it often forces you to adapt them. I could try to be a pro, but it would most likely leave me with less money a year and probably ruin my relationships. I almost went into stand-up comedy right out of school. Same dilemma. Either I become the top 5% of my industry, or I'm destined to live in anonymity and a low income.

I think I've struck a good balance in life. I'm able to travel for work several times a year where I can play poker and yet still have a reliable income and a stable family life. Online poker made it even easier to achieve that balance because if I played late night, all I was sacrificing was sleeping next to an already asleep wife.

I don't think anyone should project regret on anyone else, and so I never tell people not to chase their dreams. It's just it isn't for everyone. It is a complex, difficult, and most of all - personal decision.

I definitely get that. I was just commenting on why there don't seem to be more hobbyists/enthusiasts speaking about playing serious poker in their spare time to have fun and also supplement income. Previous poster mentioned why so many either quit the job to play full time or give up poker altogether instead of a balance. Very black and white with no shades of grey.

^^ I hear ya man. I guess poker has jaded me slightly I like playing poker , I enjoy it but at the end of the day for me it's a way to make a living. If I had a job tnat paid we'll I don't see my self playing poker for fun more then a few times a year

Spot on, borg. I played no more than 12-15 hours a week, single tabling because I knew no better. Can't believe I actually won anything looking back now, but the cash sure came in handy at times. Now that I'm more educated and experienced in live play and multitabling I think I can do much of the same as I once did but with a new level of seriousness and tools and be a little more comfortable than I already am. And I agree, I have friends who have been looking for work for over a year and wouldn't ROFL over a legit salaried job, paid health insurance and the ability to deposit $100 in a poker account and play while the game was on in the background. But to each their own.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous. I can imagine becoming jaded if in your spot though. I'm naive enough now to think it would take a lot to get me to feel how you do, but they must call it a "grind" for a reason. Kinda like working in a bakery and never wanting to eat cake or cookies again, maybe?

if your young and have no dependents go for your dreams - you only live once and if you do fail life isn't over....If you do play professionally make sure to expand your mind in other businesses - if you play poker and also draw income from another business you have much higher job security and earning potential and you can balance those bad runs when things aren't going well....if you work for someone just realize if you don't have specific skill sets your job security isn't what you think it is...there's so many people(esp in US) that have little to no skillset and can get easily replaced by a company - its sad but it happens all the time.....to each their own - either route you take try to enjoy things and live a fulfilling life - grinding out a living that you hate to live a mediocre existence seems like the worst possible route to take.

This. Without rambling about my backstory, may I suggest nursing for some people that have been eaten up by the grind and lost years that could have been used building a marketable skill. If it's for you, you can catch up fast. The entry level healthcare jobs are tough, but companies will pay for nursing school and promote from within. Eventually you have a marketable skill, livable wage, and are helping people. Sure the job has drawbacks as you still have bosses, some annoying coworkers, and corporations. However,if you can compartmentalize the bad there is plenty of good to focus on. Don't go into it for the money alone though or it will end up being just as bad as any other job you are unmotivated for, and slacking on the job can have grave consequences.

For speed, I would suggest CLEP tests for some general education requirements, going to a community college 2 year associates program, and working for a company that pays for and promotes such degrees.