Great post, thanks for sharing.

Wow, what a great story. This thread definately needs resurrecting.

Thank you for taking the time to write up this long post. Congratulations Dynasty. I'm curious as to how things are going for you today?

I do have my own story to share and one day I will share it with the rest of the 2+2 readers.

Like you, I'm really disallusioned at my current job right now. I really hate the 9 to 5 grind and there have been several times when I really felt like I couldn't take it anymore and just walk off. The only thing that's stopping me is because I don't have the courage to do so and also what my family will think.

Reading your post I'm stunned that you made the choice that you did, quiting your stable job to become a professional poker player with hardly any experience. I do know that I would never have the guts to do what you did although my heart tells me to. This makes you a much better man than me. I will however decide to chase my dream one day.

Having just turned 30 I've had over 12 years of experience playing poker and I've been a winner pretty much all those years. I did take several years off during my university years and recently dipped my paws back into poker. This time however, it's for good.

I was pretty horrible when I started out. In Toronto we don't have poker limits lower than 5/10. I wished I took the time to learn more about the game when I was 18 because I would've been a much better player today. I am a quick learner though so things did work out.

I am concerned though that a lot of younger readers here will find inspiration from your post and quit their jobs or school and become a professional player with little or no experience. This is how some people become homeless. Reading your post, it had all the makings of a disaster story so I'm glad it all worked out for you. A lesser player would not be so lucky.

I make a very good living now but I can't help but feel that life is pretty boring. I don't have any illusions as to how glamourous and exciting being a professional poker player will be. I do know that when things go bad it can bring you to your knees. But whatever the case, it sure as hell a lot more exciting than what I'm doing now.

heh... i was just gonna write a reply saying that he should have written some disclaimer to us college/university kids at the top of the post, warning us not to read it. i don't need this kind of encouragement. i must finish school. stupid poker.

and i'm only half joking.

ON the same note someone in University should warn kids that they have unrealistic expectations (especially business or accounting or engineering majors) these days for the corporate world. Alot of things are changing as globalization takes hold and a cumfy 60-90k job in accounting with a undegrad degree from a mediocre state school is gonna be a complete thing of the past in like 5-10 yrs. My brother got an MBA from Rice. He works for KPMG and even he is thinking of getting out of consulting for a big corporation. Corporate life is like a huge pyramid scheme with thousands of slaving white collars supporting a bunch of BS CEO CFO CIO COO types. Unless you are keen of kissing alot of ass, not ever saying anything provocative and basically living for your job id probably do something else. Remember there are 1 billion english speaking Indians chomping at the bit to do these same jobs for like 1/20th the money you do the math what do you think is coming??

so should we all become professional poker players?

Whether or not you believe me, there are millions of jobs that will never go over seas, and I am not just talking about service industry jobs.

dynasty, write an update

He quit playing poker and is now a full-time, on-line, unpaid political consultant and recluse.

serious? is tha ta joke? either way we still need an update

I played a whole four hours yesterday. The political (and baseball) stuff has run out of steam.

Hey Bryan,

On-line or did you go out?

I really like your monitors. What were they?

Gabe

Dude, get the dell 20.3" ones. They are sick. I have two.

My monitors are the very popular Dell 2001FP.

Rick,

You mean a descent into poker mediocrity. Certainly not as a human being, my friend.

bump-

just read this again, what a great story.

I don't think anyone like their 9-5 jobs. However, I still think it's prudent to at least have a 20 hour a week job to pay the essentials. Poker is hard enough without going into the poker rooms saying in the back of your mind "gotta win tonight-gotta pay the rent...).

Having some kind of guaranteed cash coming in is psychologically beneficial. Scared money loses because you tense up and don't make moves you would make if you were in a position of stength (strength from the aspect of your life in general).

But for those who burn their bridges and really play with no support structure, props to you.

Well he did say above in one of his replies that he had enough money to cover more than a years' worth of living expenses when he went out there.

I agree 100% though - perhaps the #1 rule of poker should be to avoid putting yourself in positions (playing above your bankroll) that will inevitably cause you to play with fear, because of the financial pressure.

I often wonder why is that when people decide to go pro that they don't at least look for a part time job that they enjoy for maybe 20 hours a week. Do they actually hate working that much?

I very much agree with your post. Playing with scared money can't be a good thing. When I do decide to go pro I will no doubt take on a part time profession to fill in the time and do something that I really enjoy like web development or a graphics artist etc. and having a little bit left over to pay for the essentials without having to rely on strictly poker winnings.

Wow. I know this is an old post, but I just now caught it. Absolutely amazing post. Thanks for the thoughts.

I played in a chess tournament this weekend at the Boylston Chess Club in Boston and met my friend David Glickman there. We talked about what I've been doing in Vegas over the last several years and I mentioned this post.

David runs the BCC's blog and posted my original post on their website.

http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/

You can see a blurry picture of me above the story. I'm the guy in the middle with the black t-shirt watching two other friends (Paul Mishkin and Charlie Mays) analyzing a game. I can't place where that photo was taken, though.

This is still far and away one of the best posts ever on 2+2.

Now that I've seen your picture I'll know who to avoid at Foxwoods this Thursday!!

It's certainly one that I always enjoy reading, even though I've read it before. That and the Inthacup trip report thread are the two that I reread when they're bumped.

Wonderful post. Well worth the time to read. Very inspiring.

Thank you for sharing and I admire your kahunas...

So unintentionally funny.

Glad this thread got resurrected. I missed it the first time around. Great story.