Reaching a major crossroads in a career that has only been fulfilling financially, but has come at the cost of being somewhat soul-sucking. I am not complaining; it was a choice I made knowing what I was getting into. I don't regret it one bit, but I think the time has come to rack my chips and cash out.

My wife, who is beyond awesome, thinks it is time for me to take a good chunk of money (~$50-60k) and commit several months to playing full time to see what happens. If we would have been in this position 5 years ago, I would have snap-called. But now it just feels a whole lot like a mid-life crisis that is about to get rolling into full swing.

Any others with similar experiences at/or around 40 that decided to play full time as a complete life change? Any regrets? While I don't want to lose the money, it wouldn't be the end of the world and could easily be replaced.

I love the BBV threads, so decided to post this not-so-subtle brag here. I am sure there will be plenty of beats and variance to go along with it as updates. Really looking forward to the EAD comments. Those just never get old.

Pics of awesome wife plz

Finally a new fish

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Unless you're a genius, and I mean this literally, chances you'll be able to beat online games starting at 40yo are close to non-existent.
On top of that, even though you can't imagine it right now, poker can get more soul-crushing than just about any other job out there, especially if you're not a world-beater.

Honestly, I'd recommend studying something new. If you have that kind of money, take a few different courses at the extension school of a good university and see whether there's something that strikes your interest.

If there is, invest yourself in it full time and make the best of it. It'll be a lot more feasible than poker, pretty much whatever you choose; and more rewarding in every way.

Also possible, although I have no idea what your line of work is/was, is starting your own business using whatever skills you've acquired over your career.

Again, more feasible, more rewarding, etc...just stay away from poker, it's not what you think it is; and I'm not saying there's 0 chance you can make a living at it, I'm saying that even if you manage to, it'll quickly turn into the kind of soul-draining that'll make you run back to your old job (and yeah...there's close to 0 chance).

If you're in a position to take a new direction in your life, make sure you don't waste that opportunity on some dream whose best case scenario is borderline nightmarish.

I actually really appreciate this post. I suspect starting a company is in my future, as I have a very good, general business background. I also see some middle of the road poker solution that is more realistic and fun. I have considered just picking several tournament series throughout the year and play them as recreation rather than a source of income mixing in cash games. I have accumulated enough airline miles and hotel points to pretty much cover expenses for several 1-2 week trips. Having read some of the more serious and honest stories on 2+2, even from winning players, it definitely gives me pause. I don't want to hate poker.

LOL - if I ever bink a big tournament, she will be the hot gal standing right beside me at the end.

i think that, before you make any decisions, you should just

you'll **** up

Go play for 6 weeks.

Oh, that's awesome. You used the spoiler to make it really suspenseful as to what was coming. So well played. Can't believe it took this many posts. I certainly didn't expect the spoiler angle-shot. Wow, that was really well thought out.

Ha. That's an absolute given. I definitely will **** up. But, I am a persistent motherf**ker.

I actually let her do that to me. Teaches humility.

You've failed to mention anything about your background as a poker player. Are you a winning player? If not, how do you intend to become one? How much experience do you have?

Please do not answer any of these questions, as no one will care. Oh, and eat a dick.

How is playing poker for a career not soul-sucking? It's not particularly educational, and the skills you acquire are not particularly transferable to other pursuits. If you don't need the money, why bother?

You will learn about variance, and the role variance plays in life in general. Worth learning, but perhaps not worth a career in poker in order to learn.

Maybe you feel it's something you have to get "out of your system". Perhaps you are confusing not wanting to continue what you are doing now with wanting a career in poker. Something to consider, at least.

These are all really good points. And it is very possible that this is a desire to "get it out of my system." I am not at all certain that a "poker career" is what I want per se. I think the whole discussion with my wife started as a discussion that happened after I ran well and played well for a few tournaments at the end of last year. It was about seven straight days of playing (3 tournaments). I have never really been able to devote a solid straight week of playing poker before due to work, etc.

Even though the results were good, I knew that there were many mistakes I was making along the way. I have a solid base understanding of the game and have broken even in cash games and am up around $60k in tournaments lifetime, but I definitely lack the knowledge and experience of optimal game theory.

My personality is such that I like to find the absolute peak of my ability in all the things that I enjoy doing. My wife knows this about me, which is why she is pushing me to devote full time to improve as much as I can while my career is at such a weird spot.

I think no matter how it plays out, it should make for an interesting story and experience.

I really appreciate the thoughts though, as there is definitely part of me that feels like this will look like a mid-life crisis to all my friends and family. Perhaps it is.

This is not understanding poker variance. You see it on BBV all the time: run good = I am a genius; run bad = poker is rigged, etc. Obviously you're more intelligent than that, but it's the same principle.

No, I totally agree. I assume that much of my success in tournaments is a direct result of variance more than anything. Over ten years, I just haven't played enough that it can be attributed to anything else. I don't feel like a genius by any stretch. Quite the opposite. I know I know enough about the game to hold my own against an entire field. But, I also know that against the better players, there are holes in my game that are exploitable, and I am interested in gaining the experience to fix those.

I don't think this experiment will end in me making an income from poker. It may not even end in me breaking even. My goal is that it ends up with me being a much better player. If that costs me the entire bankroll, then I have no issue with that and no issue heading back to the drawing board to come up with the next bankroll. Our liferoll can easily support the experiment, which is why it is even being discussed at all.

But, I make no bones about the fact that having binked a couple of tournaments, does not a winning poker player make. LOL

If that is your goal then play online (I get the impression that you are a live player). No need to risk your bankroll, even if you can afford to. Just begin by trying to beat the micros on Stars over e.g. 100K hands and see what happens. (Damn, I forgot you're probably American.)

And, oh yeah, always pass on good advice because it is never any use to oneself (- Oscar Wilde).

Who the **** would want to sit with old smelly men for a midlife crisis. You are definitely doing it wrong.

Yeah, I thought of doing it this way, but I am in the US. I could certainly take a couple of months and go to Mexico, Canada or Thailand or somewhere I suppose. I actually live just a couple hours from Vancouver BC, so that may be an option. Not sure what all I would need in order to get a Pokerstars account etc., but I am sure others have done it. Probably need a utility bill etc. proving some sort of residency. I think I am allowed to be in Canada for up to six months out of each year, but I have to check that to be certain.

LOL well played, sir.

If you want to play poker and you have the money to od so then do it. You will prob get bored after a while but wtf. you would prob be better off playing live because the games are much softer
what area do you live in?

I'm in Seattle, but I really enjoy slow structured MTT's as well as cash games. The tournaments here suck and the casinos in general are not great and a pain in the ass for me to get to. I am considering one option to rent a place for three months in Vegas. If I am not mistaken, I think Nevada actually has online poker. While I hear the online game sucks in Nevada, it may be a good way to get in a lot of hands to work through some of the learning curve in a more expedited manner. Might even be able to hook up with a coach that I gel with there as well. I suspect if I start playing online, I will need to learn a whole lot about HUD's etc. and whatever other tools are needed to maximize and learn the internet poker.

Then, if it doesn't work out, so be it. Hopefully, I will end up a better all-around player as a result.