Thinking Of Doing The Pro Thing

[Hoop Addict 0]

Posted this on 2+2 as well, but figured I may as well get as many opinions as possible...Ok, not entirely sure where this should go, so mods, feel free to move if you like. I'm just posting here since it's where I most often post.OK, so basically the deal is this. I work as an Admin/Accts clerk at a car dealership. I get a below avg wage. I never completed high school, so essentially, I have no real qualifications, thus my long term earning potential is not exactly fantastic.I love poker. I've played it *seriously* since basically the start of the year. I'll post my 07 stats for the year at the bottom of this post.I live at home with my folks. My girlfriend of 4 years also lives with her folks (although in reality, we both split time at each others house). We're pretty much ready to look at get our own home in the early stages of 08.So my dilemma is this: do I 1) wait until after we've got a home loan etc before I quit my job or 2) quit now & give myself 6 months with low overheads to get up & running & with lower risk if it all goes wrong.My fears are if I go with option 1 & fail, how do we pay for a home loan and with 2 what the chances are of getting a home loan if I don't have a job other than "professional gambler".Any advice would be appreciated.07 stats:Tournaments played : 850Total Buy-in : $21449.90Total Winnings : $45868.90Total Profit : $24419.00ROI : 113.8% **EDIT TO ADD - No, I can't play the nightly tournaments & still work, since I live in Australia. In fact, outside of weekends, I am restricted to playing about 3-4 a night on Stars (biggest is $30), a couple on another site & maybe 1 or 2 on Tilt.**

[chgocubs99 0]

I'll start with the fact that you have only 850 tournaments. Your sample size is way to small, and your buy in amounts can't support living expenses. You could easily have a losing year playing tournaments, at a much higher volume. You better have a ton of savings and smart investment plans if you are going to do it that way.

[Jennings7 0]

Basic response,Keep Job.Build much bigger bankrollPost in 6 months.

[MJINK3 0]

Screen name on whatever site you play on?

[FoxwoodsPro 0]

Assuming your roll is 25k you could give it a shot since you could probably find another job making the same wage...If you paid 6 months living expeses how much of a roll would you have?I'd obv do it and if it goes bad look for a job 2 months in advance..hows your cash game ability?would you be strictly playing online?

[fatman 1]

I am no expert at this but I think the majority of "pro" players will tell you that you need to be, and should be playing, cash games as well as tournaments. Cash games are far more lucrative anyway.

[Moneyball16 0]

If getting a home loan is a top priority id wait. Id also be very clear that my gf would be alright with me playing pro before we decided to move in together.

[mtdesmoines 3]

So my dilemma is this: do I 1) wait until after we've got a home loan etc before I quit my job or 2) quit now & give myself 6 months with low overheads to get up & running & with lower risk if it all goes wrong.

Don't quit your day job. Seriously.Here's how it works: 1) We all hate work. That's why they pay us to go there. 2) We all need money. That's why we put up with it.

[rdtedm 0]

Don't quit your day job. Seriously.Here's how it works: 1) We all hate work. That's why they pay us to go there. 2) We all need money. That's why we put up with it.

QFTKeep your job unless you are Erik Ryland.

[Veener Schnitz 0]

Go pro! Take a chance, and if things don't work out you can always climb the clock tower and take out the town...(sw)

[nutzbuster 7]

Don't quit your day job. Seriously.Here's how it works: 1) We all hate work. That's why they pay us to go there. 2) We all need money. That's why we put up with it.

lmao.Have truer words ever been written?

[GWCGWC 83]

Go for it. Having said that, I can't imagine trying to pay my bills playing online tourneys. The beats would kill my enthusiasm within a few days. This is besides my very very very small ROI. I still vote for taking a shot.

[Hoop Addict 0]

Thanks for all the responses so quickly...I guess my feelings are that if I were to qquit my job, go busto playing poker & be flat broke - it wouldn't be hard for me to find a similar job. They're advertised all over the place here. So it doesn't feel like it's *that* big of a risk.To answer a few questions - I play as Dinhjo on Stars & CD Poker mostly. Most of my winnings have beenn onCD Poker, before making a return to Stars in the last month or so.I play some small stakes 6-max, but am basically break-even over a small sample size. This is something I want to get better at.I don't live anything near lavish, and don't desire to. If I could make $40-$50K/year from poker, that'd 1) be enough to keep me satisfied and 2) more than I make now.

[mtdesmoines 3]

Thanks for all the responses so quickly...I guess my feelings are that if I were to qquit my job, go busto playing poker & be flat broke - it wouldn't be hard for me to find a similar job. They're advertised all over the place here. So it doesn't feel like it's *that* big of a risk.To answer a few questions - I play as Dinhjo on Stars & CD Poker mostly. Most of my winnings have beenn onCD Poker, before making a return to Stars in the last month or so.I play some small stakes 6-max, but am basically break-even over a small sample size. This is something I want to get better at.I don't live anything near lavish, and don't desire to. If I could make $40-$50K/year from poker, that'd 1) be enough to keep me satisfied and 2) more than I make now.

The problem is, that, in order to keep giving yourself "annual raises," you have to play more and higher. And to do that, you have to stick all that profit back into your bankroll. Which means the first thing you're doing as a "pro" is taking a pay cut. Add to that the benefits you get from employment -- insurance, taxes, unemployment, disability, etc -- you need to bring home about 3 times as much cash as a self-employed person as you earn with a salary to break even. At least that was my experience when I was self-employed for seven years.Anyway, I'm not saying you aren't good enough. God knows I have no idea how good is good enough. You just need a reality check, a plan, and a big score.

[Hoop Addict 0]

The problem is, that, in order to keep giving yourself "annual raises," you have to play more and higher. And to do that, you have to stick all that profit back into your bankroll. Which means the first thing you're doing as a "pro" is taking a pay cut. Add to that the benefits you get from employment -- insurance, taxes, unemployment, disability, etc -- you need to bring home about 3 times as much cash as a self-employed person as you earn with a salary to break even. At least that was my experience when I was self-employed for seven years.Anyway, I'm not saying you aren't good enough. God knows I have no idea how good is good enough. You just need a reality check, a plan, and a big score.

Just re working conditions etc - we don't quite get the same benefits in Australia. So if I'm making the same amount pre-tax playing poker, then I'll be fine. And in this position, there's very little chance for advancement or promotion. It's a pretty dead-end job, that, to be honest, I was kind of looking to move out of before considering poker.Would it be horrible to quit this job, give myself until Xmas to see how I enjoy playing poker, then decide whether to look at getting a job on '08? Or even enrolling to get some qualifications?

[finztotheleft 0]

Mortgage companies will be interested in a regular paycheck, not your "potential" as a poker player. In light of this, I'd normally advise that you not make a job change until after obtaining a mortgage.The thing is, right now you have no other responsibilities to pressure you into having to make so much per month, so it's kind of a great time to take a chance now. If you weren't living at home, you should have at least 6 months living expenses saved up ( and not including your roll)Would it be possible for you to get a different job on an off shift so that you could play more poker and work ?Good luck

[tskillz187 0]

If you're gonna take the shot, ask some people that have taken it and made it, taken it and missed, taken it and been able to make it but chose to go back to real world.Then have enough money to live for awhile and play. Then don't even consider trying to pay for a house right now. If you were just saying "I hate my job I have no living expenses and I think I'm a winning player in poker, I wanna take a shot," then I'd say good luck and have fun.Having played to pay for tuition and my small costs without having a job I can give you a little experience. Playing to pay the bills is harder than playing because you enjoy playing. The grind is real. This is the only job you can go to and end up worse financially from start of the day til the end. Having your own schedule rocks. Having your own schedule and not putting in enough time is a recipe for disaster. Playing unmotivated will likely lead to losses. Being motivated to play a lot is tough.It's tough, but it can certainly be done and is very rewarding. All the happiest poker players that I know personally and have read about play seriously, but play to supplement. That being said, I am not a professional poker player and I'm sure Steve, Hoosier, NoSup, etc, may have many more great things to say about it.

[profxavier9 0]

Yeah i was thinking of doing that untill about 15 mins ago when i busted out of the mill in 23rd YES!!!!!!!I HAD PLANS OF BIUYING CHROZZO AND A FEW OTHERS 3K HOOKERS !!