How Did You Know When To Quit The Day Job?

[darkrider88 0]

FWP??

[mtdesmoines 3]

If you want to go pro, go ahead, just don't complain if you hit a cold streak and you start having a negative hourly rate.

And, really, is there anyone on planet earth who is more bothered by doing the right things and getting bit on the *** by variance than someone who is totally mathematically orientated? Say, like someone who's got math and actuarial studies under their belt?

[mx957 0]

FWP??

It's either FWP or his long lost brother....seriously TP/MM (Turn Pro/Make Millions). You aren't looking for help, you are looking to brag. If you had a clue about 1) Poker and 2) taking care of your family with an Actuarial Analysts Job, you'd be a lot better informed about this than you really are. So I'll go ahead and say it...we call BS on this whole 17 day story.

[Royal_Tour 0]

TP/MM

Phew!!, thank god u snuck this in, lol.i love FCP., if the 1st reply wasnt TP/MM i was gonna be upset

[kdogg 0]

Don't listen to the haters. They're just jealous of your superior poker skills. 13k to 100k seems reasonable for someone as level-headed as yourself. You seem to know a lot about math and when to "take a shot", unlike these bankroll-management freaks who will never strike it rich as quickly as yourself. To be honest, I think you'll be able to achieve your goal in less than 6 months if you stay sharp. The $159/hr you're currently earning will increase as you move up in limits. Also, your bluffs and advanced techniques will work better at higher limits where there aren't a million people seeing each flop and sucking-out on you. You could be playing Andy Beal in a couple of years!!!(sw)

[Johnny_Utah 0]

50 dollars turned into 13k in 17 days, sounds like one of those real estate infomercials, I usually like to give people the benefit of the doubt and not be such a pessimist, but come on...

Come on thats believable, its only a 25,900% increase.

[Stylin_Fish 0]

Variance is mean, save a quarter and call me when you go broke.

[endo 0]

I think a lot of people (while supplying correct information and good GENERAL advice) are missing the key points. The most important things I got from your posts are that 1) you HATE your day job, and 2) you could easily(within a month you say) get back on the wagon if it came down to that.Life is too short. I think you should follow your dreams, and do what you love (both in poker and photography). Happiness is more important than the safe and secure path. I honestly believe that if you truly love a particular field, and you're focused and disciplined, and have well thought out long-term goals and plans - you can succeed financially in most dream careers. Perhaps not as lucratively as your current day job (then again it could be greater), but I gaurantee the quality of your life and emotional well-being will far outweigh most worst-case scenarios.You shouldn't get too hung up on money and material things. Find things you're passionate about and just go for it. If it doesn't work, you say you can easily get a "regular" job, but it's better to try and fail, than to not try at all.You should definitely save a ton of money before you take the plunge though. Poker money isn't real money - it's business capital. But I think you know that.

[matt21sz 0]

I think a lot of people (while supplying correct information and good GENERAL advice) are missing the key points. The most important things I got from your posts are that 1) you HATE your day job, and 2) you could easily(within a month you say) get back on the wagon if it came down to that.Life is too short. I think you should follow your dreams, and do what you love (both in poker and photography). Happiness is more important than the safe and secure path. I honestly believe that if you truly love a particular field, and you're focused and disciplined, and have well thought out long-term goals and plans - you can succeed financially in most dream careers. Perhaps not as lucratively as your current day job (then again it could be greater), but I gaurantee the quality of your life and emotional well-being will far outweigh most worst-case scenarios.You shouldn't get too hung up on money and material things. Find things you're passionate about and just go for it. If it doesn't work, you say you can easily get a "regular" job, but it's better to try and fail, than to not try at all.You should definitely save a ton of money before you take the plunge though. Poker money isn't real money - it's business capital. But I think you know that.

You must remember that he a has a wife and two children to provide for. I would agree with you if he was single with no one to support but himself. In reality, he would need to save a "ton of money" x 4 to properly take care of his family. Follow the dream, just don't make the mistake of leaving a mom and two children with no financial support/stabilty.

[silkyjonson 1]

well u are on a nice run sir, but from what you have posted you are playing well above your bankroll. Know if you can sustain this rate for some time you may be able to build a 100,000 dollar bankroll which will be around a decent pool to play 50/100. But what I am predicting will happen is you will face a little bad luck and lose the 17k, (which should be expected playing at those limits) Now what will happen is you will try to play at those high limits again and then your are in trouble playing for big stakes, which can really hurt your wallet. So what I suggest to you is to drop limits and play within your 17k and dont' shoot to high. This way you can sustain variance and still come out on top. If you do want to quit your day job may i suggest a training regimen of taking your money and giving it to strangers, then have someone slap you in the face for five minutes straight and try playing them in poker, if you can do this and still play well then you are ready.

[Balloon guy 158]

The elephant in the room is your two kids. The best thing you can do is teach them some poker skills, make twice the profit, and KEEP your job.Kids are fast learners, and if varience does raise it's ugly head, you can at least beat the kids for their bad play.You get it all man. TYKP/MM

[Jdr999 0]

Perhaps not as lucratively as your current day job (then again it could be greater), but I gaurantee the quality of your life and emotional well-being will far outweigh most worst-case scenarios.

Like going broke?Honestly, if he had results over 2 years instead of over 2 weeks, I would tell him to play poker for a living. And I think it's bad to quit your job and play poker if you have a wife and kids to support. Also, he could find a new job besides related to photography instead of thinking of played poker for a living.

[mtdesmoines 3]

TYKP/MM

That's new.

[AAAKK 0]

Like going broke?Honestly, if he had results over 2 years instead of over 2 weeks, I would tell him to play poker for a living. And I think it's bad to quit your job and play poker if you have a wife and kids to support. Also, he could find a new job besides related to photography instead of thinking of played poker for a living.

One thing to keep in mind, that the photography dream still comes first, over the poker dream.That's probably the least lucrative, but what would give me the most pleasure. The long term goal here is to start my own photography business and supplement with poker, NOT to be full time poker.The only reason I haven't chased the photography dream as of yet is that I haven't had the money for proper pro-photo equipment with back-ups for everything (Back-ups are needed in that business).My oldest son, yours truly, photographer:Good point epistemic

[epistemic 0]

dude please remove that picture immediately, which is nice and all, but you're literally giving a vast majority of idiots a picture of your eldest son. Who knows the doctoring that will occur or what could appear in the form of avatars, signatures with your son in it.godspeed.

[The Bwaves 0]

Discipline is a tough thing to learn. "Gambling it up because it's all winnings," at any point in time tells me you are not ready to quit your day job.To answer your original question about when you know to quit your day job...It's when you have 100-200k+ hands in pokertracker that unequivocally demonstrate that you're a winning player and that you've excersized proper bankroll management 100% of the time, you have minimized tilt, you have set and adhered to a stop-loss (2-3 buy-ins per day) and you've set aside reserves to fall back on in tough months.

Listen to the master.

[ricker 0]

if it's wrong to get turned on by your avatar Bwaves, I don't wanna be right....

[monix 0]

AAAKK,Let me share with you my experience with variance.I have been playing seriously for 17 months. I just checked my PokerTracker stats, and as a winning player in both ring games and tournaments (just over 4 BB/100, a mix of Limit and NL) over 80,000 hands, I have experienced TWO 150 BB downswings. The first one was crushing, and the second merely debilitating. Luckily I was only playing $1/2…at 50/100 that would have been $15,000.I have a similar educational background as you (degree in math and physics), and I cannot tell you how ineffective logic is in combating the feeling of frustration whilst in the middle of one of these downswings.I can’t tell you if or when you could turn pro, but it seems that you should take more time and prove yourself over 100,00 + hands before jeopardizing your family’s well being.

[screech 0]

How the heck were you able to get $13k from $50 in 17 days.

It's not unreal at all. It's variance. If he put in a lot of hours, played mostly nl, and played recklessly with his bankroll, it is very possible. However, if he continues to play this way, he will go broke.

[pokerplayer24 0]

Bad idea.50/100 with 13k and you'll go broke in no time.Play 10/20 and work your way up.Also if you're actually good enough to beat 50/100 and not just running hot you would have known this a long time ago and quit your day job.And please dont take this as a flame. Just being honest with you and this is coming from someone who turned very little into over 50 grand in 4 months but by doing it the right way

[screech 0]

But my winning is more than a simple turn in variance. I was a math major in college and an actuarial analyst in my day job, so I know that my winning is more than just variance.

either you never majored in statistics, your job doesn't actually deal with statistics, or you bluffed your way through life. either way, you don't seem to have much of an understanding about luck.

[greatwhite 0]

You obviously weren't playing in your bankroll. However, if you lose a few thousand you have to drop down now. I once turned $50 into like $5k in a week and variance came back to haunt me. I no longer think that it is necessary to have to have hundreds and hundreds of big bets in hold'em, but you have to be able to move down when your struggling.

[Jennings7 0]

OK, it's still a ways off for me at this point, but not so far off that I don't daydream about it when I'm at work.When did you know it was time to quit the day job to just concentrate on poker?I'm up $13k in 17 days from an initial investment of $50.Been playing for years, but never took my winnings and tried to make more from them, always cashed out and took the wife to dinner or something. This time, I tried to build more and did.I also have a dream of owning my own photography business, mostly portraits and weddings. I think that if I can get the $13k to $100k in the next 6-8 months, I can get all the pro equipment I'd need and have a large enough roll to live off of and play poker to supplement until the photography got going.It just kills me knowing that every day I come to work for a 9-10 hour day, killing myself at a job I hate, then I go home, sit at the computer, and make 2-3 days pay in 1.5 hours at poker. Literally, it's costing me money to come to work!How'd anyone else handle the transition?Keep in mind I have a wife and 2 kids...

No way did you make 13K in 17 days from 50 dollars.

[Abbaddabba 0]

And guys, give me a break a little. I started off saying it was nowhere close. But my winning is more than a simple turn in variance. as a math major in college and an actuarial analyst in my day jobI know that my winning is more than just variance. How much more is hard to quantify, but if I could keep this streak up for 6-8 more months, although I'm expecting to a lesser degree, it will definitely be time to consider.

I'd say dont quit your dayjob, but if you really believe what you're saying, maybe you should (but NOT to play poker).

[CobaltBlue 662]

I can't speak for the veracity of the OP's run, but I can quote something that speaks to its plausibility..."With a little loan from his buddy, Freddy had 60 bucks, not a dime more. It was 1pm. He sat down in a $3-$6 game and won $400 in an hour and a half. He quit, hoping to perhaps play $10-$20 or $15-$30. As he listed himself for these games, a three-handed $20-$40 game opened up right next to the board. He watched the game for a while. 'They were playing so bad, I had to take a shot,' he declared. 'The minimum buy-in was $200. I played for about two hours and won $4,400.' His $60 was now up to about $5,000. He cashed out and then saw a $100-$200 hold'em game. 'They were playing horribly,' he said. 'The buy-in was $2,000. I didn't even play for an hour and I was up $24,000. That was big money, money that I never had before.'He cashed out again and then found himself surveying the big games. 'That is my style,' he stated. 'When I am winning, I don't give up.' He found a $200-$400 mixed game, in which they were spreading stud, lowball and hold'em, and he took a seat. 'I had never played lowball in my life,' he laughed. 'The buy-in was $5,000. I played for six hours and eventually they kicked it up to $300-$600. By 5 o'clock in the morning, my bankroll was up to $96,000. I ran $60 up to almost $100,000, and since then, I have never looked back."