I think bigred brings up some valid points, although I don't agree so much with the societal implications. Poker is quickly becoming more mainstream and professional poker players are starting to lose the degenerate gambler stereotype. Even if it wasn't becoming more accepted, if that's really what you want to do then, as Jeff said, fuck it.

Job satisfaction would be my biggest concern. I doubt anyone would voluntarily choose to be a professional poker player if they didn't love the game, but what else are you getting out of it besides money? A large part of job satisfaction has to do with what you provide, not just what you get in return (ie. money). In my opinion, that is the biggest drawback to being a poker professional. Teachers foster the intellectual development of their students and they enjoy that. Physicians help the sick and it makes them feel good. Construction workers provide a service for others and have the satisfaction of knowing that what they created was done with their own hands.

The income you earn from playing poker is derived from taking it away from other people. That obvioulsy doesn't bother me or I wouldn't play, but at the same time that process doesn't make me feel better outside of putting more money into my bankroll. Everyone has bad days at work. If you're a mechanic and you have a terrible day at least you can take solace in knowing that perhaps you were able to fix someone's only source of transportation and they didn't have to take a day off work. If you're a poker player and have a shitty day, then you just have a shitty day. Due to the nature of the profession, I'd wager that poker players have more than their share of bad days as compared to most other lines of work. It's not a matter of if you'll run bad, it's a matter of when.

Online poker would be particularly hard for me. It's essentially devoid of human contact. Obviously some people are more suited for such a lifestyle, but for the most part, humans are social creatures. Of course one wouldn't be in front of a monitor all the time but, if you play professionally online, the only interaction you're getting for the better part of the day is through an electronic medium.

I'd love to be able to play professionally. It would be a dream come true. In the grand scheme of things though, I don't know how satisfied I would be with my life when it was all over. When I'm 80 and my kids finally ship me off to the nursing home, I think I'd be more happy reflecting on a life as a virtually unknown physician in a small town that potentially helped thousands of people than as a 6-time WPT champion and member of the Poker Hall of Fame. Maybe that's simply my way of coping with the fact that I'll likely never be a poker great, but I'd like to think there is more to it.


All the above are my personal feelings. From a practical standpoint, what you wrote in your post worries me. You're talking about "the day (your) poker career took off." Your speaking as if you recent success guarantees your future success. It does not.

You've been on a tear lately and are obviously still high off that feeling. Your decision to do this full time is based up your results of the last 30 days? Any hitter that starts out with an average of .427 for the first month is being unrealistic if he thinks he'll end the season with the same average. If at the all-star break his average is still above .400 then maybe he can start to think it's possible. It isn't until the time that the middle of August rolls and he has experienced all the highs and lows of a full season that he'll really understand how legitimate his chances are.

You're not always going to be able to bounce back from a downswing by conjuring up the feelings of your prior wins. We all wish you the best, but the reality is that the vast majority of people that try to do this fail.