I've quit my job, after working for 6 months as a 'Consultant Electrical Engineer'. I handed in my notice on the last day of my probation period so I could give one weeks notice rather than 4, tbh I was that desperate to get outta there! It was a pretty tough decision as my life roll is low and my bankroll non-existent (i'm staked atm) but for various reasons I felt it had to be done.
I have about enough of a life roll to survive on til the end of the year, and if I haven't banked any profit from playing low-mid stakes mtt's for my backer by then I will be looking for another job. So not the best of circumstances under which to 'go pro' obviously but that's the way it's presented itself and I see it as an opportunity rather than anything else.
I knew early on in the job that I could either be a very good engineer or a very good poker player and that if I tried to be both I would likely be a mediocre version of both (or have no life at all!). So I knew I had to choose.
You might ask why didn't I stick at the job until I'd built up a bigger life roll through saving wages and or poker. I considered that but I didn't choose to because basically I couldn't hack it any longer, the combination of working 37.5 hrs a week in front of a screen doing mentally challenging things at work and then spending 20+ hrs a week doing the same at home playing mtt's til the early hrs was becoming increasingly unhealthy and the two were affecting each other negatively. My work was suffering as I dragged myself in after late nights playing mtts and my game was suffering as I was tilting easier and blowing off steam when I came in from work. In recent weeks I had decided to keep my sessions to the weekends but that tilted me more, because I was having no social life at all!
Despite all this I've managed to turn a profit of around $3k (b4 split) in my staking deal which has been going for 2 months now. Which is a decent start but I feel I can do a lot better under different circumstances and with more volume. So at the end of the day I decided although not the best timing it was right for me to leave the job a.s.a.p. to concentrate on poker full-time. What will I do if I run out of life funds and the results don't come, we'll see... but whilst I hope it doesn't come to that I am not averse to working in any job I can find, if I have to.
That's my jacking in a good job justification rant over! In other news I'm in Ireland, near Cork, atm with my Aussie family who are over for a visit. Just arrived today but it's been nice catching up with them so far :) They've been trying to persuade me to move back over to Oz and I'm considering it but I need to think about it carefully first. Future blog posts about that decision I'm sure.
For now I'm gunna enjoy a week away from the tables to reset my body clock a bit and enjoy spending time with the 'rellies'. When I get back it'll be time to crush!
