Advice on becoming a professional poker player?

It's a lot easier to get a bankroll if you have a job, so that's my best advice. A $10,000 bankroll is incredibly small, and if you have a bad run of even a few weeks you'll find yourself back at your parents' front door explaining that you got hit by bad luck and that you need their help. That's the last place you want to be.

Check around and see if there are any poker dealer schools nearby. Most schools take 6-12 weeks and are pretty affordable. You clearly have an interest in poker, so maybe dealer school will be more your speed than regular college courses. And an extra $1000 or so a week (depending on where you work) will go a long way towards building your bankroll and giving you insurance against a couple of bad reads by you or lucky rivers for your opponent. Also worth noting is that if you have a steady paycheck it will become a lot easier to get an apartment in your own name, buy a car, get a credit card, or whatever. Do you really envision yourself carrying a wad of cash in a rubberband around with you at all times for the rest of your life?

As far as gameplay, pick one game and one specialty and stick with it. Don't try to be a master of all of poker. If your game is limit or no limit, or if it's texas or omaha, stick to that game. Same with the format. You've mentioned cash, tourneys, and sit-n-go's. Why all 3? Pick the one that suits your style and make that your bread and butter. Cash games will probably be the most consistent game without the highs and lows of tournament play, but plenty of great players can make a living playing solely tournaments as long as they have good bankroll management.

I'm assuming you have a $10k bankroll. That's what it seems like you said, although you weren't totally specific about it. That means you're going to be grinding it out at 1-2 or 2-5 NL to start. Whatever your game is, make sure that you're buying in for the maximum allowed amount. Most 2-5 games let you in for $200 to $500, but some games will let you in with more, which is right around your limit. Keep to your promise of solid,conservative bankroll management. Don't move up to a higher level too soon and don't be too proud to move back down a level if you have to at some point in your career.

Bankroll management is more important than solid strategy or great reads at a table. It's the only discipline in your game that is a solid defense against bad luck, and you're going to run into bad luck at some point - I promise you.

Next point - why are you focused on Vegas? For one thing it's a 21 year old age limit at every casino there. For another thing, there are plenty of games all over the country. If you can turn 10 grand into 100 grand close to home why would you think of leaving? If you want to explore, check out Delaware or Pennsylvania, where there are less experienced players. Check out South Florida (my home), where you'll find more loose, erratic play than you've ever imagined. Are you interested in playing at a table where someone will sit down and voluntarily straddle $50 in a 2-5 game? Come to Miami. Or where a player will go all in, blind, for $200 because he's bored? Miami!

Keep meticulous notes of your sessions. Wins, losses, game played, time of session, etc. All of these notes will help you track your strengths and weaknesses. Which rooms, games, and times of day are the best for your wallet.

Good luck to you. You'll need it.

Lots of good advice already (and a bit of what you didn't want to hear), but wanted to add in a perspective that's a bit different.

I was in a similar boat as you 2-3 years ago. I had just gotten to college, and nothing even came close to holding my attention like poker had for the last 5+ years. I thirsted for poker knowledge, and every other subject seemed 'uninteresting'. So I made it through my first year of college with little direction, a minimum wage job that I wasn't too fond of, and went home to a place that now functioned well without me for the summer.

Luckily for me, I had managed to final table the Midnight Madness tournament on Full Tilt a couple of times freshman year and had a fairly nice BR saved up. (Always was good keeping my BR separate from everything else).

I live in Michigan where there are 18+ legal charity poker rooms EVERYWHERE. (Which just means the room has to split the income with a rotating charity). Michigan also has many Casinos that are 18+. So that summer I played, and played, and played, and played, and played keeping great notes along the way. The end of the summer came and I realized how tired I was. I was up a fair bit, but it was the hardest money I had ever earned. I learned I had a knack for tournaments, and that I knew myself better then at the start of the summer. Mentally it was almost a relief when I went back to school. Poker can be draining, did you know?

I decided to use the money I made to lighten those college loans, and I pursued a teaching degree in math and psychology; a fitting major for a poker player I figured. I'm going to school full time, usually playing 3 live poker tournaments a week, and playing lots online. Is poker still the most interesting thing I have ever done? HELL YES! But I'm a year away from graduating with a degree, 2 additional years of poker playing experience, and different look on life. I turn 21 this July... needless to say I'm as excited as you are for that day.

Not sure if my (long) story helps at all! But thought you might like to know that you are not the only one with that kind of dream. If you ever want to talk poker, let me know!

If you plan to save up $10,000, that means you'll have to have some sort of job to do that.

I'll give you the best advice I've ever heard for someone seriously considering going professional. Do NOT quit that job right away. Do not think of quitting until you've saved up at least 6 months worth of living expenses in the bank. That is SEPARATE from your bankroll! Once you have made enough money that you have saved 6 months worth of living expenses, then you are likely good enough to quit your job and make it a career. If you can NOT save that much, then you will not likely make it as a pro.

On the pessimistic, (yet realistic), side, just because the quarterback of the high school football team wants to become an NFL player, doesn't mean he's going to become one. Just because the lead in the high school play wants to become a movie star, doesn't mean he's going to become one. There are TENS of THOUSANDS of people who are trying to do what you want to do. Only a small percentage of people make it. Just because you want it, doesn't mean you'll get it.

Pursue your dream, but do it in a responsible manner. Save up 6 months of living expenses with poker winnings, and you know you're for real.

Getting a college degree doesn't have to cost 100k. Why not get a 2-year Associates degree somewhere like at a community college? While working toward it, you can play poker online. Or maybe find a college near where your friend lives.

Also you don't need a 10k poker bankroll. For $1/2 you'd need about 4k. (Though you should have money set aside for non-poker things, so if you meant 10k in savings, I guess that's about right.)

You sound like you have a better chance at making it than most people.

I gtg but if I think of more things to say later I'll edit.

Research and Skill are the number 1 without a shadow of doubt.

You need to understand the game, you need to understand why you are playing a hand in a certain way.... (Do you always just 3bet KQo when on the btn or do you fold v a gun open etc) WHY do you do these things.

Skill is just as important there is a reason there are consistent winners at poker that is cos they have the skills required to be successful.

If you are dead set on leaving school and you want to become a poker pro, I agree with the person who said to take the poker dealing course. There is good money to be made dealing poker, and you can still play (but you probably have to play somewhere other than where you work).

A new site just came out on dealing poker that your foundation on playing may make easier to learn with. http://truepokerdealer.com/

I have watched a couple of those videos myself and they are well done. I found them on twoplustwo.com

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I just want to say that I am so proud of you. Not many people have the courage to face something they want to do so head on. I think that you are a role model for any 8 year old out there to look up to, even if you don't succeed in your dream. I only hope that when I have kids one day they work at fulfilling their dreams with even half as much push. Good on you :)

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So I assume you've been making plenty on-line, right? You make a lot more per hour multi-tabling on-line than playing a single table at a casino.