I've done my pro stint after I've got face to face with burnout as a software developer. I was single, financially stable,... Betting had the appeal to it at the time, but soon enough it became a job.

It had one advantage I like, I didn't have to work for the man, but the rest of it was same as any job. Stay up to date, analyze the games,... same old same old.

I was about to get married, so I quit it and went back to software development. Four years later, I have a stable marriage, a young son, a house (no mortgages, paid in cash), no debt,... I'm not rich, but I'm not hurting for money.

I'm kinda getting bored with programming and that's why I entertained the notion of going back to gambling full time. My wife is working, too, so we have a stable monthly income. But when I thought it through, the boredom would soon settle in and I'll find myself in a volatile position. I'll stick to programming for the foreseeable future and play just for the fun of it.