to the OP I would say start with some part-time playing first, while taking it seriously. Get an app to track your results (hours and games played, and wins/losses)
Be aware that you'll likely be playing part-time in more premium hours/days when games are better. But if you're going to "go pro" then you'll likely have to include some less profitable days which is going to have an impact on your hourly rate.
Another issue is that when I was working for someone else, poker was my escape from work. I wanted to play 8-12 hours in a tournament or whatever. When it's your job, that appeal will wear off and you'll be looking to find an escape from poker sometimes.
It also depends on where you live and what games are available, and what stakes you'll play. You'll want to set aside 6 months of living expenses PLUS a separate poker bankroll AND a plan B and C should things not go as planned.
I moved from Tampa to Austin almost 2 years ago and the issues I've encountered here are that the games I play (PLO) are structured in a way that is truly awful. For the most part, The Lodge gets the bulk of the action in this market.
They have a 1/2/5 PLO game (the 5 is a bring-in) with initial buyins of 200-1k.
The problem is that they permit unlimited restraddles from UTG onward, and match the stack. So you either get a super grinder-heavy table full of crushers and the only way to make a profit is to cooler someone, or it's the complete opposite and batshit insane.
With PLO, equities run VERY close together preflop. Even premium Aces will usually just be a 65/35 favorite against one other hand, so you're going to lose that 1 in 3 times. However, in Texas players suffer from FOMO. They see a big pot brewing and they HAVE to get their chips in. So now you're in a 6-way all-in preflop for a grand each and your variance is through the roof and your equity edge (IF you have one) is razor thin.
Because of the unlimited restraddles and match the stack, you may win some battles, but it's difficult to win the war if you don't have the deepest pockets. Those with the deepest pockets will increase the variance, making the game play like a shallow-stacked 40/80 game because they can handle the swings. I've legit seen people sitting 20-30K deep in this "entry-level" 1/2/5 game.
Then the recreational players get chewed up and spit out, and you're left with the deep-pocketed pros or whales who are making it hard for new players to enter the PLO player pool because the cost of admission and the rate at which they tear through people is so high.
This is why I'm trying to build my own business plan and start my own poker room. One where unlimited restraddles and match the stack don't come into play until 5/10 and higher. You need to protect your bread and butter lower limit stakes from a minority of players jacking them up and fucking up the poker economy. People need an entry point where they aren't getting completely slaughtered.
Then there's poker tournaments. That's a much higher-variance way to make a living and instead of a cash game pro who should win 2/3 of their sessions, in tournaments you may cash 15-20% of the time. So you'll experience a lot more downs than ups, and you need to play a higher variance style to give yourself a shot at going deep for the top spots where all the money is padded onto.
Tournament grinders already have an edge over the recreational players. Well, the inclusion of unlimited rebuys through the first 9 levels, multi-day and multi-bag events just further the edge the pros have over the recreationals. A recreational player may get lucky and bust Phil Ivey once, but if he has unlimited lives, you aren't going to bust him five times, he's going to get your ass.
So that $400 buy-in 200K GTD tournament is really a $2,000 tournament if you want to be competitive, especially with most prize pools being top-heavy, sometimes with 1st receiving more than 2nd and 3rd combined.
Currently the industry is structured in a way that I believe chews up recreational players too quickly and funnels their money into the pockets of the top pros, who are going to take that money out of the poker economy for life expenses and larger purchases.
Funneling all the money into the pockets of the misregs is terrible for the industry, the recreational players NEED to have some chance and it's just becoming harder and harder for them these days.
I was at a table yesterday which had one lively, boisterous recreational lady who was having fun, laughing, talking, etc. She was playing pretty swingy and had been up and down. But once she got unstuck and started winning the misregs at the table couldn't handle it and were calling out any little rules infraction they could on her.
They never socialized, they sat there with their perpetual scowls on their faces, with earbuds in, trying to make everyone else around them as miserable as they are. A lot of pros lose sight of the fact that their job is to be an entertainer. To make sure the people who are paying their mortgage are entertained, welcomed and having a good time.
But oftentimes it's the complete opposite, with the only time these jerkoffs open their mouths is to berate and insult someone. And unfortunately playing for a living you're going to be around miserable people like this who've lost sight of the goal.
#MakePokerFunAgain
