The poker is definitely not for everyone. Most professional players survive in the game for 2-3 years, and some very good players for 5-10 years. If you are exceptional, you can play for a living for over a decade. The people who might regret turning pro are those who realize at some point they had a massive opportunity cost to them becoming a professional player, meaning they would have been much better off having a traditional career or starting a business. The good thing about becoming a poker pro is that you can transfer into a business owner through utilizing the money won in poker for something else, if at some point poker is no longer the thing you want to do full-time.