I have thought about your post a lot. I had some decent success at poker and black jack in my day. I have never gotten over the sports betting hurdle. It owns me.
I would have liked to try to make it at Poker but earn to good of living at what I do to risk it and have the infamous fear of failure.
I recently took a big financial risk and it is panning out for me. I hesitated to do it for years because of my fear of failure but finally, with encouragement from my wife, did it and have never been happier .
I wish you the best, I truly do, go for it, have fun and just do it!
Some words of advice.
1) You must only play games that you have a statistical advantage over- Poker, Sports Betting, BJ ( and knowing how to count) and Horse Racing ( if you are a hell of a capper) You cannot and will not win at slot, Craps, roulette etc over the long haul.
2) You must be a master of the games you choose to play. If you play successful poker, you must never be the sucker. If you do not know what I mean, get out now. I read 20 books on poker, read the forums over hands, learned to figure my odds and tried ( and succeeded sometimes) not to tilt. It must be your job, not your recreation. You will be playing for 1-3 bets an hour, that is it. As I had success at poker, I moved up tables, starting from the small stakes games and getting to the large. You realize this in a hurry, there are no fish at a $20-$40 table, those players are there because they are quite good. Sometimes, you will feel like they can see your cards.
You should feel like you can see the cards of the other players at the low stakes games.
3) If you plan to bet sports all day everyday then you need a unit system to wager on. Usually 2-4% or so of your total bankroll. Do not deviate from it, that is the road to ruin. You need to have a capping angle that no one else has. When you get it, do not share it, keep it for your own. This will be your advantage. I have tried dozens and all have failed. I will keep trying and have some this year for the NFL, I am very interested in.
4) You must learn to watch sports impassionately, objectively. It is about the money, not your team. I bet against the Rockies, far more than I bet on them, as they are terrible overvalued this year (still)
5) Look for friends that are winners. Surround yourself with positive energy, do not get in with those that are always chasing down, looking to get a loan etc. That is another thing, do not loan or borrow money. This is your job. Keep it to yourself.
6) Shop and get the best lines, I cannot emphasize this enough, the juice is what kills you over time. 5dimes is solid and will pay for now better than a book.
Let us all tail you! It will be a blast for me and the rest of the covers community. I am jealous and would love to live vicariously through you. Best of luck, knock em dead!