Potato Chips Vs Poker Chips

I am in the middle of reading "Treat your Poker Like a Business" and one chapter of his really has hit home for me.  Many of my problems in poker stem from the fact that I plan on playing a lot more than I do -- not surprisingly, I don't practice enough and I don't get better.  I have a very difficult time putting in solid long sessions.  3 hours is rare, 5 hours has probably only happened once or twice.  I've never seen a 30 hour week in poker, no matter how open my schedule is.  Commitment issues, standard.

 What is a realistic expectation?

    I can handle working 60 hours a week standing doing labor, but I don't think that is sustainable.  Likewise, I would be playing far from my A game in my 55th hour of the week.  I am going to commit to 45 hours a week, with at least 10 of those hours being poker hours.  The idea is, since I am working on and off without a solid set schedule, I should take the $12 an hour as much as I can get it working in the kitchen until my game brings me to a point where I am consistently making 12$/hr playing poker.  I'm not sure yet how to define consistently, but I would imagine 100k-200k hands at the rate I want would be enough.

     When school starts, I will work 50 hours a week, and keep that time divided up between my M-F, classes and studying, and poker.  I have 8 credits to take this semester before I graduate.  The beginning of the semester will of course take a little less of my time and the end will take more, but hopefully I can front end the beginning of the semester.  I have not worked 50hrs/wk for longer than 1 week in my life.  But I always considered myself someone with strong work ethic.  Go figure.

Detailed Business Plan

The time that I spend on poker activities would be best allotted by splitting playing and studying in a 70/30 ratio, respectively.  I have a solid theoretical base which I believe gives me an edge at NL10, often when I make bad decisions I am telling myself they are not good, but in the moment I do not have the "muscle memory" that assures me its ok to put down 2pair against a passive loose fish when he shoves the river.  I often study for school in the morning, and I think that is a good low stress way to warm my brain up before I hit the tables, and I can multi task while studying better (ie. read an ebook while I eat ceral or watch a video while I fold laundry) than I can playing.  After breakfast and an 45min-1hr studying session, I will play a short session -- saving my longer session for after I walk my dog for the second time and after lunch, when the happy hour is running.  This session may be split up into 2 different sessions as well, to get me more hours in prime time.  Conversely, I may make a lunch time study session if I know I will play an extended session over the evening hours.

Calling a forum

I joined the 2Qs1Flop secret HQ group and I have had a good experience with them.  Also, I have 2 irl friends named Andy that are very passionate about poker who I can talk about hands with.  Between these two, I think these will be good for poker friends.  My IRL friends all know I am obsessed with poker are none of them are unsupportive, and some even ask me to teach them how to play sometimes.

Knowing Whats Best

    I will often cancel a planned session of poker because a friend calls up and wants to play a game over the internet or if Brian invites someone over.  I'm too willing to stop what I am doing to entertain people.  Also, I will sometimes drink one or two beers too many on a night where I know I want to play in the morning.  Its ok to turn down a smoke with my roommate sometimes.  it is to my friends advantage that I become prosperous.  And I want to give my girlfriend the life she deserves

Forgoing Temptation

I suck at this.  It is so easy for me to take breaks in the middle of a session, take naps, get distracted by Lars ( my dog) and just not do my Job.  I want poker to be my Job.  I can't just sneak off and hide behind the cart rack because I'm not 14 years old anymore and I am my own boss.

Being Proud of what I do

I am definitaly proud of what I do, and I love explaining how playing poker does not make me a degenerate.  I've only felt bad about taking someones money once, and it was at a live game where a woman started crying after she lost an AI with BP -- I think she had a problem.  I don't find any need to legitimize the ethics of what I do.  Next

Being the toughest boss you ever had

There is a reason why the owners of buisness are often dicks to the employees, and the less senior managers are often easier than the most senior ones.  Its because they actually have something at risk.  This is my buisness, and I am in complete control of the sole employee, I should ride him as hard as I can to make sure he puts in the quality hours he agreed to when he took this job.  I am trying to use poker to create a lifestyle for myself that I want.  It is as much a chore as any other job can be at times, but ultimately this is much better than working 9-5 to make someone else rich.

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