Playing late regularly [+ Professional Poker Playing Lifestyle Discussion]

luckylucky

I normally start playing shortly after I get out of bed in the morning which can be anytime between 8 and 11 a.m. by the time the evening comes around when all the juicy games are getting going I don't feel like playing so much anymore. After a poor run though I'm thinking sod this for a lark. I'm thinking of changing my playing times from about 6 pm. to 4 a.m for a couple of months at least - anyone else play to that sort of timetable and how do you find it affects other parts of your life.

Treehouse72

I am exactly the same LL. I get so knackered in the morning/afternoon trying to do a dance with the regs that I am burned out by 6pm most days and can't bear to look at the screen after that.

And rightly so - a day's work is a day's work and you need to break at some point. 4 or 5 hours of 4-8 tabling is quite enough for anyone to consider they have done an honest day's work IMO. (How many hours of actual work do people do in the office? After all the fag breaks and coffee breaks and after straring at the girl across the desk all day, I seriously doubt its more than 4 or 5 hours. I make 2,000 individual decisions a day for Chrissakes! That is a day's work!)

But occasionally, maybe once or twice a week, I won't get my hands in in the day and have to play some in the evening and I agree with you - it depresses me how many awful players there are. But I just can't switch to mainly-evening play because the idea of my evenings being eaten up kills me when half the point of trying to make a living playing this poxy game is that you are not constrained by horribe hours or nasty shifts.

That being said, I think I am going to try and mix it up through the week within an overall routine. For example, I go to the gym 2 days a week and am usually tired from that, so no evening poker on those days. Saturday and Sunday are the weekend, so I'd rather keep those evenings free (and the days the lightest of the week, maybe 1/2 - 3/4 the number of hands in a normal day).

That just leaves me 3 days, and on those I'm going to split my day in 2, with half the time in the evening. If I am right and 4/5 hours are a reasonable day in anyone's book, it can't kill me to find 2 hours three times a week to play between 8 and midnight.

Oh, and of course I like getting stoned in the evening, which makes playing then kinda silly.

luckylucky

Yeah 4 to 5 hours solid play is more than most people would do of actual productive work in a real job, that's for sure. I was chatting on msn to a Swedish pro earlier and he mainly operates for 4 hours between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. - i'll probably start a bit earlier that that and I don't think I'm going to go totally night owl after all - but I'm really going to just give daytime poker a miss all the same. Going to have to find some other stuff to do during the day then - though tbh there seems like f-all to do here during the day as I live in the Portuguese equivalent of County Leitrim (not slagging off Leitrim which is very nice place - just it's a bit depopulated and as such there's less to do)

Grafter

Yeh, I'd say 8pm-1am or 8pm-2am is optimal, but if you've nothing else to do all day then meh.

Try the open to US sites if you're up early of a morning. Cake (for example) sometimes has some good tables with late night their time, less than fresh and alert Americans.

Pretty much everywhere is a grind in the Euro time afternoons.

TheRock

Ever tried playing in the morning on US sites? like between 7am - 11am our time.

You get a lot of the US still playing at this time and the standards pretty poor I find. Lots of them coming to the end of their nights playing and plenty of value about.

luckylucky

Grafter wrote: »

Yeh, I'd say 8pm-1am or 8pm-2am is optimal, but if you've nothing else to do all day then meh.

think I'll aim to play those times, just going to have to occupy myself otherwise during the day, watch videos or get some exercise etc.

TheRock wrote: »

Ever tried playing in the morning on US sites? like between 7am - 11am our time.

You get a lot of the US still playing at this time and the standards pretty poor I find. Lots of them coming to the end of their nights playing and plenty of value about.

Yeah that's an option also played a few times on Full Tilt at around 6 a.m., still some good games then with West Coast US drunks playing. After about 9 a.m the amount of players dwindle rapidly though.

8 pm - 2 a.m sounds optimal alright.

Grafter

think I'll aim to play those times, just going to have to occupy myself otherwise during the day, watch videos or get some exercise etc.

Maybe play a couple of hours AM towards your daily hands/points/RB target if you have one, do other stuff in the afternoon when the games are poor anyway and then be kinda bored/looking for something to do and so be looking forward to the stimulation of the evening session?

It's kinda what I do, but I'm lucky because I wake when I want, play until my wife comes in from college, spend time with her and then play evenings unless we go out.

High-Tower

Pics please :D:D

Tight Ted

If you play on Stars there's always good games going on.

Grafter

High-Tower wrote: »

Pics please :D:D

luckylucky

Tight Ted wrote: »

If you play on Stars there's always good games going on.

Depends on what you call good and in what games you play. Stars is the toughest site - I'm trying to make a living from the game - so for me I normally just use stars for donkaments.

Grafter

luckylucky wrote: »

Depends on what you call good and in what games you play. Stars is the toughest site - I'm trying to make a living from the game - so for me I normally just use stars for donkaments.

I should have asked that. What is your game of choice?

luckylucky

Grafter wrote: »

I should have asked that. What is your game of choice?

I play quite a few different variations but mostly I play sngs and PLO. I'm dabbling a bit in Limit Hold 'Em again after a long time away from it, and I haven't played much NL in a long while. I'm probably going to focus even more on sngs - though they can be really frustrating when on a bad run, still though they're probably my strongest game. I'll be playing mostly $200 to $500 games and maybe some $1ks. Anyways the busy times for whatever game you play are pretty much the same times

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I normally play from 9pm to 1am most nights not out of choice more to do with time constraints. I could imagine playing regs during the day would be a lot tougher than playing in the evenings were you get more recreactional players and greater value imo.
Not directed at anyone in this thread but i laugh when people say they are tired after playing 3/4 hours online ffs try working 10/12 hrs in the day job/family/and 3/4 hours odd online and come back to me:rolleyes: BTW i sleep around 5 hrs a nights which is plenty.
It appears there are many "lazy" players on boards at the moment doing themselves an injustice by not playing more and putting effort/hours in to give themselves a greater return over a full year.

Grafter

Andi Fluffy Criminal wrote: »

I normally play from 9pm to 1am most nights not out of choice more to do with time constraints. I could imagine playing regs during the day would be a lot tougher than playing in the evenings were you get more recreactional players and greater value imo.
Not directed at anyone in this thread but i laugh when people say they are tired after playing 3/4 hours online ffs try working 10/12 hrs in the day job/family/and 3/4 hours odd online and come back to me:rolleyes: BTW i sleep around 5 hrs a nights which is plenty.
It appears there are many "lazy" players on boards at the moment doing themselves an injustice by not playing more and putting effort/hours in to give themselves a greater return over a full year.

I agree with all of this.

I also think (without overly generalising and without knowing what age various posters are or what commitments/responsibilities they do or don't have) that there's a big difference between the youngsters having a crack at poker instead of a j o b, compared to the oldies or semi oldies who are happy to grind for extra pennies.

(in case of doubt, I'm in the latter category even though I've killed my bills and don't have to work any more)

cardshark202

Playing during the day is far healthier in the long term. Can't remember where I read this but someone who works nights for most of there life will lose something like 10 years off there life expectancy or something like that. I used to play during the nights 'cos the games would always be better but the trade off of sleeping less at more erratic times and often missing a lot of other daytime activities meant that it wasn't worth it. Playing during the day also means you lead a more 'normal' life and allows to socialise more with your non-poker-playing friends. Since I started playing during the day I've felt much healthier and have been way more active

Treehouse72

Andi Fluffy Criminal wrote: »

I normally play from 9pm to 1am most nights not out of choice more to do with time constraints. I could imagine playing regs during the day would be a lot tougher than playing in the evenings were you get more recreactional players and greater value imo.
Not directed at anyone in this thread but i laugh when people say they are tired after playing 3/4 hours online ffs try working 10/12 hrs in the day job/family/and 3/4 hours odd online and come back to me:rolleyes: BTW i sleep around 5 hrs a nights which is plenty.
It appears there are many "lazy" players on boards at the moment doing themselves an injustice by not playing more and putting effort/hours in to give themselves a greater return over a full year.

Whoa, now hang on a goddam moment.

1. Away from work, full time poker players have exactly the same responsibilites and committments as you do - families, kids, bills, constraints on time and so forth. Quite why you should think otherwise is beyond me and frankly I find it insulting, as though I piss around without a care in the world except moaning about playing poker. I don't like your condescending implication that we are somehow separate from society and normality. We are not.

2. You say you have a job to worry about: yeah, so do we and it's called poker. You have the financial security of your job to fall back on, we do not. You seem to have no conception of the level of emotional and financial commitment relying on poker requires, nor the pressure and stress of having to make money month in, month out exerts.

3. Yes, playing against the regs in the daytime is tougher than the evening. Much tougher. Much, much tougher. Good luck trying to grind the rent out of dozens of 14/13 rakeback pros from Hungary or 25/23 child geniuses from Sweden. It's like poker, just less fun, sometimes a bloody hell of a lot less fun.

4. If you work 10/12 hour days, good for you. I usually work 5 or 6 hours a day and often up to 8. Every single minute of that is concentration - that is not the same as work in most real-world jobs. When I think of previous jobs I've had in the real world, out of an 8 hour day, I'd have an hour for lunch, and I'd piss away another hour in coffee breaks. Add to that the time you surf the net or send personal emails or call your girlfriend, and a large chunk of that 8 hour day is gone. And concentrating on 1,000 decisions in an hour is not the same as "working" on an email for an hour (which I have done myself many times in the past) in terms of concentration.

Oh, and I work 7 days a week....do you? Every day. I take maybe 2 days off a month, or maybe 4 half-days. No more. Been doing that for over 2 years now. I played on my birthday last month, and will play some hands for RB on Christmas and NY day, as I did last year. If I want to go out on a Saturday night, I don't get a lie in that morning and I have to skip Football Focus cause I need to get my hands in before disco time. And when I wake up hung-over on Sunday I don't have the luxury of not being arsed. I tell you, needing to grind out even 1,000 hands over 2 hours on a hungover, gloomy Sunday is not my idea of fun.

5. By all means talk about laziness, but you would be pretty silly to direct that accusation at anyone trying to make a living at poker, because most of us try to be professional: getting up early, concentrating, trying to eat well, stay exercised, do research etc. etc. Any suggestion most pros piss around getting stoned and watching Loose Women all day is wide of the mark.


Not sure you thought through your post.

sickpuppy

Jaysus treehouse it seems that you should take more breaks.
I mean surely one of the joys of playing poker for a living is the chance to take nice breaks.
Do you go on holdiays?
Wander like a lostysheep in coppers looking for a comatosed fat bird?
If i had to break my arse 7 days a week id do another job.
Of course not all players have the ability to work short hours and be profitable.
As cardshark said daytime playing is of course better sleep when its dark not when sun is shining.
Its been proved scientifically its better for your health too.
It allows certain social interaction playing some sports activieties etc not just pulling the stones off yourself on a web cam to some yoke online.
Camfro:pac:g.com
But most players you talk to esp pros dont make as much effort as they can happy with a wage not driven enough to move up and on.

DrJFF

interesting propostion, not too sure wat is the healtier proposition, all i know poker fcuks up the most solid minds up long term

Tight Ted

Treehouse72 wrote: »

Whoa, now hang on a goddam moment.

1. Away from work, full time poker players have exactly the same responsibilites and committments as you do - families, kids, bills, constraints on time and so forth. Quite why you should think otherwise is beyond me and frankly I find it insulting, as though I piss around without a care in the world except moaning about playing poker. I don't like your condescending implication that we are somehow separate from society and normality. We are not.

2. You say you have a job to worry about: yeah, so do we and it's called poker. You have the financial security of your job to fall back on, we do not. You seem to have no conception of the level of emotional and financial commitment relying on poker requires, nor the pressure and stress of having to make money month in, month out exerts.

3. Yes, playing against the regs in the daytime is tougher than the evening. Much tougher. Much, much tougher. Good luck trying to grind the rent out of dozens of 14/13 rakeback pros from Hungary or 25/23 child geniuses from Sweden. It's like poker, just less fun, sometimes a bloody hell of a lot less fun.

4. If you work 10/12 hour days, good for you. I usually work 5 or 6 hours a day and often up to 8. Every single minute of that is concentration - that is not the same as work in most real-world jobs. When I think of previous jobs I've had in the real world, out of an 8 hour day, I'd have an hour for lunch, and I'd piss away another hour in coffee breaks. Add to that the time you surf the net or send personal emails or call your girlfriend, and a large chunk of that 8 hour day is gone. And concentrating on 1,000 decisions in an hour is not the same as "working" on an email for an hour (which I have done myself many times in the past) in terms of concentration.

Oh, and I work 7 days a week....do you? Every day. I take maybe 2 days off a month, or maybe 4 half-days. No more. Been doing that for over 2 years now. I played on my birthday last month, and will play some hands for RB on Christmas and NY day, as I did last year. If I want to go out on a Saturday night, I don't get a lie in that morning and I have to skip Football Focus cause I need to get my hands in before disco time. And when I wake up hung-over on Sunday I don't have the luxury of not being arsed. I tell you, needing to grind out even 1,000 hands over 2 hours on a hungover, gloomy Sunday is not my idea of fun.

5. By all means talk about laziness, but you would be pretty silly to direct that accusation at anyone trying to make a living at poker, because most of us try to be professional: getting up early, concentrating, trying to eat well, stay exercised, do research etc. etc. Any suggestion most pros piss around getting stoned and watching Loose Women all day is wide of the mark.


Not sure you thought through your post.

You must be making serious pittance if you're playing as much as you say, yet still have to play hands at xmas 'for rb'. I thought the whole idea of being an online pro was to have more free time for family, friends etc.

Maybe you should quit, and get one of those cushy 9 to 5s you described. Then you might have some free time for xmas, lol.

HIVeindhoven

Treehouse72 wrote: »

Whoa, now hang on a goddam moment.

1. Away from work, full time poker players have exactly the same responsibilites and committments as you do - families, kids, bills, constraints on time and so forth. Quite why you should think otherwise is beyond me and frankly I find it insulting, as though I piss around without a care in the world except moaning about playing poker. I don't like your condescending implication that we are somehow separate from society and normality. We are not.

2. You say you have a job to worry about: yeah, so do we and it's called poker. You have the financial security of your job to fall back on, we do not. You seem to have no conception of the level of emotional and financial commitment relying on poker requires, nor the pressure and stress of having to make money month in, month out exerts.

3. Yes, playing against the regs in the daytime is tougher than the evening. Much tougher. Much, much tougher. Good luck trying to grind the rent out of dozens of 14/13 rakeback pros from Hungary or 25/23 child geniuses from Sweden. It's like poker, just less fun, sometimes a bloody hell of a lot less fun.

4. If you work 10/12 hour days, good for you. I usually work 5 or 6 hours a day and often up to 8. Every single minute of that is concentration - that is not the same as work in most real-world jobs. When I think of previous jobs I've had in the real world, out of an 8 hour day, I'd have an hour for lunch, and I'd piss away another hour in coffee breaks. Add to that the time you surf the net or send personal emails or call your girlfriend, and a large chunk of that 8 hour day is gone. And concentrating on 1,000 decisions in an hour is not the same as "working" on an email for an hour (which I have done myself many times in the past) in terms of concentration.

Oh, and I work 7 days a week....do you? Every day. I take maybe 2 days off a month, or maybe 4 half-days. No more. Been doing that for over 2 years now. I played on my birthday last month, and will play some hands for RB on Christmas and NY day, as I did last year. If I want to go out on a Saturday night, I don't get a lie in that morning and I have to skip Football Focus cause I need to get my hands in before disco time. And when I wake up hung-over on Sunday I don't have the luxury of not being arsed. I tell you, needing to grind out even 1,000 hands over 2 hours on a hungover, gloomy Sunday is not my idea of fun.

5. By all means talk about laziness, but you would be pretty silly to direct that accusation at anyone trying to make a living at poker, because most of us try to be professional: getting up early, concentrating, trying to eat well, stay exercised, do research etc. etc. Any suggestion most pros piss around getting stoned and watching Loose Women all day is wide of the mark.


Not sure you thought through your post.

[ ] Sounds enjoyable

[ ] Sounds way better then a 9-5 Job

[x] Get a real job ffs

Daithio

Treehouse72 wrote: »

Whoa, now hang on a goddam moment.

1. Away from work, full time poker players have exactly the same responsibilites and committments as you do - families, kids, bills, constraints on time and so forth. Quite why you should think otherwise is beyond me and frankly I find it insulting, as though I piss around without a care in the world except moaning about playing poker. I don't like your condescending implication that we are somehow separate from society and normality. We are not.

2. You say you have a job to worry about: yeah, so do we and it's called poker. You have the financial security of your job to fall back on, we do not. You seem to have no conception of the level of emotional and financial commitment relying on poker requires, nor the pressure and stress of having to make money month in, month out exerts.

3. Yes, playing against the regs in the daytime is tougher than the evening. Much tougher. Much, much tougher. Good luck trying to grind the rent out of dozens of 14/13 rakeback pros from Hungary or 25/23 child geniuses from Sweden. It's like poker, just less fun, sometimes a bloody hell of a lot less fun.

4. If you work 10/12 hour days, good for you. I usually work 5 or 6 hours a day and often up to 8. Every single minute of that is concentration - that is not the same as work in most real-world jobs. When I think of previous jobs I've had in the real world, out of an 8 hour day, I'd have an hour for lunch, and I'd piss away another hour in coffee breaks. Add to that the time you surf the net or send personal emails or call your girlfriend, and a large chunk of that 8 hour day is gone. And concentrating on 1,000 decisions in an hour is not the same as "working" on an email for an hour (which I have done myself many times in the past) in terms of concentration.

Oh, and I work 7 days a week....do you? Every day. I take maybe 2 days off a month, or maybe 4 half-days. No more. Been doing that for over 2 years now. I played on my birthday last month, and will play some hands for RB on Christmas and NY day, as I did last year. If I want to go out on a Saturday night, I don't get a lie in that morning and I have to skip Football Focus cause I need to get my hands in before disco time. And when I wake up hung-over on Sunday I don't have the luxury of not being arsed. I tell you, needing to grind out even 1,000 hands over 2 hours on a hungover, gloomy Sunday is not my idea of fun.

5. By all means talk about laziness, but you would be pretty silly to direct that accusation at anyone trying to make a living at poker, because most of us try to be professional: getting up early, concentrating, trying to eat well, stay exercised, do research etc. etc. Any suggestion most pros piss around getting stoned and watching Loose Women all day is wide of the mark.


Not sure you thought through your post.

So why do you play poker for a living exactly?

The thing I disliked most about playing poker full time was the late nights. I'm defo more of a daytime person, but it's really hard to keep to the discipline of getting up early when you're not going to lose your job if you don't.

reilly110

Treehouse72 wrote: »

Whoa, now hang on a goddam moment.

1. Away from work, full time poker players have exactly the same responsibilites and committments as you do - families, kids, bills, constraints on time and so forth. Quite why you should think otherwise is beyond me and frankly I find it insulting, as though I piss around without a care in the world except moaning about playing poker. I don't like your condescending implication that we are somehow separate from society and normality. We are not.

2. You say you have a job to worry about: yeah, so do we and it's called poker. You have the financial security of your job to fall back on, we do not. You seem to have no conception of the level of emotional and financial commitment relying on poker requires, nor the pressure and stress of having to make money month in, month out exerts.

i would advise you to get a regular job -

3. Yes, playing against the regs in the daytime is tougher than the evening. Much tougher. Much, much tougher. Good luck trying to grind the rent out of dozens of 14/13 rakeback pros from Hungary or 25/23 child geniuses from Sweden. It's like poker, just less fun, sometimes a bloody hell of a lot less fun.

4. If you work 10/12 hour days, good for you. I usually work 5 or 6 hours a day and often up to 8. Every single minute of that is concentration - that is not the same as work in most real-world jobs. When I think of previous jobs I've had in the real world, out of an 8 hour day, I'd have an hour for lunch, and I'd piss away another hour in coffee breaks. Add to that the time you surf the net or send personal emails or call your girlfriend, and a large chunk of that 8 hour day is gone. And concentrating on 1,000 decisions in an hour is not the same as "working" on an email for an hour (which I have done myself many times in the past) in terms of concentration.

Oh, and I work 7 days a week....do you? Every day. I take maybe 2 days off a month, or maybe 4 half-days. No more. Been doing that for over 2 years now. I played on my birthday last month, and will play some hands for RB on Christmas and NY day, as I did last year. If I want to go out on a Saturday night, I don't get a lie in that morning and I have to skip Football Focus cause I need to get my hands in before disco time. And when I wake up hung-over on Sunday I don't have the luxury of not being arsed. I tell you, needing to grind out even 1,000 hands over 2 hours on a hungover, gloomy Sunday is not my idea of fun.

5. By all means talk about laziness, but you would be pretty silly to direct that accusation at anyone trying to make a living at poker, because most of us try to be professional: getting up early, concentrating, trying to eat well, stay exercised, do research etc. etc. Any suggestion most pros piss around getting stoned and watching Loose Women all day is wide of the mark.


Not sure you thought through your post.

i would advise you to get a regular job -does not seem like you really enjoy the game at all

you really seem to loath playing

also playing 7 days a week is crazy


and also i happen to like Loose Women

pok3rplaya

agree with cshark

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Treehouse72 wrote: »

Whoa, now hang on a goddam moment.

1. Away from work, full time poker players have exactly the same responsibilites and committments as you do - families, kids, bills, constraints on time and so forth. Quite why you should think otherwise is beyond me and frankly I find it insulting, as though I piss around without a care in the world except moaning about playing poker. I don't like your condescending implication that we are somehow separate from society and normality. We are not.

2. You say you have a job to worry about: yeah, so do we and it's called poker. You have the financial security of your job to fall back on, we do not. You seem to have no conception of the level of emotional and financial commitment relying on poker requires, nor the pressure and stress of having to make money month in, month out exerts.

3. Yes, playing against the regs in the daytime is tougher than the evening. Much tougher. Much, much tougher. Good luck trying to grind the rent out of dozens of 14/13 rakeback pros from Hungary or 25/23 child geniuses from Sweden. It's like poker, just less fun, sometimes a bloody hell of a lot less fun.

4. If you work 10/12 hour days, good for you. I usually work 5 or 6 hours a day and often up to 8. Every single minute of that is concentration - that is not the same as work in most real-world jobs. When I think of previous jobs I've had in the real world, out of an 8 hour day, I'd have an hour for lunch, and I'd piss away another hour in coffee breaks. Add to that the time you surf the net or send personal emails or call your girlfriend, and a large chunk of that 8 hour day is gone. And concentrating on 1,000 decisions in an hour is not the same as "working" on an email for an hour (which I have done myself many times in the past) in terms of concentration.

Oh, and I work 7 days a week....do you? Every day. I take maybe 2 days off a month, or maybe 4 half-days. No more. Been doing that for over 2 years now. I played on my birthday last month, and will play some hands for RB on Christmas and NY day, as I did last year. If I want to go out on a Saturday night, I don't get a lie in that morning and I have to skip Football Focus cause I need to get my hands in before disco time. And when I wake up hung-over on Sunday I don't have the luxury of not being arsed. I tell you, needing to grind out even 1,000 hands over 2 hours on a hungover, gloomy Sunday is not my idea of fun.

5. By all means talk about laziness, but you would be pretty silly to direct that accusation at anyone trying to make a living at poker, because most of us try to be professional: getting up early, concentrating, trying to eat well, stay exercised, do research etc. etc. Any suggestion most pros piss around getting stoned and watching Loose Women all day is wide of the mark.


Not sure you thought through your post.

Not sure you grasped mine fully tbh, not my problem u cannot beat 10/20c

El Stuntman

Treehouse72 wrote: »

Whoa, now hang on a goddam moment.

1. Away from work, full time poker players have exactly the same responsibilites and committments as you do - families, kids, bills, constraints on time and so forth. Quite why you should think otherwise is beyond me and frankly I find it insulting, as though I piss around without a care in the world except moaning about playing poker. I don't like your condescending implication that we are somehow separate from society and normality. We are not.

2. You say you have a job to worry about: yeah, so do we and it's called poker. You have the financial security of your job to fall back on, we do not. You seem to have no conception of the level of emotional and financial commitment relying on poker requires, nor the pressure and stress of having to make money month in, month out exerts.

3. Yes, playing against the regs in the daytime is tougher than the evening. Much tougher. Much, much tougher. Good luck trying to grind the rent out of dozens of 14/13 rakeback pros from Hungary or 25/23 child geniuses from Sweden. It's like poker, just less fun, sometimes a bloody hell of a lot less fun.

4. If you work 10/12 hour days, good for you. I usually work 5 or 6 hours a day and often up to 8. Every single minute of that is concentration - that is not the same as work in most real-world jobs. When I think of previous jobs I've had in the real world, out of an 8 hour day, I'd have an hour for lunch, and I'd piss away another hour in coffee breaks. Add to that the time you surf the net or send personal emails or call your girlfriend, and a large chunk of that 8 hour day is gone. And concentrating on 1,000 decisions in an hour is not the same as "working" on an email for an hour (which I have done myself many times in the past) in terms of concentration.

Oh, and I work 7 days a week....do you? Every day. I take maybe 2 days off a month, or maybe 4 half-days. No more. Been doing that for over 2 years now. I played on my birthday last month, and will play some hands for RB on Christmas and NY day, as I did last year. If I want to go out on a Saturday night, I don't get a lie in that morning and I have to skip Football Focus cause I need to get my hands in before disco time. And when I wake up hung-over on Sunday I don't have the luxury of not being arsed. I tell you, needing to grind out even 1,000 hands over 2 hours on a hungover, gloomy Sunday is not my idea of fun.

5. By all means talk about laziness, but you would be pretty silly to direct that accusation at anyone trying to make a living at poker, because most of us try to be professional: getting up early, concentrating, trying to eat well, stay exercised, do research etc. etc. Any suggestion most pros piss around getting stoned and watching Loose Women all day is wide of the mark.


Not sure you thought through your post.

lol

what a load of self-serving tripe

zap27

So do you make a good living from it treehouse?

luckylucky

Andi Fluffy Criminal wrote: »

I normally play from 9pm to 1am most nights not out of choice more to do with time constraints. I could imagine playing regs during the day would be a lot tougher than playing in the evenings were you get more recreactional players and greater value imo.
Not directed at anyone in this thread but i laugh when people say they are tired after playing 3/4 hours online ffs try working 10/12 hrs in the day job/family/and 3/4 hours odd online and come back to me:rolleyes: BTW i sleep around 5 hrs a nights which is plenty.
It appears there are many "lazy" players on boards at the moment doing themselves an injustice by not playing more and putting effort/hours in to give themselves a greater return over a full year.

tbh Fran there's a number of differences between having a regular job along with poker as a serious sideline as opposed to having poker as your main job. Before I went totally full-time I approached it in pretty much the same manner as yourself - I'd do my 8 to 10 hours of my normal job which I couldn't stand and then be really looking forward to playing poker in the evening and then play basically as much as I could get away with it in the evening.

The problem for me now is I'm in the habit of playing on/off throughtout the day and by the time the evening comes around just as in a regular job the last thing you want to do is the same stuff you've been doing all day, though I still often do play from morning to bedtime - it's not the most productive use of my time though imo - so that's why in a way you could say I want to get back to the days where I was more enthusiastic for the game and be raring to go when the evening time comes and the games are juicier - 4 or 5 quality hours against weaker opponents is way better than 11/12 half hearted hours against tougher opponents.

Also I think the point is still valid that 4 or 5 hours of actual play time is probably more than the equivalent productivity of the normal person's working day. i.e. between break times, researching the game, looking at poker forums, going back over hands, maintaining spreadsheets, being an arse on boards and yeah just browsing the internet, on msn and checking emails(something I did as a computer programmer 'n all ) 4 to 5 hours of actual play can mean 9 to 10 hours of being on the PC.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

luckylucky wrote: »

tbh Fran there's a number of differences between having a regular job and having poker as a serious sideline and having poker as your main job. Before I went totally full-time I approached it in pretty much the same manner as yourself - I'd do my 8 to 10 hours of my normal job which I couldn't stand and then be really looking forward to playing poker in the evening and then play basically as much as I could get away with it in the evening. The problem for me now is I'm in the habit of playing on/off throughtout the day and by the time the evening comes around just as in a regular job the last thing you want to do is the same stuff you've been doing all day, though I still often do play from morning to bedtime - it's not the most productive use of my time though imo - so that's why in a way you could say I want to get back to the days where I was more enthusiastic for the game and be raring to go when the evening time comes and the games are juicier - 4 or 5 quality hours against weaker opponents is way better than 11/12 half hearted hours against tougher opponents.

Fair point above Barry but if i was doing it for a living i feel only playing/working 10-15 hours a week is not enough (again not directed at you) If you are a winning player you are limiting your earning potential by not putting the hours in. I suppose i am different to the normal poker pros in that i have the day job but i use every opportunity i get to play and maximise my profits. Sounds a bit anal but i treat my poker as a business and if i make a good hourly rate i obviously try increase the hours i play, within reason of course:)
I think the key is find a routine that fits your lifestyle but maximnises your opportunity to earn as much $$$$ as possible.
I could name at least 4/5 good posters here on boards that have decent win rates but do not have a set routine and have the potential to earn so much more from the game.

Stands off soap box.....:p

EDIT to say i am posting this whilst taking a business call, i can multi task!!! You must be all lazy feckers in your jobs if your productive less than 50% of the time

luckylucky

Andi Fluffy Criminal wrote: »

Fair point above Barry but if i was doing it for a living i feel only playing/working 10-15 hours a week is not enough (again not directed at you) If you are a winning player you are limiting your earning potential by not putting the hours in. I suppose i am different to the normal poker pros in that i have the day job but i use every opportunity i get to play and maximise my profits. Sounds a bit anal but i treat my poker as a business and if i make a good hourly rate i obviously try increase the hours i play, within reason of course:)
I think the key is find a routine that fits your lifestyle but maximnises your opportunity to earn as much $$$$ as possible.I could name at least 4/5 good posters here on boards that have decent win rates but do not have a set routine and have the potential to earn so much more from the game.

Stands off soap box.....:p

I agree with all of the above. I think you need to find a happy compromise between putting in a decent effort and avoiding burnout - in a way with my current routine I'm doing neither hence the post.

Also btw I think treehouse just got the wrong end of the stick - I knew you weren't being condescending. I think if you take the 'heatedness' :P element out of treehouse's reply he is talking sense also.

zuutroy

Andi Fluffy Criminal wrote: »

If you are a winning player you are limiting your earning potential by not putting the hours in.

It all depends what you want. I don't think I'll lie on my deathbed cursing my wasted earning potential For guys who play for a living and can make a decent amount playing 15 hours a week its a great situation to be in. A lot of people (myself included) are happy enough with a moderate lifestyle once their time is their own.

mdwexford

Agreed Treehouse did make some valid points before going just a tad over the top on point 4

Treehouse72

lol. It's like mini-2+2 in here, only with less humour and more pomposity.

I only made such a negative post because the original poster implied full timers were unjustified in moaning about having to play "only" 5 hours a day. If his post had been about how terrible it must be to play full time, I would have written a post just as long explaining the many upsides to being full time. Like not having to sit on the M50 for 2 hours a day, not getting stressed by idiotic work colleagues, not being just another schlub in the rat race, not having a boss to suck up to, not paying taxes, being able to mix up your hours, the money you save in transport/lunches/work clothes etc etc. I f***ing LOVE what I do for a living, but the point of my post was that it is a job, just like any other job with good bits and bad bits, and one you need to take seriously. This crap about "I play for 3 hours when I get home from work so what's the big deal?" is just so much nonsense.

........

Jack - please tell me what part of your post I misinterpreted and I'll gladly apologise. And I notice you say I cannot beat 10c/20c....so presumably you think I make a living at a level I can beat, like .05c/10c? Yah, that makes sense.

El Stuntman - self-serving? Do you know what a tautology is? If not, look it up, because your accusation is a perfect example of such a thing. Call my post ranty, or bitter, or whatever you like, but to accuse a post whose purpose is self-justification of being self-serving is, well, tautological.

HIVEindohoven - nice handle, you sound like a classy guy. And what's with the checkboxes? Are you 17? I have had real jobs. In fact, I used to have my dream job before doing this full time, which I would guess is more than you have ever achieved. So, [x] Go f*** yourself.

Ted - "playing as much as I say"? I said I play 5 hours a day 7 days a week. 35 hours a week. The poster I was responding to claims to work no less than 50 - 60 hours a week, and no doubt has commuting to include on top of that. So if you are going to patronise me, you should at least get your sums right.

Zap - I earn about €3,000 per month net, which is the equivalent take-home of a €50k salary. And I don't have the associated costs of working to come out of that (transport, lunch, clothes etc.). My only work expenses are a Deuces Cracked sub (€25 or whatever it is). So I am not a balla, but I am comfortable with this income for a 35 hour working week.

LL - yes, my post was too heated, but thank you for at least seeing a grain of truth in what I was saying.



Nice little group-thinking echo chamber you guys have going on in here.

...

Ed: MDWexford - you're right, my post was OTT at points for sure.

pgodkin

Treehouse72 wrote: »

lol. It's like mini-2+2 in here, only with less humour and more pomposity.

I only made such a negative post because the original poster implied full timers were unjustified in moaning about having to play "only" 5 hours a day. If his post had been about how terrible it must be to play full time, I would have written a post just as long explaining the many upsides to being full time. Like not having to sit on the M50 for 2 hours a day, not getting stressed by idiotic work colleagues, not being just another schlub in the rat race, not having a boss to suck up to, not paying taxes, being able to mix up your hours, the money you save in transport/lunches/work clothes etc etc. I f***ing LOVE what I do for a living, but the point of my post was that it is a job, just like any other job with good bits and bad bits, and one you need to take seriously. This crap about "I play for 3 hours when I get home from work so what's the big deal?" is just so much nonsense.

........

Jack - please tell me what part of your post I misinterpreted and I'll gladly apologise. And I notice you say I cannot beat 10c/20c....so presumably you think I make a living at a level I can beat, like .05c/10c? Yah, that makes sense.

El Stuntman - self-serving? Do you know what a tautology is? If not, look it up, because your accusation is a perfect example of such a thing. Call my post ranty, or bitter, or whatever you like, but to accuse a post whose purpose is self-justification of being self-serving is, well, tautological.

HIVEindohoven - nice handle, you sound like a classy guy. And what's with the checkboxes? Are you 17? I have had real jobs. In fact, I used to have my dream job before doing this full time, which I would guess is more than you have ever achieved. So, [x] Go f*** yourself.

Ted - "playing as much as I say"? I said I play 5 hours a day 7 days a week. 35 hours a week. The poster I was responding to claims to work no less than 50 - 60 hours a week, and no doubt has commuting to include on top of that. So if you are going to patronise me, you should at least get your sums right.

Zap - I earn about €3,000 per month net, which is the equivalent take-home of a €50k salary. And I don't have the associated costs of working to come out of that (transport, lunch, clothes etc.). My only work expenses are a Deuces Cracked sub (€25 or whatever it is). So I am not a balla, but I am comfortable with this income for a 35 hour working week.

LL - yes, my post was too heated, but thank you for at least seeing a grain of truth in what I was saying.



Nice little group-thinking echo chamber you guys have going on in here.

...

Ed: MDWexford - you're right, my post was OTT at points for sure.

O you boyz got served!!!:D

Dude check the attidue (in your posts) at the door i've been readin this section of boards for like a year now and all the lads seem alright. And this is a good resource if your playin online full time So it would be +EV not to shoot yourself in the foot with them as they'll just dog your posts! I dont know whether full time play vs part time play/full time jobs is better, as far as i can see the one big advantage of havin a full time job is that it reduced the varience in your lifestlye while playing (with proper brm of course, something i have yet to learn )

Well done on the ability to support yourself playin cards, thats a big achievement!

YULETIRED

Hey treetop,
don't go too mad, you look like an interesting sort to have here, If you do read though your original post, it does makes depressing reading, it painted a purgatorial (I have my own dictionary) existence , there are pluses and minus to everything and seen as you love doing what you do, well then you are lucky, but it's not how it read in fairness, I myself would hate the existence you portrayed. . I prefer the masochistic existence of work but hey that' s my bag. You have made some good points though but remember people can only see the picture you paint, and you will admit I hope your original post was a depressing justification for grinding at the expense of any kind of a normal life. . I'm glad it's not like that in reality as the magdalen laundries wouldn't treat their girlies so badly. Get yerself into the badbeat folder for some light relief in between hands and post something yerself , what we need are some more jokes , Liverpool haters, and some classic youtube links.

ps...No bad beats pleeeeaaaaze

WATCH OUT FOR CHIMPS

rgds
Williec.

El Stuntman

YULETIRED wrote: »

Hey treetop,
don't go too mad, you look like an interesting sort to have here, If you do read though your original post, it does makes depressing reading, it painted a purgatorial (I have my own dictionary) existence , there are pluses and minus to everything and seen as you love doing what you do, well then you are lucky, but it's not how it read in fairness, I myself would hate the existence you portrayed. . I prefer the masochistic existence of work but hey that' s my bag. You have made some good points though but remember people can only see the picture you paint, and you will admit I hope your original post was a depressing justification for grinding at the expense of any kind of a normal life. . I'm glad it's not like that in reality as the magdalen laundries wouldn't treat their girlies so badly. Get yerself into the badbeat folder for some light relief in between hands and post something yerself , what we need are some more jokes , Liverpool haters, and some classic youtube links.

ps...No bad beats pleeeeaaaaze

rgds
Williec.

what, no mention of primates? :eek:

Willie losing his touch: 5/6
Willie locked from last night still 5/6
Willie considering becoming online grinder 1000000/1
Willie has found inner peace and is relocating to Tibet. Ommmmmmmmm, mani padi ommmmmmmmmmm

YULETIRED

El Stuntman wrote: »

what, no mention of primates? :eek:

Willie losing his touch: 5/6
Willie locked from last night still 5/6
Willie considering becoming online grinder 1000000/1
Willie has found inner peace and is relocating to Tibet. Ommmmmmmmm, mani padi ommmmmmmmmmm

Corrected the primate omission

I never though I'd see the day Stunty but from the evidence of the bad beat folder, the Chimps are chilling a little.
I don't want to tempt fate and rattle their cages too much but how nice to see them letting their hair down and talking about other stuff , it's like they are becoming almost human . I see myself many years from now knelt down in front of
The spike in O'Connell street, with the waves crashing over the top of Clearys., and chimps on horseback behind me baying for my blood................YOU BLEW IT UP....GODDDDAMN YOU TO HEEELL.
*ahem...back on topic.
Btw, I've been drunk only twice this week so lucky guess with that one.

AdMMM

I actualy agree with a lot of what TreeHouse is saying. While I'm far from being a poker pro, I did have a go at the grinding lifestyle during the Summer when work was a bit thin on the ground and I'll admit that it was some of the hardest work I'd ever done. I often felt exhausted after playing for 6 hours a day, and that was with breaks thrown in! In fact, I was often more tired after staying at home playing poker all day than I would be after finishing a 10 hour shift in a busy bar!

I do however think that "grinding" is one of the most anti-social forms of existence. I often found myself emotionally and physically seperated from friends and family. I can remember nights where I didn't go out to the pub because I had 4 or 5 juicy tables open. Friends and family find it difficult to understand such decisions. In looking back I almost find it difficult to understand such decisions.

To in someway offer a relavent reply for the OP, changing your "working hours" to something like 6pm-4am will certainly have a positive effect on your earnings, but be prepared for a drastic effect on your social life. A lot of people who work unsocial hours socialise amongst themselves (eg: bar workers), but by the very nature of their work, grinders isolate themselves. You'll be on a completely different clock to most other people. Just make sure you're okay with that.

luckylucky

AdMMM wrote: »

To in someway offer a relavent reply for the OP, changing your "working hours" to something like 6pm-4am will certainly have a positive effect on your earnings, but be prepared for a drastic effect on your social life. A lot of people who work unsocial hours socialise amongst themselves (eg: bar workers), but by the very nature of their work, grinders isolate themselves. You'll be on a completely different clock to most other people. Just make sure you're okay with that.

Nah I'm not going to do 6 to 4 a.m. like I said in the opening post - with maybe a few exceptions. I'll probably be wrapping it more like 1:30 - not much later than I go to bed normally anyway - just not going to waste my time and energy playing in games during the day when there's little value anyway.

Treehouse72 wrote: »

lol. It's like mini-2+2 in here, only with less humour and more pomposity.

No way near as obnoxious as 2+2 imo. Though some do try. Seriously some of the stuff on 2+2 is vomit inducing.

Treehouse72 wrote: »

I only made such a negative post because the original poster implied full timers were unjustified in moaning about having to play "only" 5 hours a day.
.

Being probably a bit more familiar than yourself with Jackyback's posts, this is (and correct me if I'm wrong Jackyback) is where you got Jacky wrong imo. I don't think he was really retorting directly to what we had said earlier in the thread and having a pop at guys who choose to play 5 hours a day. I think the thread simply set Jacky off on a different train of thought in regards to some young guns (at 37 I'm postively a geriatric when it comes to being an online pro ) who he views as being a bit lacksadaisacal.

Treehouse72 wrote: »

Nice little group-thinking echo chamber you guys have going on in here.

There can be a bit of ganging up alright.

Treehouse72 wrote: »

Ed: MDWexford - you're right, my post was OTT at points for sure.

lol and this latest one wasn't

pgodkin wrote: »

O you boyz got served!!!:D

Dude check the attidue (in your posts) at the door i've been readin this section of boards for like a year now and all the lads seem alright. And this is a good resource if your playin online full time So it would be +EV not to shoot yourself in the foot with them as they'll just dog your posts! I dont know whether full time play vs part time play/full time jobs is better, as far as i can see the one big advantage of havin a full time job is that it reduced the varience in your lifestlye while playing (with proper brm of course, something i have yet to learn )

Well done on the ability to support yourself playin cards, thats a big achievement!

Though heated debates on these forums are also tilt inducing also so thats EV- . Anyways have to more less agree with pgodkin, though I wouldn't quite go as far as saying all the lads are alright, most are, so take it ec dude - most of us aren't out to get yeah and as I said previously I think what you say makes sense if you take the anger out of it.

Anyway I'm meant to be staying away from the friggin pc until this evening :mad:

Hank Scorpio

great thread imo

i got into the habit of playing all night until like 6 am then waking up at 2 the next day

its 100% true that games are alot easier at that time of night, i was only playing 50nl but i was turning 1 buyin to about 8/10 in these sesions, i.e 50 to 500, this isnt a boast, there is MANIACS online at this time raising to 6 standard pf in a 50nl game and im just trying to show how easy it is to win

i thought great but waking up the next day i felt terrible and started loosing my winnings the previous night, after like a week i was a walking zombie so i had to stop , it really is terrible for ur health and will cost you in a long wrong as previous posters have stated

iv taken a break for the past 2 weeks and hope to start again 2moro nice and early and have a good sleep

Hectorjelly

I talked about his recently in my blog. I play 2 hours a day 7 days a week, mostly during the day. I'm going to try and extend it to 3 (or maybe 2.5) hours a day next year. Its a high stress activity that doesn't really have much in common with an office job. I think its very important as a poker player to have a very balanced and healthy life, you dont need to spend every waking moment trying to maximise your EV

Chucky the tree

For the next month I'll be going aiming for minimum 6 hours mon-friday, I'll play probaly all day sunday. I've been doing up a rough schedule and it will probaly be similiar to this

11am-1pm poker

5-7pm poker

9-11pm poker

It wont work out excactly like this, but it will be similiar. I think once you give yourself a decent break in between each session I should be fine. Also the long breaks give you a chance to head out and into town or whatever. It wot be straight mon-friday as I'll end going out at least 1 night a week etc but I have sundays to fall back on. I'd hope to hit 10+hrs on sunday. I think alot of people dont realise how important it is to do some sort of fitness work when playing poker for etended hours. It will help alot with the concentration and generally makes you feel alot better.

Considering I've never played more then 15 hours a week or so it will be interesting to see just how badly this goes tits up.

zap27

Consider myself a grinder as well. Play low stakes, average €20 STTs headsup and grind away at it to make about €400-500 a month out of it but probably play way too much than i would like to and find it hard work and variance head wrecking. I find myself playing every night after work for at least an hour but probably not more than that on sat/sun cos you get sick of it.

Treehouse-had a figure in my mind about how much you might be on giving the amount you play and i reckon i was close with your 3k a month. Educated guess, i know nothing about cash, very rarerly play it. I sometimes join games in progress at the €300 and upwards level and have had some good chats with lads who are pro STTers and they claim to only play a few hours a day which stacks up on sharkscope.

The better you are the less you might have to play to make the 3k a month, i could never imagine myself being that good sadly. If i was to ever give it a go full time i would be a low stakes grinder too. Job isnt exactly 100% secure at the mo so who knows it could happen!

Treehouse72

Yeah Zap, I suck at poker in reality (I'm getting killed at 200NL these days) but even a modest winrate + RB makes 3k a month very managable at every level from 50NL to 200NL depending on how you're running and feeling. Obviously a lot more is possible at 200NL, but it's nice to have the ability to grind out €3k at whatever level.

Thanks to those in this thread who have stuck up for my ranty post. Fact of the matter is, if you haven't played poker full time you are not really in a position to pontificate about it to those of us who do. It is totally different to recreational playing. I am not saying I am a better or worse poker player than the recreational crowd (I have a lot to be modest about wrt my poker skills) but I am saying I understand the lifestyle much better than you. They don't call it grinding for nothing.

.............

Yuletired - yeah, my post was purgatorial (good word), but I was just trying to convey to the "I play 2 hours at night" crowd that that experience does not truly give them enough insight to start patronising those who make a living doing it. Truth is, I leap out of bed every morning saying to myself "Today is my day!". It's all good despite the downsides.

PGod - I hear you.

LL - If I read Jack wrong, ok, I'll take your word he's good people. But that's a benefit-of-the-doubt call because I've just re-read his post and it still appears patronising to me: "i laugh when people say they are tired after playing 3/4 hours online ffs try working 10/12 hrs in the day job/family/and 3/4 hours odd online and come back to me". I don't think that's a very pleasant or informed tone and to then see him saying "not my problem u cannot beat 10/20c", I think you can understand why I don't want to have a beer with the guy.



Anyway, peace and love to all. I was down 6BI's at lunchtime and have just got rostucko so very happy. And Jack - I'm off to meet my elderly father for a pint, cause contrary to what you think, full time poker players also have familial responsibilities.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Hectorjelly wrote: »

I talked about his recently in my blog. I play 2 hours a day 7 days a week, mostly during the day. I'm going to try and extend it to 3 (or maybe 2.5) hours a day next year. Its a high stress activity that doesn't really have much in common with an office job. I think its very important as a poker player to have a very balanced and healthy life, you dont need to spend every waking moment trying to maximise your EV

I actually read your blog post and it actually got me thinking on the subject. I am obvious to the fact that people need to find a balance and a happy medium but i would ask Daragh would you be happier spending that extra 10 hours a week and have X% more profit for the year or are you happy with the life/work/poker balance achieved over the year?

And to Treehouse you took my post up completely wrong, firstly i admire people who do this for a living (at any stakes) as i would find it tough going.

Good thread, everyone is different and some will like playing day or night and for 3 or 10 hours a day but for those who genuinely do not put the effort in are you happy with what you take from the game if the answer is yes fair play if no get yourself a routine and put the hours in

PS Leave the attitude out of your posts TH it stinks of a guy who has a chip on his shoulder have a nice day!!

MrPillowTalk

Instead of playing 200 hours a month of 2/4 just play 2 hours of 100/200 keep the same winrate and your larfin

Samba

When i was soley dependent on poker i generally played no more than a few hours a day, with the occasional 12-24 hour super binge (mainly due to big tournies)

I've had a few on and off stretches with 2 years being the longest, while yes it is stressful, god damn - it was fun.

I played tennis, i had afternoon drinking sessions, went in to bars with groups of ladies from strip clubs drinking champagne all night (friends of a friend), took off and hit France up for a year.

Had many wake and bake days, had many DVD days. I regularly took breaks from poker lasting anywhere up to two weeks when I saw fit.

Did I enjoy it? Hell yeah.

Was it stressful? Yes, at times, but overall it was enjoyable.


What i've learn't, from playing full time is that it's a very delicate process that requires strict emotional control and money management skills.

But most importantly what i've learnt is that, unless i quickly become the one of the world's best donkament players, i'm not going make what I would really like to make in life as I have no desire to become a nosebleed stakes player, jesus when I think of the swings playing 2/4 PLO the thought of applying that to 200/400 is not a comforting thought.

I think that my ambitions will only ever be achieved through a business model.

I've taken my shots and i've gotten shot down too many times.

If i can't get to where I want to be in life through business then I will fall back on poker as I know i can make a decent living out of it....a much better living than any available 9-5 that would be suitable to me and my current qualifications.

Many well known established pros openly discuss their wishes to play less hours per day as they progress through their career and I believe that this is a very wise choice and doing so, while widening the range of your porfolio and allowing money you've made playing poker to work for you.

luckylucky

Hectorjelly wrote: »

I talked about his recently in my blog. I play 2 hours a day 7 days a week, mostly during the day. I'm going to try and extend it to 3 (or maybe 2.5) hours a day next year. Its a high stress activity that doesn't really have much in common with an office job. I think its very important as a poker player to have a very balanced and healthy life, you dont need to spend every waking moment trying to maximise your EV

I just read your blog entry now. I think it's kinda interesting when you consider it was done independent to what I was saying in this thread that both our takes on it are along the same sort of lines.

Samba

forget online poker, i just found Teh Winnar! solution.

I'm ashamed for even clicking on the banner

Hectorjelly

Andi Fluffy Criminal wrote: »

I actually read your blog post and it actually got me thinking on the subject. I am obvious to the fact that people need to find a balance and a happy medium but i would ask Daragh would you be happier spending that extra 10 hours a week and have X% more profit for the year or are you happy with the life/work/poker balance achieved over the year?

Yes I would like X more money, however I have made huge strides this year in terms of productivity. (ive gone from 4 tabling whilst browsing to 12 tabling) and somehow increasing my winrate. I think part of the reason is that when I play im highly motivated, so its a question of balance. Also I have a lot of other things that take up time (poker, music, games, reading etc), part of the reason I left my job in IT was so I would have more spare time to persue other interests. Not so I could continue to sit in front of a computer all day!

But yes definitely Im planning on an increase over the next while. I'm doing the music for a play at the moment which is taking up a huge amount of time, Im lucky to get any poker in right now.

TommyGunne

Samba wrote: »

forget online poker, i just found Teh Winnar! solution.

I'm ashamed for even clicking on the banner

OMG what a genius infallible mathematically sound way of winning eeasy money!