balancing schoolwork with poker

[housenuts]

well this is the first school semester i've been serious about poker. last year i played poker a bit but nothing that really had a great impact on my time. it seems whenever i get home from school all i wanna do is hit the tables and i have no desire to do schoolwork.

i've never been a great student in the past but always managed to get decent marks. this being my third year of university i was planning on really stepping it up a notch but poker seems to be getting in the way.

how do you balance schoolwork and poker?

[mmcd]

What I did was basically go to 2 or 3 classes every week. The rest of my time was mostly spent at the casino or sleeping after getting back from the casino. Occasional bouts of heavy drinking were also thrown in the mix.

[Michael Davis]

Decide what your priorities are. If cardplaying is more important to you than school, spend more time doing that. If school is more important, make sure you take care of business before taking part in any other activity. Poker is no different.

-Michael

[TonyBlair]

Why don't you just do both? Next you'll be asking where do you find the time to play with girls.
NEXT.

[afk]

I'm in third year as well. And as much as I want to play poker, I also want to go to grad school. School comes first, if I can fit in time for poker in a day then great. If not, then so be it.

[pilamsolo]

I've found it best to study during the day, especially if you have an hour or two between certain classes. I too find it difficult to concentrate on schoolwork, so I usually go the library to avoid the temptation of playing online and "studying" at the same time. I'm not sure how difficult your coursework is, but at least for me I've found that playing online at night and going to school during the day is a good mix. Oh, and I also like to throw in a night of heavy drinking, preferably at least once a week.

-Solo

[VinnyVegas]

It probally is possible to do both sucessfully, but I think you need to pick your pony, one or the other.

[wangarific]

you only need to concentrate on school hardcore for the next two years (this year and next year) whereas you can concentrate on poker hardcore for 60+ years after that. if you end up sucking at poker, you at least have a schooling. if you succeed, then you haven't lost much by studying for two years.

[mmcd]

I was 1/2 kidding in my initial post. Although I do think (depending on what you are planning to do after college) you should have fun and not get too stressed in college. Do what you have to do to get your degree, but don't bust your ass if you don't have to. Theres plenty of time for work and stress and whatnot, college shouldn't be that way. Unless you're planning on going to grad school, nobody is going to care what grades you got in this class or that class 10 years from now.

[housenuts]

[ QUOTE ]
I've found it best to study during the day, especially if you have an hour or two between certain classes. I too find it difficult to concentrate on schoolwork, so I usually go the library to avoid the temptation of playing online and "studying" at the same time. I'm not sure how difficult your coursework is, but at least for me I've found that playing online at night and going to school during the day is a good mix. Oh, and I also like to throw in a night of heavy drinking, preferably at least once a week.

-Solo

[/ QUOTE ]

me and you sound in the exact same boat. i'm planning to go to law school. i also can't study at home because i get too easily distracted and only ever study in the library. i'm planning on trying to spend as much time as i can at school and then whenever i'm at home, well whatever happens happens. and as for drinking, ya a solid couple nights of drinking is always in the cards. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[M50Paul]

Wangarific is exactly right. Your College years are short duration and you can always do poker but school needs more near term attention. Don't kid yourself into thinking you can either get by without college (although some have, very few do) or you can do it later, which never comes by the way. Develop a schedule and keep your discipline it is well served later on trust me I know from personal experience. You will feel much better about yourself having stuck to the discipline and succeeded at school. Pay now or pay later. The Father in me is coming out.

[Chu]

[ QUOTE ]
well this is the first school semester i've been serious about poker. last year i played poker a bit but nothing that really had a great impact on my time. it seems whenever i get home from school all i wanna do is hit the tables and i have no desire to do schoolwork.

i've never been a great student in the past but always managed to get decent marks. this being my third year of university i was planning on really stepping it up a notch but poker seems to be getting in the way.

how do you balance schoolwork and poker?

[/ QUOTE ]

Very easy, even though poker is a 'job,' I set it as a reward i.e. just don't play until I have all my work done. For longer term projects and stuff -- I don't play until I hit certain milestones.

[Victor]

Just play online. Then you can do homework in between hands. Thats how I got thru school.

[Louie Landale]

Give up girl-work.

[onegymrat]

Although you could put off both, it would seem wiser to finish school now and get it over with. It is less silly than to try to finish school ten years from now when you could have done it when your classmates are the same age. Poker will wait.

[housenuts]

some good ideas here except the one about doing homework between hands. that is ridiculous.

i was basically thinking of doing it as a reward like someone mentioned. do all my work that needs to get done and then reward myself with some poker to relax (hopefully relax, and not stress out)

i also have to balance in working out/running and sometimes if i'm done my schoolwork i'll just want to laze around and play poker, but i think i'll be able to motivate myself to do that when i start feeling like a bag of hammers.

[Blarg]

There's an old German saying that goes, Work is work, and schnapps is schnapps. Schnapps being a favorite booze for those who don't know.

It basically means that you have to do whatever you're doing right and with concentration or you won't get the benefits or enjoyment you should. Concentrate super hard on your work and it comes out much better and often gets done quicker. In your off time, enjoy it freely and to the maximum because you've already done your work FIRST, so you have no guilt feelings tugging at the edges of your perception constantly, bringing you down little by little. It's a great relief to get rid of your burdens, and helps your partying be infinitely more fun.

Lots of people wait till the last minute to do everything, and it's the easiest thing to do. But it often means sacrificing your grades and never feeling good about either your work or your time away from work. It's better to feel proud and confident that you've really EARNED your reward because you've done the best damn job you can do. Guarantee you'll play better poker if you know your schoolwork is all done and out of the way, and will tilt less, be less likely to stay up too late trying to get money back, etc.

Anyway, that's my take on it. School is your work now. And not for that much longer; you can bear it. If it's a little hard sometimes, boo hoo, tough poop ya big sissy. Take the advice of people telling you to screw it up by approaching it half-assed with more than a grain of salt. More like a whole salt mine full. That advice is not a friend to you. Don't go working out ways to fall behind when you're trying to get ahead.

School is a chance to get one very important thing very right. Since it can be a foundation for so many other things, keep that foundation rock solid.

By the way, one of the best things about school is that it actually teaches you how to bear up under stress and long periods of doing what you don't want for a distant but valued goal. Do just enough to get by and you may just be training your self to accept little from yourself because you think that's all you can deliver or need to in the world. Sad statement either way. Successfully achieved tough things are a huge part of your psychological wealth. You'll need to draw on that a lot in your life. Don't blow it and leave yourself short.

[Wahoo91]

If cardplaying is more important to you than school, spend more time doing that.

blech...

Gotta make school a priority. You can have fun with poker too, but do not let poker interfere with getting good grades, and finishing school.

[mmcd]

There's an old German saying that goes, Work is work, and schnapps is schnapps.

College is for schnapps (preferably Rumpleminze)
The time between college and retirement is for work.

[Kopefire]

How do you "balance" between a game and your future?

Gee, I don't know. I think the way most adults do it is to set priorities and have the intelligence to act in accordance to those priorities.

On a less sarcastic note -- get yourself a good calendar program or a day-planner and schedule out the time you are going to spend playing poker in advance, then live by your schedule. If you schedule time for homework and studying effectively, you might be surprised how much time you do have for fun. Time management seems boring, and even unnecessary, but it really is a valuable skill to develop for all your life, and if you want to maximize the time you can play poker, this is a good way to do it.

[Jaquen H'gar]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't go working out ways to fall behind when you're trying to get ahead.

School is a chance to get one very important thing very right. Since it can be a foundation for so many other things, keep that foundation rock solid.

By the way, one of the best things about school is that it actually teaches you how to bear up under stress and long periods of doing what you don't want for a distant but valued goal. Do just enough to get by and you may just be training your self to accept little from yourself because you think that's all you can deliver or need to in the world. Sad statement either way. Successfully achieved tough things are a huge part of your psychological wealth. You'll need to draw on that a lot in your life. Don't blow it and leave yourself short.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wish I had put it like this. So true.