[yoadrians]

I just wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to respond to my post. I'd also like to thank a couple of you who opened up a bit and shared a bit about your compulsive behaviors and talked about your family history, too.

Now, more than ever, I'm quite convinced that I'm NOT a 'gambling addict'. That said, I do realize that perhaps I need to be a little more selective in my sharing when it comes to talking about poker with both sides of our families - especially with the strong and painful history of addiction on my side of the family. Also, I liked the idea about involving my wife more - having her do an 'audit', so to speak, of my poker finances four times per year.

And, most of all, I have come to the conclusion that I need to broaden my interests a bit more. I'm a 29-year-old with a wife, a child, a full-time job at a newspaper, a couple great friends (one of whom posts here and has helped me become a better poker player and a better person since we met), two sets of close families, a mortgage, and countless amounts of other fiscal/personal responsibilites. The amount of time I spend just THINKING about poker - not to mention playing, talking about it, etc. - is a little out of whack. I think I need to pull the reins in a bit.

Of course, I'll continue to play my home games/tournaments, and I don't plan on stopping my online play, because it has been a solid source of extra income. But perhaps just trying to put it into perspective a bit more, and not letting the game control much of my thoughts throughout the day, is something I'll be able to do.

As for my family, and my wife's, I'll probably just take a low-key approach to the game and just not talk about it so much. And if they're worried and bring it up with me, I'll just be honest with them and tell them that it's something I like to do and, hey, the extra income isn't bad.

A little closure to the story: After posting my initial thoughts and questions last night, I went home and spent some time with Katie. We sat outside (very nice night here in Wisconsin) and had a couple beers and chatted. She let me know that in no way, shape or form does she believe I have a problem ... rather, she just wanted to let me know some family members had expressed concern. Furthermore, she let me know that if she ever thought it was becoming a problem, she would let me know immediately and work with me on it. So at least I know that she has her eyes open and, most importantly, she does support me and my passion for the game of poker.

I guess as long as I don't bring it up at the dinner table or in bed, I should be OK with her [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Once again, thanks to all of you for responding, and I'd welcome other comments if there are any out there.

Take care,

- yoadrians