[tiltaholic]

hey dude-

i didn't read all the responses in the thread but no doubt they are mainly good.

i'm surprised by this post coming from you. but then again, everyone goes through a motivational funk. for me, it happened because i was losing/breakeven/swingy. my personal solution was to move up to 3/6, challenge myself, and focus on my game again. its working. i want to play again. a lot. for you, i guess it's because of winning. that same feeling prompted me to move from 1/2, where it was all about the hours and eventuality of profit, to 2/4 where i had to think about the game again.

i know there's a lot of smack talking about age (and money) around here, so please don't take any of this the wrong way. i alternate between wishing for and being thankful that i lacked your poker talent (or any poker talent for that matter) when i was your age. in a deviation from your normally displayed maturity, your post basically nails you spot on as a youngster.

everyone here plays for their own reasons. some play for the intellectual challenge and money is a bonus. some play (and learn) to hope to make this their livelyhood and perhaps seriously supplement their income. some play to build their bankroll and move up. some play for extra cash to buy cool s[/i]hit. whatever. to each his own. the thing i take issue with is your non-poker financial strategy. as you know, having the poker maturity and fiscal discpline to maintain a bankroll and play within one's limits is essential to being a succesul poker player. the same is true of "actual" non poker money. that you are not treating your non-poker bankroll with the same respect as your poker bankroll is a bit shocking.

to look at this from another perspective:
many people (at least poor people like me) would KILL for the ability to generate $1000 a week in supplemental income. at your age (sorry) with virtually no expenses it is not too far of a strech to say that that kind of money, if invested, could really set you up nicely for later in your life when significant and unavoidable expenses do begin to surface. sure, it's nice to burn money now because it's possible and it's fun...i won't deny that. i guess what i'm saying is that true financial stabilty and independence is not, "well, i need to get my bank account in the positive, i guess i should play a few hundred hands this week..." personally, i believe that raw earning power (such as you have) shouldn't be thrown to the wind, but more importantly i believe that you should play towards your own goals, because you will attain them.

poker will be here in a month. take a break, think about why you play, if you want to play, and follow your own goals. but seriously, try to apply someof what you know about poker finances to life finances. doing that will allow you the ability to "move up" in the other sense.

damn i'm old.