making a committment

[Paul2432]

I've been playing on-line for several years now (and in B&M off and on for many years before that). I've had my ups and downs, playing mostly for fun. Generally if I ran well I'd play higher limits and if I ran badly I'd drop down.

I recently decided one of the reasons I play is to make money. Of course that has always been the case, but I affirmed that to myself. As such I set a goal of a monthly cashout of $XXX*. I have found this committment has sharpened my focus. I am no longer taking random shots at higher limit games, or playing higher buy-in tournaments on a whim. I've set a monthly allowance (my rakeback, which gets deposited at a different site from my main site) as my screwing around/shot taking money. If its gone, no more shot taking until next month.

I guess my question is, how have others found a balance between playing for fun and making the most possible money?

Paul

*This figure will not cause me stress. Its <10% of my BR and less than half what I expect to make per month on average. I deliberately set a lower figure. I may up it in the future as the BR grows.

[meff66]

i did the same exact thing, starting 6 months ago. i've been a sng junky the past couple of years. playing for the enjoyment mind you, but always with the notion i was making money as well. but without a definitive goal, i found myself caught up in the same problems. specifically for me it was dabbling in cash games (which is NOT my specialty!). always with the excuse, "no problem, i'll get it back quick enough in my sngs".

6 months ago, i created a spreadsheet (sadly, before i found the one floating around 2+2) to record every sng, tourny...and occasional cash game. i set a modest, but specific goal for the month -- profit, ITM%, and ROI.

the benefits were instant. just the simple act of visiting the spreadsheet, entering results, watching the charts move up and down on a daily basis...funny how the simple joy of watching stats inch up can give you a boost in confidence and focus in your game.

an added benefit from the recordings where finding the game best suited for my style of play. a small sample some will say, but after a few hundred sngs, i found a HUGE difference between 6-seaters, 9/10seaters, turbo's, starting chip counts, etc. (for the record, i play nothing but 6-seaters on PS now [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] -- cuz my spreadsheet tells me so!).

a daily, honest assessment of my play/spending also cured me of squandering BR in cash games and other 'non-productive' ventures. there is no more sweeping under the rug, the activities that kept me from reaching my goals.

my ITM% has increased from 35% to 42% in the past 3 months - and i contribute most of this to goal setting & the constant assessment along the way.

anyway....great post, i had been wanting to do the same myself. for those that haven't taken this step, i'm convinced that they will see instant results by establishing short term goals - and tracking daily results.

good luck!