Motivation

[shadow29]

I could have played cards tonight. If I played for three hours tonight I could have bought ten CDs. Or had enough for dinner for two at Pano and Paul's (vy nice atlanta restaurant). That would have definetly gotten me laid.

But instead I drank a beer and watched "Whose Line" at a friends apartment. We also "broke into" a house she was house-sitting. Next to the governor's mansion on West Paces Ferry (vy nice street in atlanta). Damn that was a nice house.

But at least I did something. Some nights I'll just be by myself and watch tv (X-files, pedro). I know that if I play cards there is a relatively high probability that I'll make money. But I don't.

Instead, I won't play until I get an overdraft notice from Wachovia. Then I'll play until I win enough to put me back into vy comfortable territory for my checking account.

I sincerely hope this post doesn't come off as bragging, because anyone who knows me will tell you that I really don't care about bragging about money. And if I do, I'm joking. But there's really no way around not talking about money on a poker forum.

Perhaps this post is rambling, but I don't care. It's 2:00 am.

Anyone else have this problem? How do you force yourself to play? Cuz poker is pretty gay. I tried doing the avatar challenge, but I didn't really care that much. I mean it's just an image. And I can adblock it too.

Maybe there are some other forms of motivation.

Anyway, I'd really like to win a lot of money in the next ten days. After that I head up to school. So I'll be taking two-three weeks off. Maybe that will help. But I'd like to take about another $1k into checking over the next ten days. Almost made the whole post without mentioning specific numbers, but what the hell. It's just a number. Perhaps that's part of the problem.

[adsman]

I wish I could have played cards tonight. It's not for the money, I just really enjoy poker. But I have almost no time at the moment and apart from that my girlfriend seriously hates it when I sit down to play. It's getting to the point that when I fire up the computer she starts snarling. Add to that the fact that she's a marble scupltor with pretty damn big muscles and it's getting scary.

So I can't commiserate with you. A 3 hour poker session? Oh, I dream. I didn't play the King of the Kiddie pool because she wouldn't have understood me getting up at 5am to beat, "a stupid bunch of guys on a stupid chat forum."

[aK13]

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I wish I could have played cards tonight. It's not for the money, I just really enjoy poker. But I have almost no time at the moment and apart from that my girlfriend seriously hates it when I sit down to play. It's getting to the point that when I fire up the computer she starts snarling. Add to that the fact that she's a marble scupltor with pretty damn big muscles and it's getting scary.

So I can't commiserate with you. A 3 hour poker session? Oh, I dream. I didn't play the King of the Kiddie pool because she wouldn't have understood me getting up at 5am to beat, "a stupid bunch of guys on a stupid chat forum."

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Tell her that poker is paying for her Chanel purse.

[bozlax]

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Tell her that poker is paying for her Chanel purse.

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She'll carve a Chanel purse out of qranite and whack him over the head with it. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[NateDog]

I don't really get it Shadow. Am I that far removed from 'the kids' today? I just turned 30, and have been in the business world since I finished college 6 years ago. I would've killed for the opportunity to make a grand in a week when I first graduated. Making ends meet when you aren't living with your folks anymore is not easy. 6 years down the road, it's easy to laugh about pulling in 20K a year and only buyin what's on sale at the grocery store. I've come to think of those times as a pennance. I was learining the ropes, and how to make it work. I get to spend on all sorts of thing now, but only cause I learned how to make it work with a lot, lot less. Learn some money management skills. Taxes are real. You have to eat every day. Go play poker young man!

[shadow29]

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I don't really get it Shadow. Am I that far removed from 'the kids' today?

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I don't know. I don't think that you can draw a representative sample out of just me because I am quite atypical when it comes to "the kids".

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Making ends meet when you aren't living with your folks anymore is not easy. 6 years down the road, it's easy to laugh about pulling in 20K a year and only buyin what's on sale at the grocery store. I've come to think of those times as a pennance. I was learining the ropes, and how to make it work. I get to spend on all sorts of thing now, but only cause I learned how to make it work with a lot, lot less. Learn some money management skills. Taxes are real. You have to eat every day. Go play poker young man!

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Well let me start backwards. I pay taxes and have paid taxes the last three years. I have and always will pay taxes on my gambling income.

I haven't graduated college yet, but when I do I plan on going to grad school to get an MPA (Masters of Public Administration). Poker will pay for grad school. That's the plan anyway. I'm also planning to play cards to supplement my income. Although in my field poker will likely 2x or 3x or more my regular income. I'll be doing politics because I love it. And what I'm worried about now is getting burned out too quickly and not being able to pay for Princeton in a couple years. And not being able to afford a townhome in Georgetown in a few more. The plan is for poker to allow me to live very well while simultaneously having a job that doesn't pay all that well, but which I love doing. So I'm trying to nip this thing in the bud right now.

[Vote4Pedro]

i respect you

[Aaron W.]

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Instead, I won't play until I get an overdraft notice from Wachovia. Then I'll play until I win enough to put me back into vy comfortable territory for my checking account.

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You sound like you're a 20-24 year old with a spending problem. Using poker as a way to bail yourself out of trouble isn't a long-term solution. Screw poker. Get your spending under control. Then you won't have this problem.

Read Suze Orman's "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke". I haven't read it myself, but she gives excellent advice on her weekly show and I saw the PBS special for the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Edit: Changed the age range from 22-24 to 20-24.

[shadow29]

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Instead, I won't play until I get an overdraft notice from Wachovia. Then I'll play until I win enough to put me back into vy comfortable territory for my checking account.

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You sound like you're a 22-24 year old with a spending problem. Using poker as a way to bail yourself out of trouble isn't a long-term solution.

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Well it's really not "trouble" because it's all the same money to me. But I get what you're saying.

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Screw poker. Get your spending under control.

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I agree with screwing poker. But basically (and I know that this is going to sound really bad) I can afford to spend money. I don't have that many expenses since I'm in school. I don't have to come up with tuition money. It's all gravy. And while I probably should cut back on the spending. But I'm spending on things that make my life more enjoyable. And my family's lives more enjoyable. For example, I was able to buy my dad an ipod and car kit thingy for his bmw for his birthday. And I bought my mom a lot of books and cds for her birthday. First time I've been able to do that. And I'm amassing quite a good music collection and I'm in the market for a good sound system. I'm able to go out when I please and not have to work as a waiter like my friends do. That probably sounds really spoiled and selfish or whatever. But I'm being honest.

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Then you won't have this problem.

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I don't understand how not spending will help me play poker? Not trying to be a dick...

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Read Suze Orman's "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke". I haven't read it myself, but she gives excellent advice on her weekly show and I saw the PBS special for the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Will do. B&N tommorrow.

[Aaron W.]

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Instead, I won't play until I get an overdraft notice from Wachovia. Then I'll play until I win enough to put me back into vy comfortable territory for my checking account.

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You sound like you're a 22-24 year old with a spending problem. Using poker as a way to bail yourself out of trouble isn't a long-term solution.

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Well it's really not "trouble" because it's all the same money to me. But I get what you're saying.

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Screw poker. Get your spending under control.

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I agree with screwing poker. But basically (and I know that this is going to sound really bad) I can afford to spend money. I don't have that many expenses since I'm in school. I don't have to come up with tuition money. It's all gravy. And while I probably should cut back on the spending. But I'm spending on things that make my life more enjoyable. And my family's lives more enjoyable. For example, I was able to buy my dad an ipod and car kit thingy for his bmw for his birthday. And I bought my mom a lot of books and cds for her birthday. First time I've been able to do that. And I'm amassing quite a good music collection and I'm in the market for a good sound system. I'm able to go out when I please and not have to work as a waiter like my friends do. That probably sounds really spoiled and selfish or whatever. But I'm being honest.

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Except that it's not all gravy. Spending until you're overdrawn your account is a bad habit that is setting yourself up for failure (financially). Whenever you graduate and end up "on your own", you're going to have to transition from a lifestyle of maybe pure $500-800/month luxury spending (I actually suspect it might be closer to $1500/month based on your measure of "3 hours poker = 10 CDs" -- but I'll be conservative) to $1000-$1500/month regular monthly expenses, plus you'll likely have the $500-800/month luxury spending habits. Most people don't get jobs paying that much right out of college. And this is why so many people have so much debt early in life.

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Then you won't have this problem.

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I don't understand how not spending will help me play poker? Not trying to be a dick...

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"Screw poker" means you're quitting playing poker. Isn't this the problem? You don't really want to play anymore (or at least in the near future), but this is your finanacial escape mechanism, so you're compelled to play it. Poker has started to become like work to you and work isn't very fun. It's the same thing as being waiter, except your hours are more flexible.