In my last post, I outlined how I intend to sustain myself financially over the next year or so. To some it may all seem like a mad and deluded pipe-dream or a hair-brained scheme that a doomed businessman might pitch in the
Dragon's Den. Fear ye not, for here are a number of reasons that may help to convince you that I have a fighting chance...
Solid Long-Term Experience
I've been playing poker pretty regularly for around 10 years now and although I've been prone to long-term break-even stretches, I've had a small degree of success over the long haul. This includes a huge amount of online play as well as live. In fact, I've paid around $25K in rake alone on the online poker sites.
A Teetotal Existence And A Healthier Lifestyle
Up to mid-April of this year I'd often view poker as a social and recreational game with little edge going to the better players. As such, I'd often drink heavily during poker evenings and treat sessions in a casual way. My wins and losses would often be so evenly matched that I thought a little beer here and there, to lighten the mood, would make absolutely no difference to my bottom-line.
In actual fact, although this attitude may be perfectly fine for someone on a steady income and who's out for a social weekend once in a while, I've learned that excessive drinking was precisely the reason why I'd never shown a sustained,
seriously decent profit. From mid-April I have stopped drinking, exercised regularly and made changes to my diet. The effect it has had on my results has been striking (see below).
A Necessity To Improve
Quitting a job would make anyone feel a little insecure about their future. As I gave eight months notice to quit mine last year, I've had every reason to study and to read up on the game in the interim. Poker is like any competitive sport or any dog-eat-dog business environment. It's the survival-of-the-fittest and if you don't keep learning and studying at a high level, you're going to get swallowed up. Rest assured, although I've taken the foot off the pedal study-wise recently, I'll be back with a vengeance come September.
A Love of the Game
At a live poker table so much is unfolding before your eyes that there is always interesting and revealing information to digest and absorb. This could be to do with anything from the way hands are played, comments made about the hands by other players, the way a bad-beat is taken to the way players behave when up or down. Many players explicitly or implicitly express boredom while playing but it's precisely this lack of interest and apathy that prevents players from improving. This game is deep and beautiful in so many different ways. Embrace it with open arms!
A Reasonable Bankroll
Don't get me wrong. I don't have a six-figure bank balance, live in a mansion, swan off to exotic locales every few months and drive around in a stunning Ferrari. I'm not exactly a
baller (as the youngsters would say). However I do own and run my own car, live in a pleasant neighbourhood in London and have saved a reasonable amount from teaching. So, yes, I have a decent bankroll. You tend to make the good decisions when you have the peace of mind.
A Disciplined and Patient Approach
Being successful at poker is a very, very long-term proposition and most poker players do not see this. Many of the so-called "good" players will play reasonably efficiently for a time - perhaps even for as long as six months to a year - and then get hit with the inevitable downswing. A great many will leave the arena right there and then while the hard-headed and persistent may weather the storm for a bit, come out on the other side, and carry on. However, the second or third or fourth wave will sweep most of them aside. Some will carry on "recreationally" without the desire to improve ("it's mainly luck innit?") only for a new batch of wannabes to take their place.
Only the emotionally strong will be able to see the bigger, long-term picture and appreciate the long haul for what it really is: a massive, uphill struggle full of heartbreak, setbacks and frustration - but ultimately an incredibly rewarding vocation. I like to think that I've developed the right discipline and the correct patient approach to the game.
Promising Short-Term Results
Let's not kid ourselves, it's hard to convince anyone that you're genuinely good at any game or sport if your results show you're a loser. True, if my results this year had me in the red then I'd be thinking seriously about getting a proper job like the rest of us. Fortunately, since my epiphany in mid-April my results have been encouraging to say the least. Here is my track record since the epiphany...
April
+ £1000
May
+ £1400
June
- £500
July
+ £2200
August
+ £1600
They're not exactly figures to rival the income of a typical full-time professional person on a decent monthly wage in London but you have to remember that these are my results as a "part-timer." From April to July I played in the evenings while working full-time as a teacher and in August I kind of eased off a little bit due to family commitments and... well, just chillin' too much really. From September, we're gonna get serious! We're talking poker as a full-time business baby!!
----------
Anyway despite all that, here's my official and genuine certificate that's appoved and stamped by a reputable authority, that proves 100% that I'm great:
