The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

               Well, I am now a little over two weeks into this whole shebang, and I’ve learned a lot so far about what it’s like to play poker for a living. So I’ve broken it down into three areas:

The Good

                I guess I should start by stating the most obvious good thing. I am making money. True, I’m starting small, and thus have not made quite enough to withdraw yet, but if I keep going at the rate I have been, it’s going to be a merry Christmas. I’ve been playing so much that my game has been seeing constant improvement every day. I’m playing better now than I ever thought possible, and I have nowhere to go but up. Two months ago, I thought I was pretty good. Looking back, I wasn’t. I think I’m pretty good now. Two months from now I hope to look back and say the same thing I said about two months ago.

The Bad

                Yes, there are downsides. My favorite Lay-z Boy is getting worn out from hours and hours of use. General chores, such as laundry, dishes, shoveling the driveway and splitting firewood are starting to get in the way of my sessions. The general community in my town looks at me as some sort of gambling freak. That is not to say that I do not have support. My friends and family are very supportive, but there is a large elderly population here that still thinks of poker as gambling and anyone who plays it for any amount of time a degenerate gambler. Normally I wouldn’t be too concerned, but as a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and a member of other community boards, I see this is becoming a social issue among them. I am taking my time to educate them about the subject, so I guess eventually this will work out for the better.

                I have also noticed I am missing out on some quality time spent with my friends. While they are working, I’m sleeping, and when they’re off for the day, I’m on the tables. I have to be sure to make an effort on the weekends to get out more and see them.

The Ugly

                There is not really anything ugly about my chosen path, except one glaring exception; I haven’t seen more than an hour or two of sunlight in the past two weeks. Part of this is because in the winter here, the sun goes down around 4-4:30. But the biggest factor is I have been playing well into 3-5am every day. I wake up around 2, shower, eat breakfast, do my daily chores, play a session or two, take a few hours of break until 10, and then play until the wee hours of the morning.

                Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering if playing such late hours is necessary. I think it is. Let me put it this way; I avoid the recreational players during the post-dinner hour who just want to “play” poker. I catch a lot of players who have just busted out of the larger MTT’s and are steaming/tilting/just want to “play one more game”. These players are tired, while I’m just hitting my mid-day.

                So I guess not seeing the sun is not really an ugly thing. Sure I’m starting to look like a vampire J, but I’m doing it for legit reasons. Ok, enough for today. Time to play some XBOX, eat lunch and then get back to work.