This is something I have been struggling with lately, and would be interested in the responses of the community (moreso the people with non-poker careers).

I will try to articulate something in a bit, but I really need to come to grips with this in the next couple months.

-J

Come to grips with what? The loss of online poker?

It's my job...I'd like it to become a hobby (it will only do that when it stops being a central source of income - only when it becomes utterly ancillary will it become a hobby).

Good thing i dont have a career.

I finally got around to purchasing a Wii, which is supposed to be here on tuesday. I am strongly considering taking the month of March off. I probably wont end up not playing any poker, considering there will be at least two home games at my pad next month. I will most likely still play some online, but all I have right now is $16 on AP I plan on playing .25/.50 with.

I know Ice has mentioned playing 20+ hours a week, but I don't know what the rest of his schedule is (protect the public, xbox with Ice Jr., appease the wife, etc). If I am going to take this seriously, I will be putting in 2-3 hours of prep, 2-3 hours of review, and 15-20 or so hours of play time. Put that on top of a 45-50 hour a week schedule (which can go up or down, depending on how ambitious I feel), and I am looking at 75 hours a week just between the two.

And that is before disc golf, fishing, hiking, etc.

Im not worried about my career (in the sense that I might lose my job). I play poker with other lawyers and assorted people (and I am pretty sure my employer knows I play online). I doubt that they are going to start hunting people down for playing online. I am more worried about the time it may take away from working late (hahaha, how sick is that) and/or relaxing.

Jus,

This is a great topic that REALLY hits home with me. I'm one of the guys that has a regular 50/hr a week job and a fiancee that lives with me. Poker falls into slot of playing when I"m home from work or very early in the morning.

The biggest poker/life/work balance stuggle for me has been wanting to become and learning to become a good mid/low stakes NL player which I worked at last year, AND also giving Finagirl enough attention, etc. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to play, but she wanted to do something and I had to choose (I didnt' always choose her too).

My advice is to work out a definite schedule as that has really helped me. For example, when she walks in the door from work, I click the "sit out" button no matter what. Last year, I was very passionate about improving my game and did so dramaticaly; however, it was at the expense of my fiancee and other personal life issues. The only solution I know of is to set up a schedule and stick to it for balance.

T

Something else to consider is your playing style. If you've read my posts, you probably know I'm fairly tight and check lots lof turns to amuze Shamdonk for one but also for pot control.

A dirty secret is I'd LOVE to play like a Xaston and others with a much more open 30/25 type style.

However, I couldn't maintain a work/life/poker balance if I did that because of the variance. My BR could handle it. I could handle it. However, I couldn't go to work all exhausted from it. I couldn't spend the next 2 hours with the woman steaming about poker or going through the I hate poker phase and I love poker phase all in a single week. She'd be living with a person she could not understand. Then the booty train would end and you know the rest...

It is a hobby and a distraction for me. It used to be for challenge, especially SnGs, MTTs and O8b. With S8b at .25/.5 through 1/2, I don't really do it for the challenge though. I do not review hands like I used to. I don't do equity calculations like I should. I stay where i am because I can beat it without much effort and the games tighter up so absurdly after 2/4.

Making a few thousand a year from bonuses and winnings was plenty for me. i have a tendancy to loosen up too much when I start winning, and that is probably one reason why I never moved up through the limits at SnGs like I think I could have 3 years ago. Plus playing those things for 3 hours a day wasn't fun for me after a while.

My job is challenging enough and added in with home life I don't need to add another 20 hours or more of stress to my week. I would have to pull down well over $100k a year from playing to be able to quit, so that was never more than a pipe dream for me. I started playing right after my daughter was born and so I never had the spare money to get a good bankroll together, I started playing off of $150 bucks which I am glad to say I never busted.