how long do u plan on playing?

[JDMcNugent7]

Improving play is an assumed goal. Of course I'm going to try to continue getting better at all times. I don't think it will stress me out tho, not at all. I really think it will help me with bankroll management and really trying to become a great player. The $1million is really just the very final goal, with tons of smaller goals all in between.

[johnp158]

I'm not accusing JD of having only money-oriented goals, but I do think it would be easy to lose perspective with a goal like that.

Just always be aware of what you're doing and what it's doing to you.

[JDMcNugent7]

ya. thats why i set up little bench marks to measue where i should be at every 4 months or so.
and the reason i think i go with monetary goals alot, is b/c its actually measurable, where a goal of improving really isnt.
basically im trying to look for a more secure way to make $ without as much variance, and discipline myself and practice good BR management.

[Dodoubled]

Actually, I think everyone on this forum should have a solid money-making goal in poker. I don't think saying "I'm just gonna improve" is good enough. I think it's loserspeak. As a matter of fact, I think a great idea for a new thread would be for everyone to state said goal, list three reasons why they're going to hit it and then three plans of action to hit it.
JD voiced his earlier this year; he was going to bank $100,000 by the end of this year. How did he do it? Beats me, but I'll guarantee one thing: his eyes never wavered from that goal. He set it, developed a plan of action to meet it, and carried it out. If he misses just one of the ingredients, he doesn't reach it. Remember, he started from play money around this time last year. So if he can do it, why can't anyone else who puts in the time? (I'm not saying make $100,000, but at least make a nice ROI through hard work.)

[PShabi]

People,

You do need to keep in mind that it is possible, and highly likely at some point in your "career" that you'll be playing good, even great poker, and still lose. Hell, you can play perfect poker and still lose over a substantial amount of hands.

That's why I don't make monetary goals.

- Play X amount of hands this week/month.
- Don't play when distracted.
- Stop playing if I am stuck in a "bad session" and lose control of my emotions.

If you can identify certain areas where you've "leaked" make a goal to identify them while playing and focus on improving there.

For example, I STILL leak on the river in my LHE games. Someone will be calling me down and the most disastrous card can fall on the river. A lot of times, I'll just make a bet out of anger, got popped, and then call when I should be check/calling.

I'm making a deliberate effort to focus on improving this.

[Boobie Lover]

Very good post, and I agree with all points. I'll just add also that monetary goals may allow a person to bcome lackadaisical and start to make excuses for his/her play because he/she hit that one monetary goal.

[Dodoubled]

Point taken, and respected. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the whole idea here is making money is a byproduct of playing good poker over a long period of time.
But that said, how is setting a monetary goal (and working the right way at it) any different than a golfer saying, "I'm going to fix the flaws in my stroke and cut my handicap by five strokes this summer?" All the golfer's doing here is setting a tangible, measurable goal that he can reach for. Now, if he goes about it the right way, practices the right way, he'll do it and he'll reap the rewards of a more consistent game. He'll still have his off days, and weeks, even, but his game will succeed in the end. But if he gets lazy and goes about it the wrong way, his game will be erratic. He may have a few rounds where he shoots well and does lower his handicap, but overall, his game will suffer, and he'll carry around a bogus number. And when he plays in tournaments and starts dishing out strokes to legit higher handicappers, he'll be exposed for the fraud he is.
That's why I don't think setting a monetary goal is such a bad thing. I completely understand your point, Boobie, and agree with much of it. But I think it has more to do with the person than the goal itself. I think setting the goal is one thing, but the way a person approaches it speaks a lot about his/her character. Do you grind it out, learn the game and persevere, or do you take shortcuts, roll the dice and hope to hit it big?
Better yet, Boobie, what made you want to succeed at poker, and what steps did you take to achieve that success? Same question goes for anybody else on the forum who wants to answer it.

[Aequitas58]

The fact that you put a "-" and then a space before starting your text did not go unnoticed. It makes your post quite sexy, IMO.

[aixelsyD tA loL]

Your golf example doesn't really correlate well to poker. Chance plays a big role in poker while golf it really does not.

[PShabi]

<blushing>

It's all about formatting.

[JDMcNugent7]

queers.

[PShabi]

homophobe

[GTDawg]

You know, I did this over the past summer. And, well, it's not the same because, as it has been pointed out many many times before...you can play great poker over any amount of time and still be a losing poker player.

The amount of variance between poker and golf is any magnitude greater. If you practice and get better at golf, the bad bounce your ball takes on some random drive will not affect you as much. However, no matter how much you practice poker, it will never be able to overcome the dream flop when you get stuck with the underset.

You can't take a 3-iron and punch back out in to the fairway if you flop the second best fullhouse.

There's too much chance involved. There's too much opportunity to be a bad poker player and win while also the possiblity of being a good poker player and losing.