BEAT: Work

Zybomb · #1 10-30-07, 04:32 PM

I've been running good lately the rooms. A new player started coming around for the past 2 weeks or so at one of the spots and I had played with him 4 or 5 times, logging winners each time.

So last night he asked me if I played any tournaments and I told him a little bit. He then offered to back me in the Foxwoods main event next weekend for a standard backer agreement (stakeback then 50/50), saying the only catch was the hotels were sold out and id have to find my own lodging at one of the tree inns or somewhere further down.

BEAT: We have Parties scheduled all that weekend and getting off work would be next to impossible

MAYHEM45 · #2 10-30-07, 04:44 PM

send me in your place.

Talking Poker · #3 10-30-07, 06:22 PM

Or me if you actually want someone to go deep.

eejit101 · #4 10-30-07, 09:53 PM

or... call in sick!!!!

Reel Deal · #5 10-30-07, 11:25 PM

You don't look well Zy... I think you might be comin' down with something.

Talking Poker · #6 10-30-07, 11:40 PM

Serious question:

At what point in time will you (Zy) make the decision to quit the day job (or at least cut way back on the hours) and focus on poker?

I'm actually surprised that you haven't found "work" to be too expensive yet.... meaning, if you spent the same amount of time (or much less) that you currently work playing poker instead, I think you'd end up with more money at the end of the month, no?

Zybomb · #7 10-31-07, 01:16 AM

Sigh.... its becoming more and more of a thought as of late, but not gunna happen in the immediate future I can say that much....Im goin to go play in a min -- I'll respond further later

I will say that the bold statement is not the first time someone has told me that though... I'll elaborate on my work pay etc later on

GTDawg · #8 10-31-07, 11:20 AM

You know, from what I can remember in the past, your restaurant duties seem to cause a lot of stress and hinder a poker environment that you seem to excell at.

If you just made as much as JD for a year, you could own a whole fleet of restaurants......across the world.

Zybomb · #9 10-31-07, 01:54 PM

Thats a big if

Zybomb · #10 10-31-07, 03:30 PM

So anyway...my work schedule as of now is as follows

Monday Wednesday Thursday: Come in at 3:30-3:45, leave anywehre between 9:30 and 10:30 depending on business (we'll average this out to 10 oclock) 6.5 hrs/day

Tuesday: OFF

Friday: Come in 3:30-3:45, leave anywhere between 10:30 and 11:30 (occassionally later if there is a late night party, but it happens a small enough % of the time to ignore for simplicity). Averaging tha to 11 oclock, 7.5 hrs.

Saturday: If there is no afternoon party Come in 3:30-3:45, leave 10:30 - 11:30. If there is an afternoon party Come in 11:30-12:00 and leave 10:30-11:30. Its hard to say how often a Sat afternoon party occurs, as we can have 5 straight weeks of them and 8 straight weeks of none. I may also leave later if there is a late night party. Hours with out a party: 7.5 . With: 11.5

Sunday: No party come in 12:30, yes party 11:30-12:00. We'll just average that out to 12:00. Leave 9:00-10:00 (average 9:30) 9 hours

Total Hours: 46.5 - 50.5 (Sat party or not)

Compensation:

Im going to be discussing Take Home compensation (i.e after taxes)

Base Salary After Taxes: $600

Extras: Between Parties, and general help during the week I make an extra $100-$900. If I had to average it out Id say an extra $300 per week is standard. The upside is this is cash. So I generally bring home 700-1500, generally closer ot the 900-1000 range

This turns out to be roughly $50,000 take home (after taxes), so roughly $70,000 pre tax (keep in mind I live in NY and this isnt shit considering to buy a tiny 2 bedroom co-op cost 200k and a normal 1 floor house with a basement cost 700k+)

If I broke this down into an hour rate it be something close to $20/hr net (something like $28/hr pre tax)

Compare this to the dealers in the live games that make $300-$1000 a night and I wanna puke but....

So could I make better exclusively playing cards? I havent figured out hours at the table but I do have a log of live sessions (115 thus far) which will by the years end wind up being close to 3 sessions a week. IF I increased that to 5 sessions a week what would the result be?

Interestingly my 2 biggest winning months of the year (this month and last month) I have logged the 3rd fewest and fewest number of sessions for the month.

My only losing month this year (March) was a average # of sessions month, but my two months with the most sessions (Feb and July) have been my 4th and 2nd worst months respectively

In fact when I have logged 10 or fewer sessions for the month (which I have 5 out of the 10 months so far) I have netted 5.5x the amount of money that I have netted in the 5 months that I have logged 10 or more sessions (this is all live play BTW)... so Im not 100% sure if playing more will result in winning more (although I dont see why it shouldnt if Im an overall winner)

Im just rambling at this point....

melioris · #11 10-31-07, 04:12 PM

this is awesome, I love shit like this, windows into people's lives. Thanks for the post.

You are around 25, single- in that you are not engaged, and have a BA in something irrelevant, right? Work sucks, but it is steady and offers some future intangibles (learning a business, exposure to people and random professional opportunities, opportunity to meet random women, etc). I don't see why would you want to change anything right now. Playing poker for real (I don't mean stakes but as your primary or only source of income) has got to physiologically HUGE and if there isn't a very compelling reason why put that much stress on yourself?

What are your future goals? I suggest making a list and prioritizing. Don't do it here, as my voyeur tendencies only run so deep before it gets yucky, but if you are thinking about making the leap do it for yourself. As a working stiff who moonlights as a card shark, you pretty much are as close as possible to getting your cake and eating it. Sure you aren't making the salary you would like, but really who the hell is? And ultimately, the cliches got it right about money and happiness.

I guess I don't really see the problem with your current setup. Giving up one or the other seems like you are unnecessarily limiting yourself at this point. Although you are working 40-50 hrs a week, the sad truth is that comparatively your job is not a killer and your compensation isn't terrible.

Talking Poker · #12 10-31-07, 07:29 PM

Would it be possible for you to cut your hours down to 20-30 per week? If so, you could take say half of that time (10-15) and use that for poker. I know you like playing live, but I am SURE you could and would be a long term winner online if you played there more. I suspect you would win muc more per hour online that you do live, but who knows, so ignore that for now.

Anyway, by doing something like that, you'd still have some amount of guaranteed pay to fall back on and cover your monthly bills, but you'd be giving yourself a chance to take poker more seriously... AND you'd have 10-15 more hours of FREE TIME every week too.

Maybe it's not possible for you to work part time at your job... If it's all or nothing, I'd have to recommend sticking to the job. But that would surprise me... I would think you should be able to work out a part time deal, assuming your company doesn't want to completely lose you.

Zybomb · #13 11-01-07, 04:36 AM

The specifics are correct, 25 years old, BA in Psychology and single (not engaged no current girlfriend)

Another piece of information left out was that although the work is 40-50 hours, while it is time consuming (i.e i have to be there) its not really work. I get in around 3:30, do random things for the day like liquor orders, payroll, specials, bills and what not which usually takes 20 minutes. Then from 4:00-4:30 I dick off on the cpu or watch TV upstairs, at 4:30 we eat and then get ready for opening at 5:00.; During the week when things are slow I just kind of hang out, watch the game, go on the cpu if the owner isnt on it etc -- and when Im actually working, unless its very busy Im generally just assisting with any server problems and going around talking to the regulars and approaching other tables to make sure everything is being taken care of. I'll also sometimes help with general sever duties if no ones around and book future parties when interested people come in to inquire. Pretty much its just a figurehead type of position which most of the time doesnt need to do too much unless a problem or mistake arises

Thanks for the post!

Zybomb · #14 11-01-07, 04:45 AM

No this would not be possible. The restaurant is a privately owned restaurant that employs a total of 4 kitchen employees (2 line cooks, salad/dessert cook and a dishwasher) 2 bus boys, 5 servers, 1 bartender and 2 hostesses (and myself -- 1 floor manager/banquet manager/ maitre'd)

At one time we have 1-2 servers and 1 bus boy during the week, and 2-4 severs and 2 busboys on weekends, 1 hostess each day and 1 bartender thurs fri sat (i fill in during the rest of the week as needed). All kitchen employees work all 6 days and do I and Nick. Nick is generally in the back cooking (or downstairs on the cpu) and I am supervising the floor.

There is a total of 20 tables in the restaurant, during the week we rarely exceed 10 at one time (during the slowest days we may only have 6 or 7 tables all day), and on the weekends we may or may not go on a wait. Catering parties are the thing that is really keep us alive as we've become a spot for bday parties, bridal and baby showers, communions, confirmations and graduation parties.

With a restaurant this small, unfortunately there is no one to take my place and until we blow up some more and another "me" is needed, time off is difficult. I had a wedding to go to in Ohio in August so a few months prior I had the bartender request the week off from the steakhouse (his other job) and fill in for me -- he has 20+ years of experience in restaurants so he was a good fill in.... but the point is that until another me is required less hours seems unlikely

Zybomb · #15 11-13-07, 04:50 AM

In an ironic (and freakishly coincidental) turn of events, due to a difference of opinions in the restaurants performance thus far and future direction, my last day is going to be this sunday (owners decision not mine)

What my immediate plans are following this are unknown, but I think it is likely I may exclusively play for a few months and reevaluate

Ill start another thread with all the details some other time

Reel Deal · #16 11-13-07, 10:46 AM

Wow.

Best of luck Zy.

melioris · #17 11-13-07, 12:52 PM

seconded. Good Luck with this Zy

Talking Poker · #18 11-13-07, 02:15 PM

Thirded.

Didn't see that coming, but hopefully it will end up being for the best...

Spidey44 · #19 11-14-07, 10:02 AM

Good luck Zy! Tough break, but I'm sure something better will come up.

lightfungus · #20 11-14-07, 06:22 PM

Bastards! I hate when people decide what I am doing with my life. On the plus side, you will never be left wondering "What if?" about poker now. I am slightly jealous as I have been dreaming of someone removing all options from my life so that was my only possibility was that of a poker boy.

Invigilator · #21 11-14-07, 07:05 PM

Chalk that one up to 'variance'? GL dude!

Tony Cheval · #22 11-15-07, 09:36 PM

Hope you have better luck than I did (taking it more seriously than I ended up doing would help).