the value of money

hi guys,

read this post on another forum- and asked the author (north star/unohue on tribeca if i could reproduce it here) I found it thought provoking.....

Hi everyone,
It's been ages since I posted. For those of you that know me, they'll be used to my annual whinging about work/lack of spare time around Christmas time (as I work in food retail Sad ). Although I've managed to play quite a lot of poker, I've made a conscious effort to focus on the game and cut out a lot of the multi-tasking ... such as reading/writing posts whilst playing. Hence my self enforced temporary absence from the 1808 forum.

Anyway, after reading the diaries of the high rollers (erdnase, gee and all) I thought I'd pose a potentially controversial question with the genuine aim of getting players' thoughts on how they approach "the value of money" and in particular how their poker bankroll influences day to day life.

I have always been ultra conservative in my approach (both in bankroll management and style of play) and this has no doubt limited my progress in the game but also protected against the huge variances experienced by the bigger players.

My strategy has ensured that I've consistently won, but on a relatively small scale. I aim for, and achieve, a minimum of £1,000 profit per month from maybe 100 hours play. I've had some significant successes recently, but am still keen to sniff out good value bonuses etc. and have rarely ventured beyond $100 buy-ins even after I've won a decent MTT.
I have a steady, relatively well paid job, traditional family responsibilities, in particular the (considerable) costs associated with bringing up teenage children Gun

My poker income is a very welcome supplement to my lifestyle. I tend to cash out down to $1,000 at the end of the month and generally make a significant "luxury" purchase every time I have a decent win.

I can honestly say that at the level that I play, I have no fear of losing but I still think of my chips as hard earned cash and usually equate winnings to number of weeks wages or cost of holidays, cars etc.

Consequently, the thought of risking a month's salary (or more) on the turn of a card still is a weird feeling. It took me 3 years before I started playing cash tables, having ground out a solid return from $50 STTs for a couple of years.

In summary, I play safe, generally solid, successful, technically sound "ABC" poker and still have my feet firmly on the ground relying on my job to pay the bills.

Contrast that with someone who maybe has never worked a day in their life (despite typically having excellent academic qualifications) and also has no responsibilities other than to themselves. Once they've won the equivalent of maybe a year's salary in one evening, where will the motivation to work come from ? No doubt there are the chosen few who can genuinely consistently make sufficient profits to never ever have to consider working, but at some stage others may have to get out of bed to earn an "honest living".

Has anybody been through that, maybe worked then packed up to play poker full time then had to return to work ?

Similarly has anyone (temporarily) totally lost the value of money and maybe let this have a significant effect on their "day to day life".

BTW, I'm not being moralistic here ..... if the truth be known I'm probably a bit jealous having slugged it out at work for nearly 30 years. If online poker had been around then maybe I'd have taken a different path and the thought of poker funding my entire needs is still quite an attractive proposition Thumbs Up

So, who's prepared to give their honest thoughts on how they manage their bankroll and share their successes, failures and how poker has influenced their lives in a positive or negative way ? Blush