[Closed] I hate real work... time for some superturbos and fish...

Good Blog out there mate. I hope it's -4 degree celcius (not -40 c). ♦. I lived in Scotland for 2 years....

Now as far as my poker career goes I play SNGs and MTTs... I played cash tables but always enjoyed the tournament format, the changing and adapting through the different stages, the complexity and challenge of applying ICM and having the satisfaction of being the last man standing with all the chips...

I began at Titan poker with my $50 playing the $0.50+$0.10 games, my learning experiences have been plentiful. I moved up to the $11 SNGs and moved my roll to Full Tilt where I cleared the bonus but hated the SNG format there, so moved back to Titan for a few days and now I am currently playing at mansion enjoying the extra free $50, clearing the $600 bonus and just LOVING how soft Ipoker is...

I have made +- $5500 profit playing poker since I registered, but I haven't been able to keep it all in my roll for the following reasons....

1. In Canada I am currently not legally allowed to work, so poker is my only income while my fiancee also works... so my poker helps pay the bills...

2. I have not been to South Africa in 3 years and I have to go back and visit family and my best mate is getting married and I'm the best man, so poker is paying for that too....

Now all this has brought all sorts of challenges as a new player but I am proud to say that so far so good... I leave next week for SA and all the bills are paid for til I get back...

As I titled this blog "I hate real work" I shall now explain... I don't like having a regular job, but I love making money... I have embarked on several business ventures with varying amounts of success, but what I really want is the freedom to do what I want to do and to turn my passions into money... if I could work from home and be able to go fishing or snowboarding when and where I wanted I would be extremely happy...

Also when I have a family I would love to be able to stay home with the kids and be a close father...

Now my challenge, cos the biggest obstacle is that my girlfriend likes reliable income and benefits and all the things that come with a regular 9-5er... but she has also been incredibly supportive and helpful through all the ups and downs so far and can see the potential... so now I just need to make it happen... basically I have 2009 to prove that I can make a decent living playing poker as I won't be able to get a work permit until 2010...

So my goals are:

1. Come back from SA with more money than I left... My goals is to make $4500 while away
2. Put $6000 dollars away for December trip to SA (my brother's wedding)
3. Withdraw at least $2000 per month for bills, expenses and other things

These are big goals so you are more than welcome to watch my progress as I take on this challenge... I feel more ready than ever and I'll be going into a lot of topics on the way... so wish me luck ♦

Originally posted by MaHnaK
Good Blog out there mate. I hope it's -4 degree celcius (not -40 c). ♦. I lived in Scotland for 2 years....

Nope it really gets to -40C... currently its -9 so that's like t-shirt weather... couple weeks til I get to tghe proper sun

Currently my situation is this...

A week ago I withdrew all the money I needed for plane tickets, spending money + savings so that I have at least 1 month rent + expenses put away... I deposited $800 on top of the free $50 on 1st Feb...

I am going to build the roll to $2000 and then switch to the $22s and make withdrawals whenever the roll hits more than $2150... I withdraw down to $2000... I will do this until I have returned from SA and then reevaluate my line...

Currently BR is at $1353...

Good luck :). It will be interesting to watch your blog as you take this challenge. I will be regular follower.

Honestly, monetary goals are not so good in poker. Sometimes they improve your focus but most of the time they mess up you A-Game.

Nevertheless I wish you success on the tables, and a nice trip to SA.

Originally posted by hunt32
Honestly, monetary goals are not so good in poker. Sometimes they improve your focus but most of the time they mess up you A-Game.

Nevertheless I wish you success on the tables, and a nice trip to SA.

I agree, monetary goals do screw up your A-game... I have had this experience expecially when my initial work visa was denied and my girlfriend wasn't getting enough hours at work... it was really tight and we NEEDED the money and I really really struggled... Psychologically I feel ready for the challenge, and to be honest I have to set goals or else I dunno, it would seem aimless... besides I always set my goals slightly higher than they need to be, and they often evolve or adapt to situations as we go... so we'll see...

I'm gonna be going through some of the things that I have done to help take the pressure off when setting monetary goals...

But today will be a light day, I am going snowboarding, one last little trip before I head for the sun... may a light session this evening...

This looks like a good blog

+1 NickParkes

I will now imagine you as a world-traveler/slacker/penguin.

GG en good luck on tables,

viewer

Awesome blog!

I wish you the best of luck achieving your goals..

I will keep read this. Solid start

Originally posted by MaHnaK
Good luck :). It will be interesting to watch your blog as you take this challenge. I will be regular follower.

me too!

Really nice and interesting blog so far; good luck at the tables!

Well thanks all for the sentiments so far...

So far today I have just had an awesome day snowboarding, so I'm gonna play a light set but will be grinding this weekend... My girlfriend is working long hours on Sat and Sun so a great opportunity to get some numbers rolling...

@viewer... I haven't been called a penguin in a good long while... tx

Originally posted by NickParkes
I really do enjoy it here despite the -40C weather...

Haha I'm originally from Minnesota, and went back to visit family at christmas had some -40 with windchill times. Not so fun ♦.. although better than rainy gray belgium!

I will be following this blog :)..

Only SnG's?

Originally posted by dadude77

Originally posted by NickParkes
I really do enjoy it here despite the -40C weather...

Haha I'm originally from Minnesota, and went back to visit family at christmas had some -40 with windchill times. Not so fun ♦.. although better than rainy gray belgium!

I will be following this blog :)..

Only SnG's?

Yeah, I'll take the cold and the snow over the rain anytime.... but today was sweet it was 0C... sunny and no lift lines at the slopes ♦ can't ask for more than that...

Yeah I play mainly SNGs... I play MTTs as well, nut for the next couple weeks it's probably gonna be a SNG grind up to the $2K roll in Mansion... I will probably branch into more aspects of the game later in my career, but for now I want to master one and progress from there... and I like SNGs, they're fun that's important for me...

Review...

Played 8 games, busted out of 6 and 2x 3rd places... so not great, but hey it happens....

Roll is sitting at $1305

Can anyone tell me the easiest way to load Pokertracker 3 graphs?

Originally posted by NickParkes
Review...

Played 8 games, busted out of 6 and 2x 3rd places... so not great, but hey it happens....

Roll is sitting at $1305

Can anyone tell me the easiest way to load Pokertracker 3 graphs?

PrintScreen -> MS Paint -> imageshack.us

Originally posted by NickParkes
sunny and no lift lines at the slopes ♦ can't ask for more than that....

Hows the Skiing/Snowboarding Up there? I know nothing about Saskatchewan so I don't know how big the mountains are or how much snow you get or anything.

Hey, nice blog. And its kind of inspiring too cuz, who doesn't hate real work!

I was wondering something though, if you make a living playing poker then how does paying taxes and all work? Especially if you win big in some tournament.. what do you do?

I am not from the IRS or anything btw, I was just curious to know. I am from India actually..

Anyways, best of luck for your mission.

Cheers

Originally posted by DaPhunk

Originally posted by NickParkes
sunny and no lift lines at the slopes ♦ can't ask for more than that....

Hows the Skiing/Snowboarding Up there? I know nothing about Saskatchewan so I don't know how big the mountains are or how much snow you get or anything.

Well Saskathchewan is pretty flat, but they have a couple hills... really nothing too exciting but when I go it's to go play in the park.... give me some kickers and rails and I am happy... next season I wanna spend more time out in BC cos it's been a while since I have had some good powder...

I was wondering something though, if you make a living playing poker then how does paying taxes and all work? Especially if you win big in some tournament.. what do you do?

I did some research into this, and basically here is Canada while the winnings are small enough you don't pay tax on them... currently with my status in Canada I don't have to pay taxes yet... I believe that as you get to the higher limits you would have to pay taxes because it is your sole living...

In the future I will get professional input on this, but for now I just make sure that I have all my results tracked and I keep all my deposit/withdrawal information so that I can track what has happened with every cent if I need to...