pros - how do you put in lots of hands each month?

[joop]

I'm posting this in an effort to get some good advice on how to put the hands in each month.

I currently play poker as my only source of income, and would like to make as much money as possible. I have no other obligations in my life and have recently moved to a new country and don't know many people so my social life is pretty slow. And yet, I still find it difficult to put in any more than 30-35k hands/month. This makes me about 4-5 times what I spend each month, but I don't want to do this for the rest of my life and would like to make substantial savings in the next 2-3yrs.

I have tried many different systems and goals. When I'm feeling optimistic I will aim for 60k hands/month... but just recently I have decided this is unrealistic and so I'm shooting for 40k hands, something which should be achievable. So I'm trying to play 1,333/day... which is only about 3hrs of play... and yet, I will still miss days here and there. And so I'm thinking of trying 2,000 hands/day, 5 times/week... maybe the 2 days off each week is what I need to keep me fresh.

If anyone has any tips to putting in some serious hands each month, I'd love to hear. Or if you could just share your playing schedule, hands per day, month, etc, that would be good.

Cheers,

joop

[sushijerk]

Make your playing environment as comfortable as possible. You got a favorite snack? Stock it. Favorite drink? Stock that too. Keep plenty of your favorite bottled water brand handy because when I was playing for a living over the summer even walking over to the Brita in the kitchen breaks my mood.

Ultimately, you just have to suck it up and remind yourself that you have a deadline. There's no boss looking over your shoulder and you're not getting evaluated; you need to be disciplined. There's nothing that's going to make you feel "man grinding it out is awesome."

Also, if you are going to take a vacation, GO SOMEWHERE. Take a week off as opposed to two-three days. Do not spend your days off lounging around the house. If you do this then on your days off you are going to be bored/unproductive and think "wow I could spend this time making money instead of doing nothing" and when you are playing you are thinking about slacking.

[jonnytone]

[ QUOTE ]
Make your playing environment as comfortable as possible. You got a favorite snack? Stock it. Favorite drink? Stock that too. Keep plenty of your favorite bottled water brand handy because when I was playing for a living over the summer even walking over to the Brita in the kitchen breaks my mood.

[/ QUOTE ]

And don't forget the diapers

[raptor517]

so pick like 3 days of the week to put in 10k hands a day. that way you can get in like 120k a month. thats perfectly acceptable. when i was playing sngs full time and not donking around in mtts or cash, i played like 2500 a month, and felt like i was being lazy. the only thing you can really do is set goals, then treat yourself to something when you reach them, and punish yourself when you dont. another option is challenging other players you know. i used to do competitions to see who could play more sngs in a day/week/month. thats a HGUE motivator. holla

[WhoIam]

1. Play more tables.

2. Coffee and other stimulants will help you focus longer.

3. Assuming you have a laptop, play in different places. If your goal is to play for 8 hours, you could do it at 4 different coffee shops, for example.

4. Take frequent breaks. This is the big thing for me. A session for me last 1/2 to 1 hour. After that, I get up and do something, even if it's as simple as going downstairs to get a glass of water.

5. Listen to music as long as it doesn't distract you from the cards.

[Gildwulf]

Accelerator bonus is pretty much the only reason I'm playing 10k hands a week.

[tmfs]

Play shorthanded/hu if you already don't, to get hands in faster. Keep on pushing yourself to add more tables, and work on getting more hands/hour instead of more hours.

[Anacardo]

10K a week. Takes 30-40 hours depending on how often I can find soft short tables. These are job hours, so it seems fine. Don't have to drive anywhere, and I can do it in my boxers while blasting The Strokes. How much more you want out of life?

[threeonefour]

first a warning: i suck at putting in the hours.

in addition to some of the goals these guys have mentioned i set rakeback goals (ie i will rake 10k this month at least or something)

[Colonel Kataffy]

[ QUOTE ]
Make your playing environment as comfortable as possible. You got a favorite snack? Stock it. Favorite drink? Stock that too.

[/ QUOTE ]

This sounds like a sure fire way to obesity, but not really helpful in putting more hands in each month.

[Winky McGee]

I have the same problem. I only play like 2 hours of sit and goes a day. I am only making millions when I could be making billions. I always toyed with the idea of hiring an illegal immigrant to be my errand boy. He doesn't necessarily have to be illegal either. Just find some guy who works at McDonalds and offer him $5 an hour to sit on your couch, drink your beers, and occasionally bring you something (like a bedpan). You can even buy him a cheap bike and have him pick you up stuff from stores and restaraunts. Any feedback on this idea?

[Max Weinberg]

If you're not using dual monitors, invest in that and a video card capable of doing it right away.

Also get a comfortable chair.