Earning a living playing poker 1 year later.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
Micro Bob,

I hope I do not sound like I am repeating myself but the point that I try to make agrees with what you say but includes all business owners.

The problem of not spending time with your spouse is something most new business owners and several professions have to deal with not just poker. Business owners, specially new ones, deal with days, weeks, months, quarters, or even the first full year of losses.

I also try to make the point that my wife and I discussed this at length, the fact that my time with her and the family will be less and she and I agreed to this sacrifice BEFORE we moved forward.

We also made it clear that if one of us have a change in feelings and feel that the stress is too much that we revisit if it is worth the sacrifice. Everything in life has its price.

I feel the difference between my situation and the others you bring up is that we fully communicated before making a decision and agreed to be flexible if we decide the stress becomes too much.

Very rarely do I see communication in the other posts. Most of the time the spouse did not seem to have any input beforehand.

Im sorry but when I look at the facts the problem is not poker but communication.

[/ QUOTE ]


you bring up some valid points there.

Although I do think that some of the relationship issues are just the guy becoming too addicted to poker and just blowing off his sig-other.

But certainly for professional players it isn't THAT much different (if at all) than just being upset with somebody for spending too much time at work and not enough time at home (particualrly a small-business owner who has to REALLY dive-in to their business to have any chance of succeeding).


I think all of your ideas about communicating with your wife/family on this and having a true business-plan going in are really terrific.


Obviously part of that business-plan also included not as much time-wasting on 2+2 as well and, instead, making sure that your poker-time is actually productive poker-time.
(the fact that you have been mostly MIA on 2+2 for quite awhile is the evidence here of course).

This is another little aspect of yours that I would be wise to incorporate into my own approach.