Wives and Poker

[Daniel Magix]

To the married fellas - what do your wives think of your online poker habits? Here is my summarized online poker history...

A little over a year ago, I played some online SNGs and turned a small profit. I had checks coming in every few weeks, because I'd cash out some whenever I won. I wasn't interested in building a bankroll at that time. Eventually, I had about $100 left and I tilted it off and my adventure was done. during that time though, I would occasionally get really pissed when bad beats occured. So much that I would take it out on my wife by just being in a foul mood afterwards and being irritable.

So I took a year off from online play.

Then, just a few months ago, I felt confident enough and knowledgeable enough to deposit some more cash and try to build a bankroll. My wife wasn't crazy about the idea of me putting more money in, because she remembered how I would get when I would lose. She didn't like it, but she is not the type to tell me NOT to do something. So I deposited the cash, built my BR up some, withdrew my initial deposit, and have been playing on profit and slowly building for a few months now.

With my modest success, I thought my wife would be proud or more supportive than she is. Now the big thing is not the money, because she has nothing to complain about there, but rather the time I spend playing.

I mean, I don't spend a ton of time playing. My bankroll would probably be growing much faster if I had more time to play. But with a toddler, and a full work schedule, my playing time choices are limited.

I get home from work at 6-6:30pm.
I give my little boy a bath and dress him for bed.
At 7:45 I read him a book or two and put him to bed.
My wife and I eat at about 8-8:15pm.
By 9pm, we are done and the kitchen is cleaned up.
Maybe from 9-10:30pm, we will watch TV and talk.

So as you can see, not a lot of time to play. When I do play, it's usually me sitting down at 10:30pm and playing for 2 hours or so (more if I am in an MTT). My wife is in bed and asleep by 11pm.

She complains about going to bed alone. But mind you, I do not play every night - maybe 2-3 nights a week max.

She used to like to hear about my wins, but now it's gotten to the point where I start to describe a hand to her and she rolls her eyes and says all I ever talk about is poker. See, she plays in our weeknight home tourney and she is 2nd in the overall money earnings amongst 8 other guys! So it's not like I am trying to force poker conversations on a person who doesn't understand poker. She just thinks that I take my hobbies/interests too far. She says I have issues because I take notes on opponents when playing online.

So, I'm just curious if there are other guys out there in similiar situations, and how they deal with it or how they make their wife understand our poker ways.