Goals

It's always good (I feel) to jot down some goals.  Why not do it for poker?  I'm not going for something unattainable (like a WSOP win or making millions overnight), but  I do think I should make some longterm goals that might seem lofty.  Here are a few things that I would like to do (both in the short-term and in the long-term).

1) Playing $1/2, have a month where I make over 3k.  Playing 20 sessions a month (probably averaging 3-4 hours per session) might not be enough to make that happen, as that would be about $43/hour if I had 20 3.5 hour sessions.  Again, maybe this is too optimistic to shoot for, however, I'm not going to aim at my feet with these goals.

2) Have 3 consecutive winning months to end 2010, .  I won a whopping $165 for the month of September having played 17 sessions.  I didn't keep track of hours played (like I will from now on), however, I'd guess that I averaged the 3.5 hours per session.  So I averaged a nice 2.77/hour for September.  Awesome!  Who says you can't make a living playing poker!  Seriously, though, part of my goal is to at least make an average of $20/hour for those 3 months (roughly $1200/month).

3) Play in more small tournaments in 2010.  There are some descent tourneys for $50 buy ins that I want to play in and some for $100 that are run once a month and get a good number of players.  I missed them for Oct. but I would like to play in at least one $100 one in both Nov. and Dec.

4) Starting in January, play in a $2/5 game on a consistent basis.  If I want to make some money playing poker, I need to move up in stakes.

5) Starting in December, I would like to play in the $1/2 PLO game for 5 sessions.  This will require a bankroll and better bankroll management and might conflict with my goal of 3 consecutive winning months to end the year.  I just feel that the game is very soft now and may attract better PLO players very soon.  I would make the deadline Nov. 1st, however, I just don't think I'll have the bankroll by then.

6) Play in a major tourney ($500-$2000 buy in) in the next 6 months.  There is a WSOP circuit event in Hammond, IN later in October and the Heartland Poker Tour is in Mount Pleasant, MI in November.  Ideally, I would like to play in one of those tourneys.  If I can't make that, I would like to get into one somewhere by March 31st.

7) Play in a WSOP event in June/July 2011.  They have affordable events and I now know some people who will be out there at that time.  I think it would be a great experience and Vegas is always a blast.

8) By the end of 2011, I want to buy a car with money earned by playing poker.  This one is a bit crazy, however, I didn't say what type of car.  The way that I play now it might have to be an '86 Escort.  But it would be nice to be able to get something (at least make a significant down payment) from poker winnings.


There are 8 goals that I will try my best to accomplish.  I'm glad that I have put something down so that I can at least reference it later on.  I urge you to do the same and not just with poker.  I think it's motivational (among other things) to read over goals you had once set out for yourself and do your best to try and fulfill as many as you can.