Mrs fLuke is off to enjoy a New Zealand summer shortly. She’s away for three weeks, two of which I intend to spend in London, so I figure I may take a shot at ‘going pro’ for week while she’s not around to cast disapproving glances.
Obviously I have a real job that I don’t intend to give up any time soon, so the intention is to play at least six hours a day, Monday to Saturday. It’d be nice to make a few extra quid, but primarily this exercise will be to see (a) how dull playing so much poker could be, (b) whether I can pull in enough of a salary to sustain the lifestyle I’ve become accustomed to, and probably most importantly (c) to examine the impact of intensive poker life on my psychology and physiology.
If I’m playing as a pro, I’ll have to do so to some fairly strict rules. Will be taking no more than 10% of my bankroll out on any given night, and will be seeking out games where said 10% can be put into play in at least four buy-ins. I don’t have a bankroll per se, my ill gotten gains are just mixed up with real money in a savings account, so instead of this I intend to substitute my lifetime poker profit, which as the result of a rather bad run in January is reduced to £8,600.
For simplicity, we’ll call that £800 a night, which nicely provides four reloads at 1/2 NL.
I did give some consideration to playing a week of tournaments, however I’ve previously concluded that tournament poker isn’t my forte. I lack the discipline and patience to go months between each big score. Much prefer the instant gratification of playing a solid winning cash session. Cash will also provide more flexibility on venues and start/finish times.
To mix it up a little I’m intending to vary my playing location from day to day. Probably aiming for something like the following:
- Monday – a relaxed start to the week at the Gala Queensway, taking a chance to build an early lead on the week
- Tuesday – the International to try to hoover up any drop-outs from the ‘beginners night’ tournament
- Wednesday – the regular Canine private game at The Loose Cannon
- Thursday – may make a return visit to the Vic, as it’s been well over a year since I last played there
- Friday – the Empire for a long late game that’s very likely to last into the following morning
- Saturday -home for breakfast, some afternoon Zzz’s, and then back to the Empire to close down my six days of hard graft
Will aim to blog my results nightly, so pop back soon for an update on how it’s going.