Aspirations

What are your poker goals? I know everyone wants to win a bracelet. And yea we all want to play $1000NL, but if you had to decide on some realistic, long term goals, what would they be? Do you want to play full time? Do you want to become the best player possible, and if so, how much time and effort are you going to put into doing that? Are you happy with just playing as high a stakes as you can get while doing the family thing, job and social life?

How would you rate your "poker drive"? What are you not getting out of poker, FTR and your learning experience that you need to change/find to make your "poker career" get to where you want it?

I just want to here your wish list, road blocks, your goals and what you are going to do to achieve them. Personally, I really want to become a full timer. I am finding it really hard to get to where I want to be. Family, work and life slow down the process a lot. I am making progress faster than ever, but getting to the magic number that lets me "go pro" is still off in the distance. I still am shooting for Jan 1/08 and am on target to my goals posted in my Blog here on FTR. Where do you hope to be in the new year, or 12 months from now?

Hey TJ,

We've had this discussion, and I represent the other side of the coin. I play poker as a fun hobby (and I guess for some pocket money, though since moving up to $100NL that's hardly flowing like it once was!) and I DON'T want to go pro, ever, and I DON'T want to get to 1000NL (the bracelet - yeah, I'll admit I'd quite like that ).

Okay, maybe if my poker skillz got SO advanced that I could easily pwn $1000NL, then yes, I guess I'd like to do that. But I know it's not going to happen because I am too easily discouraged and too scared of losing lots of money. Even $200 is looking unlikely, although I did have a shot at it this morning (lol hitandrunaments - it does help if you get straight over set and set over set in your first 15 hands).

But that's fine. I will never depend on poker for income, and I will never go busto because I play so overrolled (I have withdrawn about $7k over time, which leaves my roll at about $8k). If anything, I *should* wind down the amount of time I spend playing, as I try to get my career onto the next level (I am a film/TV agent, and I should be reading and watching a lot of stuff in the evenings, on weekends, in the time I currently spend playing.

Timely question for me. I've been thinking about this recently, because I've reached the goals I set for myself about a year ago. I don't have any dreams of becoming a full-time player, mostly because I think it would transform poker from fun to work. (And it seems like a pretty boring thing to do for work.) So my main goal has been to beat stakes high enough that the money I win in a session or two really means something in my real life. I'm definitely there, beating 1/2 and 2/4 (over smallish samples) and having occasional +$1000 sessions. It's pretty unreal actually.

So I feel like I've reached some kind of plateau, and being a very competitive person, I'm already wondering where to go from here. Well, first I need to slow down and remind myself that I haven't beaten 2/4 over a large enough sample to get excited yet. So my immediate goal is to beat it over at least another 10k hands. After that, I'm going to take shots at 3/6 once my roll hits $18k. I'm a little worried about the next move up b/c table selection is a huge part of my game. I only play tables with high VPIPs or players I have extensive notes on and some idea how to exploit. Already that means there often aren't 4 or 5 tables at 2/4 that qualify, so I imagine it's only going to get harder as I keep moving up.

Goals for January 1st 2008... still be beating 2/4 for a winrate over 4ptbb/100. Be rolled for 3/6 and taking shots at good tables. Be able to withdraw a significant chunk of my roll to start paying off student loans and still be rolled for 2/4. Not that ambitious, I know, but compared to where I was a year ago, playing break-even poker at 50NL...

Here is me:

Current BR: $1650
Current stakes: $50NL 6max

Here are my roadblocks, aspirations, goals.

Roadblocks
1. Lack of hands played
--I do not put in anywhere near enough hands on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. If I get 15k hands in throughout a month I feel fortunate
2. I think too quickly
--This comes from limit 6max and I know it does. Back when I was 6tabling 6max LHE decisions were automatic and came from every angle. Running 25/20 on 6 tables on UB's software (800h/hr) didn't leave me much time to think. The problem is that has spilled over into my NL game. I only 4 table and run about 17/12 which means I have fewer decisions but that is not to say their impact is not greater. I am trying to think while I play but I am still failing to do so.
3. www.flopturnriver.com
--Yes, this is probably a roadblock for me. I am taking the advice of TJ and I will be taking a month off from FTR, 2+2, CR's, etc... and just flat out playing poker throughout July. I need to put in 30k hands at least.

Goals
My goals have and always will be hands driven. I know I have an edge in the games I am playing. In order to show the most profit with that edge I need to only increase the number of hands I play to do so. I typically set a goal of hands per month and I generally never ever get there. In fact, I don't think I ever have. They are realistic too, like 20k hands a month.

Aspirations
I want to make an absolute boat-load of money playing this game. I currently work for a company which owns/operates/manager/franchises over 100 indoor teaching academies across the US. It is my goal to franchise a few of these in TX/CA/AZ in the next 4-5 years. I currently have the money to open about half of a store (franchise costs .25mill) and I would like to make a lot of money playing poker over the next 4-5 years. Hell, if I could just run 5ptbb/100 at 100nl playing 30k hands a month that would be $180k over 5 years. I cannot see myself ever playing above 200nl but who knows, if I put the hands in you never know.

Cliff notes: I need to play more, study the game less, and make more mobnies.

In the short term, gain experience and learn the game. Get 10k hands at NL$5, and enough of a bankroll to move up stakes. So in the short term, I suppose learn and gain confidence. As for more long term goals...the more intricate theories of poker intrigue me. Learning how to better calculate EV, ICM, all that good stuff is definately a goal. I'd also like to start making enough profit that I don't need to keep it all in for bankroll, having a little spending money would be great right now.

I'd also like to keep progressing my Tournement game. I've found that I enjoy both ring games, SNGs and MTTs, and luckily they all have enough variety that I can switch between them. I suppose for my tourney game, scoring a prize over $1000 would be awesome.

TJ - why do you want to know?
I read this this morning, and I've been thinking about it all afternoon in the pub, so I'm gonna have a stab.
If I was given the choice, I'd be beating $1000NL rather then having any stupid bracelet.
I'm having trouble putting into words what poker is to me.
I'm 23, and i only really 'found' poker about 4 months ago. Gabe's 'any questions' thread was absolutely mind blowing for me, I had no idea there was that amount of money there to be won.
Every day I grind $25 & $50NL I feel gutted I didnt know about this site ,and poker, when I was working 12 hours a week at university (so had about a gazzillion hours a week free) when I could have been doing what I am doing now, hence playing $1000NL by now.

My goals are simple.
$10,000 by Dec 31st 2007. If I dont make that then poker is not for me and I'm going to spend my time doing something else.
If I do make that, then my ultimate goal is $100,000 by Dec 31st 2008.
I suppose poker is a 'hobby' for me, but all of the hobbies I've ever had I've got bored with after a few months, but the same thing hasnt happened with poker - I think the money is the difference.
I know, if I do get to $100,000 I'm not going to use it to play poker.
There are a shit load more profitable (and interesting) things you can do with £50,000 than play poker with it.
Yes, I want to get better, it would be cool to be thought of as one of the 'better' players around, but I honestly couldn't care less what anyone thought of me as a poker player, the only reason I am playing this game is for $$$$$.
So I suppose my aspirations are simply $$$.

I never want poker to be a full time thing for me, BUT, I would love to travel (or live in a foreign country for a few years) and I know poker could potentially fund this whilst I'm travelling - that is the only circumstance I'd go 'pro'.
My mum, and her two brothers, own a cottage in the Lake District (one of the most beautiful parts of England) which they let out, but only during the summer. I'm hoping to pursuade them to let me and the missus stay there over the winter, when I will grind like nobodys ever grinded before. This is the only other circumstance I will go 'pro', but its a pretty unlikely one at that.

Road Blocks:
Time!!!! I just simply do not have the time to put in the 30,000+ hands a month required to get to where I want to. I do the usual 8 hours a day work, and I can still get in 500 hands every day before my girlfriend gets in from work, but its just not enough.
This goes back to what I was saying above, I wish I'd done all this when I was at university, then I could be 'using' poker monies for the much more profitable opportunities surrounding me.

Cliff notes: put in as many hands as possible between now and new year, make poker $$$ work for me, rather than just being my bankroll.

TJ - I dont know if that was the sort of thing you were looking for - but as I said at the top, I didnt really know why you wanted to know, so there it is!

What you guys are telling me is exactly what I want to know. I am kinda just looking and listening. I have a few other goals in mind, and just thought that there may be some out there that have never thought about it thoroughly. We all start out the same, a little money, liking the game and playing micro limits to build the roll. I wonder what is next for most. For example, some claim to play for fun, but What is the fun they are looking for? High stakes? Time waster? Learning experience? I think you need to figure out what you want to achieve and then find the path that leads you there. An example is when you are getting upset and tilting, but you play poker as a pastime, for fun. Have you really thought this through. If you are that competitive that your enjoyment of poker is destroyed by your anger.

I have thought about it pretty thoroughly.
I could never play this game for 'fun' hence I had to think about why I really wanted to play this game (which is outlined above) before I really started playing the game, if you know what I mean.
I dont think I'd have carried on as i have if I hadnt set out those above goals.
So I agree with you, if you can figure out what you want to achieve and find a path to get you there, it becomes so much......i dunno - easier???.

Bleh, sod that, my only aspirations are to make enough $$$$$ to be here next year with these guys:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...read-56521.htm
VEGAS!!
(If I'm invited of course....)

I remember when I first started playing online poker I was wondering about how far I could go.
Back then on Party at the $5NL tables I thought getting to $25NL and leaving the beginner's tables was all that mattered.

After a while I realised this was nothing much really and so $100NL became a goal (ooh, look, BB is a whole unit!!) but that finished when I got there.

These days my goal is more or less to be back playing $200NL and have a winning record. Ideally having a BR of around $8k and being able to play $200NL with the odd stab at $400NL.

I used to play a lot of chess and got to a reasonable level. Now I don't play enough these days so I'm fairly out of practice, but I can beat most of the casual players I meet and it's fun being "good at something" even if I don't spend time at it actively any more.

So, I really want the BR + skills to play interesting games, be they $400NL or MTTs.
Oh, and pwning the Gauntlet would be cool... still irritated I let that one go so easily

Roadblocks are surely that

• My focus is not what it should be.
  I make too many fancy moves and that needs to be improved.
  My theoretical knowledge is a bit ropey both in ring and tourneys.
  My reads are woeful to non-existant.
  My emotional stabiity is a bit weak.

In 12 months I hope to have hit a more stable position.
I know I'm capable of beating $100NL, but I'm so sensitive to the swings. I want to be confident enough in my ability that a 4BI downswing wont have be questioning whether I'm the greatest donk in history.

Anosmic, wow, I could have wrote that. Your experiences and feelings are very similiar to my own. My "roadblocks" are very much the same; especially the part about emotional stability. I almost never tilt in the old fashioned sense (dokning away buy-ins on stupid bluffs, calling when you know you are beat etc) but I have had huge problems coping with the downswings of the game. 5-buy-in downswings really used to make my stomach ace and I have experienced a couple of 10-buy-in downswings that nearly made me quit the game. As a matter of fact, I at one point did. In august last year I withdraw my entire bankroll (about 11k) and I ended up spending it all. At that point I played mostly 100NL despite "knowing" that I could beat the 200NL-game. I had a real solid winrate at 100NL with a proven record of +100,000 hands. I realized I was a bit overrolled for 100NL and that I should at least try 200NL. But every time I went up there I would swing a couple of downswings, got scared and moved down to 100NL.

At one point I decided this was it, I was not going to hold myself back. I decided I was going to make my move t0 200NL permanent but ended up dealing with a massive downswing that made me quit and withdraw my roll. In retrospect I can see that there was nothing I could have done about that downswing. I had made my decision and didn't play scared or didnt tilt in any way. It was just set over sets, flush over flushes, full boat being beaten my quads and the usual yada yada. Point is that it really was a couple of huge beats and terrible coolers that caused this downswing, but at that time my confidence had hit rock bottom and I really didn't question, I BELIEVED, I was the greatest donk in the history of poker. The 11k left of my bankroll was wasted on useless shit, and when I started to regret my decision it was to late.

I built my bankroll from an initial stake of $100 dollars and I had been able to withdraw money all the time, but this time I knew I wouldn't have the energy to rebuild it all from scratch. I contemplated my fate and cursed myself for my decision to quit, because poker had been such a huge part of my life and I really missed it. It wasn't until february this year that I began playing again. I had recieved a stake and I began grinding it out at 50NL. I moved quickly t0 100NL and soon after that I was back at 200NL. I feel like I have a different perspective on poker now compared to when I quit. My point of view now is that Im just happy to be back and playing, and I also feel that no obstacle is big enough to overcome if you can master your emotions. This time I won't turn back.

I quit my job of 6 years this past march. It was the hardest thing I had ever done because the people were great and the pay was comfortable. Had to be done though, because I wanted to play poker full time. The first three months were really hard - adjusting to friends and family, mostly family criticizms due to my housing situation.

My goal is to make enough money playing poker to buy a house this time 2009. $100,000 down payment is what I'm looking at, I have $25,000 right now.

I would love to here more some day Drew, since you are where I want to be. Are you not playing $100NL? maybe you could MSN me and we can talk about earnings potential around the limits you are playing, where, times and your tax situations, since we are both Ontario, Canada.

Wow. There's so much more you asked and so much more I could add, so here goes.

What are your poker goals?

See Above + Playing as high of cash game stakes as possible online and elsewhere. I began my transition into 100NL from 50NL two days ago. I hope to be killing 100NL by the end of 2007.

long term goals, what would they be?

Once I buy the house (..come on, come on!!!), I would like to continue to impress all of the skeptics out there in my life regarding my risky decisions.

Do you want to play full time?

I wouldn't have it any other way

Do you want to become the best player possible, and if so, how much time and effort are you going to put into doing that?

I do want to be the best I can be. Here are a few things I need to work on (I believe all will help my game):
Exercising physically
Reading more
Studying FTR more
Creating session limit goals and losses, as well as time restraints ie taking a lengthy break after a few hours.

How would you rate your "poker drive"?

On a scale of 1 - 10, 5 being the average poker player, I'd say 9.5+. This is including half of all players being below 5. I honestly think that 90% of players simply don't care nearly as much.

What are you not getting out of poker, FTR and your learning experience that you need to change/find to make your "poker career" get to where you want it?

I'm getting as much out of it as I am putting into it.

Where do you hope to be in the new year, or 12 months from now?

This time 2008 I would like to be making a transition into 200NL.

- get more structure in my daily life so that I don't have to feel like a degen for being a poker pro.

-beat the crap out of 2/4 until I get my tax situation figured out. Long story short I might get a huge increase in taxes when moving beyond 400NL. Until that is cleared up I'm gonna try and bring my game up to the point where I can beat 2/4 for 7-ish ptbb/100.

- I want to buy an apartment with poker income at some point in the near future.

- in the longer term I think I want to use poker income to get started in the stock market.

Largest obstacle by far: laziness.

currently, my main goal in life is to play professionally. i have spent the majority of my free time over the last eighteen months working poker.

it is turning out to be one of the most difficult things i have ever done, and that's even without being successful. i believe that's mainly because for a large portion of my hands i have run unconscionably, flabbergastingly bad.

but im stil playing because i have the proof that i play better than most of my opponents. my semi-short term goal (which will likely take a long time) is to consistently make 3k a month in rakeback/bonuses.

hope this helps. btw, you used to have a super hot avatar. why 'used to'?

^^^^
I know you're not talking about me, but yeah, I should get jessica aalba back up here. btw, $3k in rakeback/bonuses? what limits/# of table / hrs?

Originally Posted by BankItDrew

^^^^
I know you're not talking about me, but yeah, I should get jessica aalba back up here. btw, $3k in rakeback/bonuses? what limits/# of table / hrs?

yea you need to get Alba back. what's the use of an avatar if it's not for tits, ass, or humor?

i estimate that approximately 75k hands a month at 200NL FR Supernova Elite Stars will do the trick. hoping to hit that by Jan 09. i should be able to, but if i continue to run on the dark side of variance more often than not then i wont. that will be quite unfortunate. im simply amazed it's been going on for as long as it has, and that's partly why my goals are no longer for winrate, but rakeback/bonuses.

here's mine:
-pay back college loans (~30k). i'm halfway there so far.
-succeed in 5/10 and up. but i'll need to improve more to do that...
longer term- to invest $ and get involved in something new, probably real estate investing or a new business.

some roadblocks...
- too much time online, like forums, watching cardrunners etc. need to play and get out more.

My goals are both results and non-results based:

Results-based Goals:
- Start with $50 and build a monster BR on my own beats.
- Get back to $200NL and PWN.
- Earn enough for mac-daddy home entertainment system
- Moving forward, cover mortgage and social budget with poker earnings.

Non-Results Goals:
- Play more live games
- Handle bad beats better
- Control pot size better
- Trust my gut in big pots
- Target weak players better

Constraints:
- Family time
- Good office career

Originally Posted by Taxi

TJ - why do you want to know?

Bump!

I never really replied to this yet because I am waiting for certain responses from certain types of people. Your approach to studying the game, time playing the game and how far you wish to go all need to be in sync. If you have aspirations of making $100K in a year playing poker, you just cannot afford to play 5K hands a month and make the majority of your posts in the commune.

To further explain, I want to make as much money playing poker as possible. I am willing to do whatever it takes to reach that goal. I want to play full time. Yes, 40hrs/week 45 weeks a year, and make more than I make now at a decent full time job. I play a shitload of hands, more than a married, father, mortgage payer, working stiff should play. So I look for ways to get better.

There are things that can be done for someone looking to advance his game to the next level. You start with FTR, read everything. You read the books, read 2+2 (don't post), read blogs, play a shitload of hands, and then post some more in FTR. Eventually you end up playing poker at $50NL or $100NL, posting in the commune, and withdrawing a couple hundred a month for some dinners or a bill and think "is that all there is?". It's not. There are other ways to advance your game. What about other avenues to your advancement, have you thought about it? How far does someone really want to advance in poker is what I was looking for? How serious are you about your game?

- Up my 100NL winrate to 6ptbb/100 long-term.
- Move up to 200NL by Jan 1, 2008
- Achieve SuperNova by Jan 1, 2008 (eligible exactly then)
- Be earning enough so that if I choose to look for a different job (I have an awesome one now, but my friends are moving out of town within a year) or go back to school I have an income that can keep me afloat anywhere in the world.

Considering I was a losing 25NL player in October, that would would rock!

beat 25/50 by january holla

to consistently beat 100 NL.

to play more live hands, both at the casino and at a regular home game that I don't currently have but am trying to start.

to be able to withdraw a little bit here and there to buy nice stuff/go on vacation.

to get better at MTT's. I don't play nearly enough, and don't have the patience to go real deep in the larger fields and would like to improve.

Originally Posted by Trainer_jyms

What are your poker goals? I know everyone wants to win a bracelet. And yea we all want to play $1000NL, but if you had to decide on some realistic, long term goals, what would they be? Do you want to play full time? Do you want to become the best player possible, and if so, how much time and effort are you going to put into doing that? Are you happy with just playing as high a stakes as you can get while doing the family thing, job and social life?

How would you rate your "poker drive"? What are you not getting out of poker, FTR and your learning experience that you need to change/find to make your "poker career" get to where you want it?

I just want to here your wish list, road blocks, your goals and what you are going to do to achieve them. Personally, I really want to become a full timer. I am finding it really hard to get to where I want to be. Family, work and life slow down the process a lot. I am making progress faster than ever, but getting to the magic number that lets me "go pro" is still off in the distance. I still am shooting for Jan 1/08 and am on target to my goals posted in my Blog here on FTR. Where do you hope to be in the new year, or 12 months from now?

I'm sure for a lot of you, hoping to " beat $100NL" and "earn some part time money" is enough. I think I really wanted to have people think about what they want from poker, how they are going about it and what do they feel they need to achieve these 'aspirations". A lot of you guys are giving me some very basic answers and it tells me you really haven't put any thought into how you will achieve these goals. Playing poker is easy. Playing winning poker at $200NL, $400NL and even $100NL requires effort. It requires time. It requires you to put in 10's of thousands of hands. How will you go about getting to where you want to go? What are you doing about it? Are there any other things that you could be doing to achieve your goals. I didn't want the end results you are trying to achieve. I want to here about what you are doing to get there.

I am attempting to play as many hands as possible, which isnt a lot since I work full time, and most of the free time is spent with the fiancee. However, she has been on vacation for about two weeks, and in that time I have managed to put in more hands than the previous two months combined.

My biggest block for winning consistently at 100 NL (or any limit really) is that I am still a bit of an overpair donk. I have one hell of a time letting them go, even when I know I am beat. I am working on folding them when appropriate, but it's still tough. Too much time spent at 25 NL where an overpair was money in the bank I think.

The best way I can think of to learn to fold not just overpairs, but second best hands in general is to trust my instincts, because I can usually tell when I am going to be beaten, but still end up calling anyways. That and pay a little more attention to my tables, so I can still pick off the nuts. One change that I have made recently is to stop betting into paired boards with no other draws when I have AA. It's usually only called by the pair, and I probably lose a lot by not letting someone bluff at me here. This also allows me to utilize my calling station tendencies a little.

I would also like to attempt to exploit some of the regulars at my current stakes, as I am usually avoiding them and just taking the easy money right now. I don't know if there is anything to be done other than to raise lighter. I have started 3-betting lighter with some good results so far.

Post flop I don't think I steal enough unloved pots. I take my share, but I want more than my share, as I'm sure we all do.

Ok ill join in this thread mainly bcoz i havent seen it till now

A year ago i played $6.50 turbos on PS, now im settled into 200NL 6max or FR. When i created my operation thread my aim when switching to ring games in February on 25NL was to play 100NL by the end of 2007. Well Ive comfortable made it past that goal and sitting on 8.7K. SO now the rest of my year is free-rolling goal-wise.

Ive said before Id love to play 1000NL but i know once i make it there ill wanna play 2 levels above that then. If I could play 600NL by the end of the year id would be delighted, i kinda expect to be at 400NL by the end of the year though. I will move up when I beleive im rolled and emotionally stable/ready, moving up when you just have 20BI and not mentally prepared isnt for me.

I will always treat poker as a hobby bcoz i think ive set myself up for a good career in business as im doing my finals in becoming a chartered accountant in September this year. Poker is great for me right now bcoz Im earning what i make in my low training pay-packet which is making my real life much more manageable, many things have come outta nowhere but i ve been able to cope well thanks in part to poker/ftr/books/vids etc etc.

I have aspirations of playing poker for a decent side income until it becomes viable to play full time(if ever). I know I need to put way, way more hands in to reach that point. I'm in a similar situation as you Trainer, work full time, married, I have a kid and a mortgage and I just find it near impossible to get in enough hands to get a clear picture of where my poker career is headed.

I'm in the process of coming up with a weekly plan for play time, review time and so forth as far as poker goes. Hopefully I can alocate enough time during the week and stick to the plan to get to a point where things become more routine.

I'd really love to get to the point where I can make enough money from poker that I could work only 4 days a week at my regular job and then have one day a week where I could play two 4 hour sessions or something and still have time for family obligations.

I still have a very long way to go to reach my ultimate goals, but I see that it is doable based on what others here have been able to achieve. One thing I have to always remind myself when thinking about this stuff is, I'm not 18 years old anymore without any responsabilities, things will take much longer unless something crazy happens(and this is ok).

Poker Drive:10+ I have worked in the 'real world' for several years, before I opened my own business. When I was in the real world, I found out quickly that I have a very hard time working for other people. Poker has been an avenue to make more $$ than any Job/Career, while not having to work for anyone.

I currently have been playing full time for 4 months now. I only started playing online last July. This was the first time I really played Hold'em as well, my friends and I used to play 5 card draw and stud. I never made a deposit and built up with freerolls. So going Pro has already been acheived.

I have a mean competetive streak. Everything I do I have to be good at. Golf, Basketball, Poker, Chess...I still play semi-pro hoops, but I now have a bad knee at my age, and I am not the player I used to be. I may only be able to play a few more years. I see poker as helping me fill that competetive need for a long time. My goal is to be the best that I can be, without question.

What do I do to get better? A better question right now is what I don't do. I am NOT a cardrunners member. I think I need to fix this, but I am doing alright with just FTR at the moment . I read every book I can get my hands on, I am a regular at Borders sitting there reading through whatever I can find. I read through all the forums, looking for any tip or advice that someone has to offer. I spend a few hours every week going through Pokerstove with Excel open, calculating EVs in common situations. Trying to think deeper about hands, and getting a much better understanding of the math involved. I need to get better at my note taking, so that I can really get a better feel for each players tendancies. I need to be able to better exploit their individual weaknesses. I also feel that it is very hard to exploit ME. If I feel that my opponent is trying to exploit me, I adjust in a matter that now I exploit them. If it is something I haven't seen yet, I'll spend some time working on a counter for what they are doing. I need to get better...

Moving forward I want to be beating 2/4, 3/6, and maybe even 5/10 for a decent clip within the year. I feel my only roadblocks are my own ability. When you reach your apex, you will no longer be able to go higher. I obiously do not know my apex, but I will strive to go as high as they have games. I have no plans to fail.

ummmmmmmmmmm so I already moved up to 200NL this eve, I am up $1200 and see no reason to move down, other than being slightly underolled... and the FPP come soooo fast at 200nl platinumstar, hopefully i can stay at 200nl and at least be slightly profitable

Hey Jager, since you probably know the answer... You have KK and a villain limp-calls in EP/MP pre-flop. the flop comes all low cards. What are the odds he made his set?

Hey Jager, since you probably know the answer... You have KK and a villain limp-calls in EP/MP pre-flop. the flop comes all low cards. What are the odds he made his set?

Originally Posted by biondino

Hey Jager, since you probably know the answer... You have KK and a villain limp-calls in EP/MP pre-flop. the flop comes all low cards. What are the odds he made his set?

How do we know he has a small pair? If he does then its ~7 to 1.

oh, i thought considering your recent downswing Jag the probability is 100%

Great question since I thought about it alot. at first my goal is to make money, but it turns out in about 2 years I will start making $120/hour which is a hell of alot more then I am making in poker, and maybe be able to make playing poker unless I become a pro.
New Goals:
1) have fun
2) become better
3) and conitnue to expand my game and become a better player so that maybe one day I will get a braclet.

How to accomplish my goals in order of importance
1) continue working hard at my current job. I am an Emergency Department doctor. well actually a resident for now. coninute reading and being the best doctor I can be
2) in my free time spend more time with chicks and friends
3) play and read more about poker

As you can see my goals are first to enjoy life and be good at my job. my secondary goals is poker. But the strive to be the best poker player I can be is very much there.

-beck

*bump*

I've been successfully grinding 200nl for a very very long time... 18 months. I am ashamed and complacent. Although, I have been exercising more, playing a lot, still have not bought a house/condo/whatever... but I'm on track for what I whanted to accomplish for the most part.

Everyone else?

I bet most people in this thread in 2007 are not here anymore.. but many are.

Let's hear some new aspirations.

Mine: Playing 400nl comfortably by the end of this year.

My poker goals:
-Learn as much as I can, there is no ceiling.
-Continously improve, move up, learn more, and so on.
-Support myself.

My poker drive:
This is an intersting one. I believe my poker drive fluctuates. It has alot to do with what's going on in my life at the time, and what I think about in regards to my future. I think my poker drive is higher than most others, I put in alot of time. Sometimes life hits you hard though and things don't go the way you expect, so while I should probably be comfortably at 100nl right now I'm just getting my feet wet at 50nl. Real life has in a way affected my poker drive which has translted into affecting both my confidence and work ethic when it comes to improving and moving up.

I feel I have recently regained my focus (though it still comes and goes) and I'm starting to get back to being more studious and thoughtful of every decision I make. I'm starting to see progress again. I'd like to publicly thank spoonitnow for motivating me to change the direction of how I approach things. I grew up in a middle income family having everything handed to me and wasn't ever rewarded for working hard. I slacked in highschool and didn't understand the value of hard work. I think my situation is very common, alot of people are lazy and don't try. They were spoiled as a kid and thus they expect people to just start handing them money when they make their poker account because that's how it has worked up until then.

Poker has taught me different though, you can't get anywhere in this game without putting in the effort. You have to try your best or you won't succeed - I've had many stages in my poker 'career' where I've played really bad for an extended period of time, and I'm starting to get over it. I feel like I'm a better person because of it, which may come off as quite surprising since this is lol gambling. I plan on going back to school next year with a new outlook on things.

In the new year I will either be one of two things:
1. A successfull player who is continuing to move up, learn, and condition his game to compete at the upper end of low stakes/midstakes.
2. A small stakes grinder playing an excessive number of hands per hour to make ends meet while feeling unfullfilled with my poker developement.

I feel I am capable of avoiding number 2, and focusing on number 1. I know I have the drive to do this, so now it's just time to exercise the willpower and do it. I have all the time and resources available, with the right adjustments I hope to be well on my way.

my goal
to get out of drinking and sngS before OCT of 2010

well at least sit&gos
i keep thinking of getting bak to cash games but just too lazy

Poker Goals
1) Play my current bankroll without ever needing a deposit
2) Get Better and be an above average player
3) Have a cash of over $100 in online tournament

What Drives Me
I enjoy playing poker, but am realistic in my limitations. I have a family and other hobbies. I read books and review my play, but don't have the time to grind my way into high stakes. I want to build my bankroll big enough to play $10-$20 buy in for big tournaments every once in awhile.

I am hoping the US make poker 100% legit and that alot of fish flood all of the new sites that will pop up. I think alot of us here would have some good years ahead of us

I wasn't around in 2007, so I suppose I'll do this now.

Poker Goals
1) Start putting in some damn volume again soon. I've played less than 1k hands this month, which is obv only 1 mini-session. I just haven't had the drive to play since I started college classes back. I've either been tired or want to do something else (COD4). But starting tomorrow I'm going to put in a 3k session, and hopefully start putting in more, and finish this month out with at least 30k hands.

2) Get back to 200nl. I've had kind of a rough year tbh. Started out strong, then longish BE stretch, followed by a pretty soulcrushing downswing. I'm back to 100nl and playing well. My roll is the lowest it's been in over a year due to massive withdrawage.

3) I know monteary goals aren't good. But I'm wanting to make $20k by year's end (from now).

4) Begin studying again. I haven't truly studied in quite some time. I discuss, and watch vids a decent amount, but truly looking over my hands, breaking the situation down, and posting those hands for discussion has been getting rarer, and rarer. Which is a terrible thing if I hope to continue to improve.

5) Be playing 1knl+ by this time next year. If I'm still playing poker. I've been rather stagnated for almost a year. Not really in terms of making money, but in terms of progressing up the ladder, and improving. I feel like my play has hit a wall that I've yet to tear down, which I intend to do away with in the near future.

Poker Drive
Money.... LDO?

interesting bump. I haven't read it all up top but most of these guys have moved on and not made it. I still know some of the guys that have moved on and still play poker part time and most of these guys have not. The few in this thread that are still around here are not playing FT. Id say 5% of the people that posted in this originally are still playing for a significant income.

still here, made it, got a job, happy, goals are good

This is cool.

Goals - 2009
1) be established beating FR 200nl in 2009
2) be established beating SH 100nl in 2009
3) be comfortably beating HU 50nl in 2009
4) win a %#@%@ MTT

Goal - 2010
1) 2knl (and obviously there's an implied financial there cos of BRM)

Goal - longer term
1) High stakes
2) Bracelet

How to get there
1) Study more
2) Work on my game more
3) Improve discipline, eliminate tilt

Poker drive
9 for playing, I still love it
x for studying, this has been about a 4 for the last few months, it needs to be a 9. 1-2hrs a day, 5 days a week of study for the next 18months...

bracelet? meh I guess I could do that when I decide that online is too tough but it's not a goal, I couldn't care less

5/10? yeah it's a goal that I thought might be possible by the end of the year but I failed my recent shot at 1/2 so I'm delayed like a month
so 1/2 would come october, and I will probably need a few months to beat that so I'd be lucky if I got to 2/4 by the end of the year

but before that happens I could get a job and play 100NL for lulz

Goals 09 - play 2700 games until december, sites and stakes be damned. Go deep in any Sunday GTD tourney at least one time.
Goals 10 - Reach a meaningful VIP Status, like SN or ironman, by playing at least 12K games total. Reach the magical $100/hr barrier. Make a live event.

Drive? World travel, bitches and electronics.

I play poker as a hobby; i.e. for enjoyment. Of course, it's impossible to separate enjoyment and winning money, but to illustrate my attitude, I play far more MTT than ring because it's what I enjoy more although my hourly win rate is a fair bit higher for ring.

As for aspirations, I may be rather unusual in not setting goals for myself, at least not in the sense of making and implementing serious plans to achieve them. Yes, I'd like to win a bracelet or other major tournament, but I don't have a plan to do so aside from playing some satellites - and I don't consider that a real plan; it's more wishful thinking.

While I don't think of it as a goal per se, perhaps the closest is that I would like to continue my streak of never having a losing month since I started playing over four years ago.

Originally Posted by jyms

What are your poker goals? I know everyone wants to win a bracelet. And yea we all want to play $1000NL, but if you had to decide on some realistic, long term goals, what would they be? Do you want to play full time? Do you want to become the best player possible, and if so, how much time and effort are you going to put into doing that? Are you happy with just playing as high a stakes as you can get while doing the family thing, job and social life?

How would you rate your "poker drive"? What are you not getting out of poker, FTR and your learning experience that you need to change/find to make your "poker career" get to where you want it?

I just want to here your wish list, road blocks, your goals and what you are going to do to achieve them. Personally, I really want to become a full timer. I am finding it really hard to get to where I want to be. Family, work and life slow down the process a lot. I am making progress faster than ever, but getting to the magic number that lets me "go pro" is still off in the distance. I still am shooting for Jan 1/08 and am on target to my goals posted in my Blog here on FTR. Where do you hope to be in the new year, or 12 months from now?

OK, cool topic, I haven't read the responses yet but thought I'd get mine in. Up to now I've been a hobby player, and that will continue. I want to get to the level of 25Nl in the next 12 months. How I intend to do that is after golf is over (about 15 days) I will begin rebuilding and playing 3-4 hours a night, 3 nights a week if possible. I am going to dedicate myself to studying and actually learning the ins and outs instead of skimming the material as I have done in the past. My ultimate goal is to play a few days a week, a few hours a day and come away with $100-$200 each month that I can withdraw.

That's it in a nutshell... I don't aspire to a bracelet.

I'm currently playing 10nl, and hoping to move up to 25nl by the end of the month.

Goals:
my goal is definitely to play professionally in some of the highest cash games around. Maybe I would consider tournaments, and trying to go for a bracelet, but that's not a major goal of mine.

Shorterm:
25 nl end of sept 2009
50nl end of december 2009
100nl end of December 2010
.....

Setbacks
school, i'm in engineering so a shitload of work, but I'm aiming for 2 hrs a day, maybe more on weekends

This is a pretty cool idea for a thread, nice bump, Drew. I suppose I'll throw my two cents in.

2009 Goals:
I'm not really sure at the moment. I'm at School of Infantry until late November which only gets me like 40ish days at the end of the year to put in some serious hands.

I guess I'd like to get to the point where I'm grinding 50nl regularly (kinda dipping my toes in at the moment), thinking about moving to 100nl maybe if I run goot + put in the volume at fiddy.

STUDY MORE FFS!!! I'm like the laziest POS ever when it comes to reviewing my own game, but I'll sit on IRC or whatever discussing other people's hands all day long. It's so retarded. I need to find leaks of my own so I can actually beat a stake without running like god imo. :P

For 2010:
I haven't really thought that far ahead yet, I've really been taking poker one stake at a time. Not trying to focus TOO hard on the future, but fuck it, I'll throw something out there. I'd like to be at 200nl by this time next year, withdrawing regularly, and be able to quit my reg job and just play poker for a living. I'm not sure if I'll ever want to play 400nl+, but I'll probz try to move up at some point.

Other then that, I just want to enjoy myself. I think I have a pretty serious drive when it comes to poker, I've spent quite a bit of time developing my game over the past 10ish months, and I don't want it all to go to waste by being lazy. So I'd like to continue working toward being a better player. I'd like to get SuperNova next year also. <- thats probably the biggest goal for me. I'm not sure why lol, maybe cuz I fail so hard at putting in volume a lot of the time. Hopefully that will give me the push I need to get in the hands.

Setbacks = Being in the Marines, I want to go back to school, myself mostly. I fuck myself over a lot lol. I get this attitude sometimes where its like, "Fuck it" and I end up blowing monnies. i need to stop this if i actually want to make it somewhere in this game. emotional discipline FTW!

Originally Posted by BankItDrew

I quit my job of 6 years this past march. It was the hardest thing I had ever done because the people were great and the pay was comfortable. Had to be done though, because I wanted to play poker full time. The first three months were really hard - adjusting to friends and family, mostly family criticizms due to my housing situation.

My goal is to make enough money playing poker to buy a house this time 2009. $100,000 down payment is what I'm looking at, I have $25,000 right now.

wow almost the same situation, quitted my job late this year and started my own business. and with poker, i hope i can expand my business...

poker is so great that it doesn't just depend on luck...skills baby!hahah

Short term, I want to get back to playing first, haven't playing in a couple weeks. Then I want to beat 25NL, if the downswing will break at any point. I want to beat it for a significant sample. I want to learn to play well enough so that I understand every move I make, why I'm doing it, what I'm trying accomplish with it. I know at the moment I am a generalized player, that is, I know and understand a whole bunch of general poker concepts but have trouble adapting them to specific situations and villains.

In the long term, I want to get to stakes high enough for the money I make to be meaningful. That doesn't necessarily mean 1kNL, but probably beating 100NL for 2-3ptBB.

If at some point I can make enough money out of poker so that it frees me of a job I don't particularly enjoy and gives me the freedom to just do whatever I want, that would be awesome, but that's in the really long term.

My motivations are the challenge poker provides and potential freedom that money from poker could bring.

Happy and my goals pretty much dont include poker.

I want to become a + player, first. I know the basics, just not disciplined enough :P

I want to crush low-mid stakes HUSNGs at the $110/$220 levels.

Got a $1390 bankroll and playing mostly $33s with the occasional $55 session because I'm a bankroll nit and get kind of scared playing the $55s with so few buyins, even though all you really need are 20 and I have 25.

lol @ playing with 20 BIs as a "BR nit"

Originally Posted by zook

still here, made it, got a job, happy, goals are good

BOOM HEADSHOT!