#14 The solutions

Here we go--some of the problems that I detailed in my last post, and possible solutions.

1. The biggest problem is that I'm just not playing enough.

This is a tough one to solve, at least for now. I'll get more hours in during April, when I switch back to my nighttime schedule. When I'm in my home office, that will get me a few more hours. If I close the door and wear earplugs, I won't hear the TV or much else of what is going on.

But for now, I need to stop beating myself up about not getting the playing hours in when I'm on the daytime schedule. If I don't have long enough time periods to play good tournaments during the day, I'll concentrate on studying or administrative work, and maybe I can get 30 or 35 hours in some weeks, even if a lot of it isn't actually playing. That won't make a lot of money in the short-term, but the increased study time will certainly improve my profits in the long run.

2. My game selection hasn't been good.

My intentions were good--maximizing the use of my time, and playing as much as I could. But all tournaments are not created equal, and I understand (supposedly) the importance of game selection. As mentioned in the previous section, there is plenty of studying and recordkeeping that I can do during the time between tournaments. I've only finished 6 of the 50 test questions in Harrington on Holdem, Volume 3, the Workbook. It's time that I get on that, and find out exactly wear I stand on Harrington's scoring system.

3. I've let my study and administrative time slip. I've been so focused on getting the hours in that I have badly neglected administrative and study time.

I addressed this in the previous paragraph. When the tournaments aren't good, I have to study or keep up with my records. It's that simple.

Since I am a goal-oriented person, for the rest of this month, starting tomorrow (Sunday March 4th) I'm setting a goal of 30 hours of poker time per week, regardless of how that time is divided up. I really need to grow my bankroll, but I can only do what I can do.

I'll report back on how this works out.