After planning out my new schedule I realized that I've been very nitty with my BR to date. This is at least partly because I haven't really been paying attention. I've just played MTTs and cash games based on how a I feel and where I think my edge lies. I have no problem taking a few bigger shots now and then, so long as it was in something I felt I had an edge in. The other part has just been sheer laziness. I've been so comfortable with the stakes I've been playing in for so long that I never saw the need to change things up. All that is going to change a little over the next few weeks.
This has all been spurred on in the last couple of days. I found myself at Barnes and Noble browsing around and killing some time before my table was ready at the Chili's next door. I went to my usual stomping grounds, the Poker section, to see is anything good was on the shelves. I saw Deal Me In, the new book from Phil's House Publishing detailing how 20 pro poker players got their start. I immediately picked up the book, as it was something I wanted to read anyway, and skipped right to the chapter about Phil Ivey. The E:60 report still fresh in my mind, I finished the chapter in about 20 mins (not long and not tough reading) and the gravity of what he was saying hit me.
Phil talked about being a kid growing up and wanting to play poker from a very young age. He recalled the days just after high school when he would take the 2 hour bus ride to Atlantic City, blow his paycheck in a weekend, then go back to his telemarketing job back home. Phil mentions how he was never too proud to simply move back down and grind his way back up if he needed to. In the early days he would just go back to his telemarketing job and bring the paycheck back with him to AC. That confidence and discipline to take the shots, and if they miss just work your way back, never really hit me until I read that section and read Ivey talking about it.
I've been very focused on planning out schedules, finding the hours to put into the game, keeping my risks low so I could continue to grow in this industry. Yet every story I have heard from a poker pro starts with them going broke, working, going broke again, working more, and repeating this cycle for years until they got it right. Now in today's world there is the distinct advantage of online poker. I don't need to take a 2 hour bus ride to go play cards for 15 hours a day and that is a huge edge for my own development. Long story short, I plan on putting a little bit more of my BR on the line and trustung in my abilities to win in the long run. Much like all the others that did this before me, I have the confidence that I can put things together and get this done. Now all I need to do is figure out what shots I feel like taking.