[Content Disclosure: 53% Poker; 41% Life; 12% The Future; add 1 Star Anise, 3 Red Peppercorns, a dash of Nutmeg and well you get the drift... don't forget to simmer and skim]Heedless to say, a lot of my life for the past four years has revolved around poker. I have lived in Las Vegas for over two years but I write more about poker than I play, which does not mean that I don't spend a lot on "non-work" time with all things poker rattling around in my head. I have considered recently that I might well take some of my own medicine.
When the Poker Shrink sees clients, his first question is always the same: "Is your life affecting your poker or is your poker affecting your life?"
My life does not affect my poker because despite the fact that I live in Las Vegas, I actually do not spend much time at the tables. I have learned from several years of tournament reporting that the professional poker players are playing at a level that most intermediate players cannot even comprehend. I have watched dozens of great poker players for hour upon hour and I can tell you they are playing a game that most semi-serious poker fans could not even understand. No my poker is not affected by my life, my poker is a hobby, it's research to understand on some level what the truly gifted players are doing at the table.
On the other hand, poker has indeed been affecting my life. I have over fifty daily Google searches focused on the minutiae of poker. I read dozens of poker blogs from around the world. Yesterday, the girl behind the counter at the sub shoppe asked me if: "I wanted chips?" I thought she was offering to sell me a rack of blues.
So it would appear that it is time for a change. I am nearly set on taking a sabbatical to the Sonoma Valley in Northern California until the World Series late in May. The Matusow book will be coming out just before the WSOP, so I expect we will be engaged in publicity and promotion during that time, here in Vegas.
But for now, some uninterrupted time would give me space to get a fast start on my next writing project. Now all I have to do is to pick which project to engage. I have nine on the back burner right now, yep nine books or screenplays awaiting my time and energy. Only three of them have a poker angle. Which do I chose - which do I have the energy and the passion for? Anyone got a dart?
Posts
1 comment:
How to choose the next project:
Write the project names on separate pieces of 8.5x11" paper, and find one or more cats. Place the papers around the cat zone. If you have multiple cats then see which one the most cats favor. If you have one cat then you go with the first one they lie on.
I've used this method to decide all the important decisions, over the past 10 years, in my own life.
matt
Post a Comment