You have to go to work

No one wants to hear a poker player complain about having to go to work.

But I haven't been excited about going to the tables in a while. In late March, I took a shot and rounded up most of my capital and went to Vegas to play cash games.

After two weeks, I left with my tail between my legs and a good portion of my bankroll knocked out due to a combination of bad luck and bad play. Also hobbling me was a general lack of desire to put in the hours necessary to win.

I tried to set a schedule. Wake up, exercise, eat, play four hours, come back to the hotel, rest, then go back for a four-hour night session. Over two weeks, I completed that regimen maybe three times.

If I booked a decent win in the early session, I was more than happy to call it a day. Sometimes, I would just end the session as soon as I got up $200-$300 (which was just a couple pots in the 2-5 NLHE or 15-30 LHE games I was playing). Of course, this meant playing longer if I got stuck early to try to at least get even.

A sure-fire way to lose money is to quit early when you're ahead and stay forever if you're stuck.

I mentioned in a previous post that I have waffled on my commitment to poker. I don't know if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

But if I'm not ready to get a job, then I need to go to work at this one.

I'm going to put in the hours over the next few weeks. If my results (and especially my attitude) don't improve by the end of the summer, I've got some thinking to do.