But doing my taxes -- and paying the poker taxes that I owe with poker profits -- is kind of telling for me this year.
Poker has continually outperformed every kind of investment that I've made the last few years. Unlike the other kinds of shady dealings that have caused our economy to tank, it's based on something pretty concrete -- you make a bet, put money in the middle of the table and either win it or lose it. Nobody's betting on your bet and then selling that bet to someone else to bet with.
There either are chips (that you can bite to see if they're real if you want) or there aren't.
It's kind of a strange time to be making resolutions, but tax day is an appropriate time. You're already laying out and examining what you're worth. So why not go further?
At the start of the year I had resolved to earn the money I'd need for my poker taxes by tax day. I had accomplished that by Feb. 1. (And it turns out an error in how I had been treating deductions had saved me a grand in taxes -- so you could say I earned my poker tax money in the first few weeks of this year).
Here are my goals:
1). Continue playing, on all fronts. That's Full Tilt, Poker Stars and Bodog.
2). Keep learning about the game.
3). Keep talking about poker with profitable players, and/or those who want to learn about the game.
4). Not to worry about the stakes. By this I mean not being a grinch when the crew wants to play a $5 game and I play higher.
5). Not play when I'm tired (I don't usually anyway).
6). Not worry about downswings or not focus too much on mad runs.
7). Spend more time away from distractions and focus on the "second job."
8). Keep talking about poker on this blog.
So there you have it. My strategy is a journey of little steps. It has happened before and will happen again.
