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Setting Short Term Goals in
Poker
Far too often, poker players
lack direction when they are playing poker. We
all play poker for very different reasons - some
of us play poker for fun, choosing poker as a
hobby. Others play poker online to supplement
their incomes. Some die hard poker players have
their poker play as their main or only source of
income. The most successful of poker players set
goals, regardless of their reasons for playing
or level of poker enthusiasm.
Whether you are a hobby
level player at
Carbon Poker or
a full time poker grinder at
Full Tilt Poker,
writing down your goals as a poker player will
serve to both keep you focused, and allow you to
track your progress. Everything you do poker
related should be documented. From tracking your
sessions to monitoring your real win rate, a
plan of action to improve your game, or even
your poker related goals and dreams - you should
be writing down and tracking everything.
Make sure you include both
the goal, as well as the reward for
accomplishing it. This allows you to easily
prioritize, should you become overwhelmed or
fall off the path. If you have an added reason
for a goal, be sure to include that as well.
Setting Short-term Goals
Whether you have a set
number of hours you want to play poker this
month, or you simply decide you want to clear
two bonuses this week from
Carbon Poker
and
Full
Tilt Poker,
you should establish and think about your short
term goals. Your poker related short-term goals
should be thought of in terms of weeks or
months, while leaving those goals spanning the
course of a few months or years to the long-term
goals.
When writing these
goals, be as specific as you can. Estimate how
long each goal should take to accomplish. I
should note, it is easier to determine how long
it will take you to clear a bonus at
Full Tilt Poker
than it would be to
set your goal of winning this month’s rake race
at
Cake Poker.
However, just because it is easier to estimate
from a time standpoint, does not mean you should
fail to include taking down the rake race in
your goals. An example of mapping my short-term
goals would look something like the following:
Short Term Poker Goals for
the Week
1. Clear Carbon Poker
deposit bonus - If I work through this bonus, it
will net me an additional $600 to my results
from playing poker. I know that the bonus clears
$1 per 50 VIP points and pays out in $10
increments (500 VIP points per $10 in bonus).
Because I want to clear the entire $600, I will
need to accumulate 30,000 VIP Points at
Carbon Poker. I guesstimate that with
the number of tables I normally play when
multi-tabling, I will be able to take this bonus
down over the course of 2 or 3 playing days. The
$600 in bonus will go back into my online poker
bankroll, to which I will specifically earmark
this money for my Sunday Tournament fund.
Short Term Poker Goals for
the Month
1. Win the
Cake Poker Rake
Race
- I know
that over the last month, the winning player of
the Cake Poker Rake Race accumulated over $3500
in MGR during each of the three legs of the Cake
Poker Rake Race. I am reasonably confident that
I will generate $3000 in MGR during any given
ten-day period, based on my historic play rate.
My daily sessions typically consist of 4000
hands per day. If I win the rake race on any
given 10-day period, I will receive $600, in
addition to the rakeback I am set up to receive
at Cake Poker. The $3000 or so that I earn in
rakeback will go into my bankroll, while any
money I take down from the rake races or for the
rake race freeroll at
Cake
Poker will go towards the new car I
am planning to purchase.
As you can see, for each
goal, I have assigned an expected value for each
goal, along with earmarking where the reward
will be applied. I have additionally listed
reasons for accomplishing each goal, as well as
estimating how long it should take to
accomplish. Many poker players will have several
short-term goals, as well as a slew of long-term
goals. The above short term goals are designed
to give you the poker player an example of
establishing and writing down goals to keep your
poker playing on track and focused.
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