Playing hold ‘em with friends in a game that’s not for cash is really funny. We just laugh and laugh the whole time. Playing online for cash, not fun. The players are slow, you can’t read them, and did I mention the game moves slowly? Right now I favor no-limit but I’m not sure where that will end up once I learn how to play the game properly.

I’ll do this the same way I do everything else I’m really interested in doing, exhaustively. I’ve 5 books in the mail now. Lots to read, mechanics and math to memorize and play around with. My goal is to be good enough that I can buy into a few tournaments with my earnings. I’d be happy to earn a bit each night, that’s my starting goal.

I don’t do yearly resolutions, this plan just happens to be starting around the beginning of the year. My whole life I’ve been taught that gambling is wrong/bad. I’m not the type to throw assets towards a failing enterprise. Gambling will be the same. If I can’t learn to do it profitably, I won’t do it at all. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong about any action. I feel that the ethical and moral implications are bound up in the reasoning behind the action. My reasons for learning to gamble are that I might prove the worth, or lack thereof, of one more revenue avenue in my life. I have studied business, real estate, forex, stocks, and of course for my profession. It’s always fun to learn about how different people make their living and whether or not that’s of interest to you. I don’t plan to do what I do as a day job for more than another 10 years, so hopefully I can prepare for another line of work by then.

The good times are killing me, at least that’s what Modest Mouse has convinced me of.