Family & Poker

I just want to elaborate on a post that http://ryeandpoker.blogspot.com/Riverrun had on his blog.

We’d all like to have more time to play poker, but how do we juggle family and poker.

I try to get in around 20 hrs/month of poker play. Some weeks, like this week, I won’t play at all during the week and other weeks I get a chance to play a little more. I can usually get in some playing time on weekends.

Here are a few tips on what I do…

1. My #1 tip is family comes first.
Kids or not we all probably find ourselves playing a little too much at times and this can have a strain on our family. Watch for signs and cut back when you need to. I usually wait until my boys are in bed before if start playing during the week.

2. I limit my tournament play to “really want to play” tournaments.
I use a calendar and plan around tournaments. Ie. If I’m planning on playing in a PSO freeroll or league event on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. I’ll have made supper, bathed my boys, made them popcorn and put in a good movie for them to watch before the start of the tournament.
I usually never just sit down to a regular MTT or SNG. They take too long and I can’t usually commit the hrs to play in them.

3. Give Notice
I try to give my wife some notice (couple of days) if I know I'm playing in a tournament that could last 2-3hrs on a specific day. Just like if I was planning on golfing on a Sunday, I'd tell her thursday. It's just some consideration that keeps her happy. She's probably out Shopping on Saturday...lol...but those are the tradeoffs.

3. I only chase the bonuses I know I’ll have time to clear.
I hate bonuses that have short expiry dates attached to them. I pass up a lot of them or sometimes I will only commit to a partial bonus. Ie. Instead of doing a full $100 – 10X Party bonus; I may just do $50-$60 of it, if I know I won’t have the hrs to complete it.

4. I’m an early riser; so I let my wife sleep in on the weekends.
I can usually get in an hour or two on a Sunday morning (8:00am to 10:00am). This works well when you want to play on Euro based sites like William Hill or Eurolinx, because that’s when they have lot’s of traffic anyway. She’s also happy because I let her sleep in!

5. Computer is in our living room
This is key for me. If we had our computer in a different room or downstairs this would be –EV for my poker time. When my wife is watching her TV shows or my boys are watching cartoons, I can play poker, and not feel guilty. Treehouse is a good thing; anyone with small kids knows what I’m talking about.

6. Multi task & limit Multi tabling
You have to get creative if you are in a “must play” tournament and other things are going on. I have to be able to change a diaper, get more juice, play Lego, all while playing poker too. Some guys are able to play 4 tables at a time. I usually have to limit my play to one table so I can do these other things. I only multi table when the kids are in bed and I can concentrate on just playing poker.

Kids really change the amount of time you have to play. My boys are both young, and as they get into more activities, I’m sure this will lessen my poker playing time.
But it’s all good. :)

Hopefully any readers have some tips they’d like to share.