Playing professional poker and family. Is it possible?

millya5

millya5

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I divorced ... there was a lot of disagreement .... poker takes a lot of time ...
 
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mtmigmike

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It's possible, if you make big money in poker.:)
 
Zvezda kz

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Do you know any professional poker player who has his own family (wife and children)?



Is it possible to reconcile these two matters ?
Of course it is possible. But it all depends on you and your second half. You must love each other to respect the choice of your partner. Also of no small importance is the game with a plus at high limits.:D
 
Dzob

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My wife is against poker, but I'm not a professional player, I think it depends on how you allocate your time. If you consistently earn good poker, then why not? Many professionals have families. But we must not confuse professionalism and illness with the game. Professionals have a cold mind, for them it’s just money, but for sick people it’s a terrible gambling thing. Therefore, if you can distinguish the line between gambling and earnings by poker, then anything is possible.

I think the best way to check if you have a serious approach to poker or whether it is addiction is to check your game chart or balance sheet for the last year. You can also check if we can not play for 2 weeks. Analysis of the game also gives many benefits when we lose - it allows to distinguish between downswing and weak skills.
 
Dzob

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Normally poker professionals ... have a discipline and a schedule ... as well as a job ... that's why they are professionals ... for this reason I do not see any problem with the family ... clear as long as no you play and you lose the money of the expenses of the family ..!

I agree - only the place to play / work should be outside the apartment, because the crying of a small child or humor of the wife during the menstrual period can ruin the mindset. As for spending on a family, after paying out, you pay all the bills and transfer my wife money for food and other things. If anything is left, then only then I allow myself to make a deposit. And if not, I play freerolls. I do not bankroll becasue my won money I spent to holiday trips with family. Actually poker is my hobby.
 
Dzob

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It's possible. You can take poker like a job, and have a schedule to play.

It's not that easy for me. The best hours to play it in Europe is between 8 pm -12 pm (then the most weak players). My daughter goes to bed at 10 pm and my wife at 11 pm. When they do not sleep, I do not have the silence to play.
 
Dzob

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It is up to the individual to allocate time to play poker and spend time with the family.If the family are against the time spent playing poker then find another hobby or another family.:):):)

Very logical advice - hehe :p :D. The family change is gone - because my family is the most important for me. I will just play less often - mainly when my wife and daughter are asleep. This is my golden mean :)
 
Dzob

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Yes, I think it's possible. I'm not married, but I know a lot of professional players. In essence, for professional players, poker is a profession, so I do not see any obstacles.

Wife understands that this is a kind of job if he sees wins / earnings in the long run but a small child will not understand why dad does not want to play with him because if family and professional poker is just a game outside the home / house .
 
Dzob

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Jobs like Poker Pro, Rock Star, Business, you are married to that and taking on a partner than making a family is were one starts to suffer. Its like I cant stand here rock stars saying they want a family life, well looking MFer you got to be a rock star, people want it all, youre married to a family or youre married to your career but both usually doesnt work.

I fully agree with you. It is difficult to reconcile these two family and professional careers. Both require a lot of time.
 
Dzob

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I believe that if you have big gains everything is possible haha. You can go on a trip taking your family for a walk and enjoy them once the tournament finishes or at each break. The downside is if all the money in the family depends on you and poker. A bad streak can leave you losing everything. regards

I agree with you . If you go to the poker tournament live, it's only with the family as part of the holiday. If you quickly fall out of the tournament, you can spend time with your family. However, if you are deeply run, it will be money. The pluses are that you do not miss the family and the minuses that they can get lost in our concentration. Additionally, if you plan such a trip, you only win the travel package in the satellite.
 
Dzob

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You need to establish guidelines with your family members to make sure they take your job seriously as you do. If they can't support you then you need to reconsider your job/hobby or if the people you love love you back

The best advice I got - thanks :)
 
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Super_Gleb

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If your are a proffessional why not? It's just a job!
 
venycyos

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If you earn money to pay the bills = possible.
If you lose money to pay the bills = Impossible.

That simple. Every marriage is a story.
 
Dzob

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Well, Bryan Paris is one of them (you can watch his streams on https://www.twitch.tv/bparispoker).

Overall I don't think any wife/girlfriend would complain much if you consistently bring lots of money with poker, i.e. it would be just a job.

I've just looked at his videos on twitch - I've seen him play a $ 2,600 buy-in tournament. There was music, wife and baby crying. I admire his concentration. However, I need silence to play.
Thanks for an example :)
 
Dzob

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Balancing these two aspects of life are a definite challenge. I am not a professional poker player, but I can see the difficulty.

In all things, you must have a solid set of priorities. This doesn't mean that priority #1 doesn't sometimes get out prioritized by priority #2, but you must know which is on top. Your family should be #1. All your decisions are then bounced against whether it is good for your family or not.

Personally, my wife is not a real big fan of my poker play, but she knows i enjoy it so she supports my play, up to a point. So we have agreed upon a certain set of boundaries and these work well. Unfortunately, she is much more amiable when i am winning, but it is hard to convey why i can't win everytime i play a tournament. When i try and explain that cashing 20% of the time is actually quite good, it is hard for her to grasp that because she does not understand poker well enough.

Be aware of the warning signs of real uncontrolled addiction and you should be OK.
Thanks for the response. I have similar. When I win a little more, it is more nice to me. On the next day she asks me "money is already won on the bank account?". I give her half of the winnings and I have peace and permission for the next game :)
 
kaktyc

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If poker brings a good income then neither poker nor the family will be a hindrance to each other. On the contrary, it is even interesting and entertaining trips to various tournaments around the world.
 
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alvinw

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Before my wife passed she and I had to have this talk about me playing Professional poker. I had to be able to do a couple things. Win/Lose and the family does not feel the losses. So I have two and they came and still come first. I would have to travel to games and tournaments. But when its family time, it was all them. You have to look at it as a sales position. You own your own business and it's a sales and investment company. you only play when you have an edge and you will go weeks without any sales but you can't get mad you have to keep grinding the next door (Table). This is how we did it. I played live promotions whenever possible and if I had a downswing I took extra work to make sure the bills got paid. But the bankroll we understood was not to be touched unless the house was on fire. This is a partnership with your other. me and my wife fought about it and loved it and it was hard at times and it was awesome at times. But we did it together. You can't do it alone. We had a plan and we worked it. Don't do it alone show her your serious and get a study group, network with other and work it like a business, Cause that's what it is your own Investment company. Best of luck to you.
 
gon4iypes

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I don't think time is the biggest issue....don't you agree that our attitude is more important? Even if you're deeply involved and your wife says something distracting be kind and respectful. The games are there 24/7/365, but she may not be !!!
 
jasonshowman

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Do you know any professional poker player who has his own family (wife and children)?



Is it possible to reconcile these two matters ?


Yes. Joao Simão is an example of this. It takes wife and two children in most of the trips he makes to play live. I think that with the family around is even better. A tournament is very tense, so having the family close to be able to give a kiss and a hug when each session ends should give an interesting relief to the player.
 
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My husband has been playing poker professionally for 3 years and I'm fine with it. It's just a job. However our friends and family are not very happy about him playing. My dad hates it especially. I feel that people tend to be very prejudiced when I tell them about my husbands work. It's very hard to convince them not to worry when they've already jumped to the conclusion that my husband has a gambling problem. They just don't understand the strategy of playing professionally.

But yeah, combining poker and family is possible. We have two small children and my husband spends time with them during the day. In the evening he starts working and then it's my job to put the kids to bed and wake up with them in the morning.
 
LJG23

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I thought I had it perfect, I had an apartment across the street from my casino, I played cards everyday paid my bills and had ways of "making it work" if things went down for a week or so, but being with the ones I love was more important to me so I made one of the hardest decisions in life to give up what I had and try try and make something new.

She new about cards and I knew about her family, but neither of us knew how hard it would be, not for ever, but in the being for sure. I had been living as a bachelor during the week and her a single mom. We have been living together for sixth months and I am just now coming back to playing after a couple of months off, because of just how hard it was to adjust.

Now that the dust has cleared a bit and she is still as supportive as ever I have found that sitting down to a game of cards after successfully "adulting" for the day, makes for a much better experience at the card tables.

You have to take care of them, then you, and the first time you have to touch family expenses to play a game its time to head back to the freerolls.
 
Dailon Arroyo Blandon

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I think that if possible ... as long as you have a balanced schedule and game schedule that allows you to devote the necessary time to the family ... and as long as you do not play with the finances of the family ... and I'm convinced that every poker professional ... has a great discipline ... otherwise they would not be professionals ...!
 
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I'm not a pro player. I live with parents. When I play they promote me and wait when I win a big winning at tournament.:)
 
MrPokerVerse

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There plenty of pro's on the circuit with families. Sure it is possible as long as all are on board.
 
ANATOLII1981

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it is not clear what you mean. Is it really impossible to combine a poker game, even professionally, with a family. A poker can be just a hobby, just like your wife is raising or caring for flowers. But it can be like a job when you earn money for the same family. and there are families where poker is fond of playing with their wives.:confused::confused::confused:

 
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