PeterHallberg's blog

Only try to control controllable things...

Continued from 'From hobby player to full time pro'.

This blog will focus on the changes I have made gradually through the last couple of month, in the quest for achieving the needed skills, for having poker as my only source of income.

Physical fitness
Thoughts
There's a reason why most, if not all, top players in skill games are fit. If not, you simply don't have the energy to do all the hard work needed for reaching the top and staying there. Time and again I have been told that I had to get in better shape, to be able to hold my focus for more hours when playing. Increased stamina is also needed to get through more poker training.

I'm a 1.75 m tall guy and at the beginning of May I weighed 92.9 kg. That's a BMI of over 30 which puts me just over the line for obesity. A normal weighing person has a BMI between 18.5 and 25. My weight loss goals are first to reach 85 kg (BMI=27.8) and then 80 kg (BMI=26.1).

Mid-stake poker pro? Is that even possible?

A lot has happened since my last blog. Once again I have been facing a crossroad and having to make a hard choice of what I want to do with my career. It all seems so dramatic but in reality it's just one of those situation where you need to listen to your gut feeling and go with it. There seems to be no right or wrong.

For the last year and a half I've been living of writing blogs and come up with ideas. It has been fun but all good things have to end so does this. My contract ends soon and I have to find a new way to support myself. No problem at all. It's not like I have no options - on the contrary. I have a degree in computer science but I don't see myself working with computer stuff anymore. There is of course poker but the current state of poker legislation in Denmark on top of my current skill level (or lack thereof) make it seem almost impossible to make a living as a full time poker pro. Then there is the option to go for a job in the e-gaming business which I believe would be a lot of fun but where do I go after that. Finally I could finish my master degree in computer science (need one more year) and do something more meaningful afterwards.

None of the above mentioned options seemed particularly attractive so I spent about two weeks weighing pros and cons of each job. It all came down to what I really wanted to do. Not what I was currently able to do! The choice fell on poker. You would suppose that was the end of it - but no – it was just the beginning.

Sometimes I learn fast
Sometimes I learn slow
So what?

Back to the roots

Personally I don't like books at all. I'm a very slow
reader and I learn much more easily when I see things.
Once in a while a book worthwhile reading comes along.

Sometimes I get really surprised how many decisions
a seemingly uninteresting hand can have

It is very difficult for a group to make a decision that
involve a member to vote against his own best
for the benefit of the whole group

Continued from 'The fear of letting go'.

We cling to our beliefs and we cling to the best
explanations we have for things
no matter how weak they are
but we dare not let go

* sigh *