Burnt out

Over the last 3 days in January, I played a little under 10k hands. 8-10 tabling .50/1 for a long period of time certainly took its toll. What's surprising is that I actually made money. Reads weren't an issue, I was just playing abc robotic poker. Yesterday I played about 1k hands, but only while 4 tabling. I really don't understand how people can make money playing that many tables. I wasn't able to concentrate on position or weak players in the game.

The other big topic that's getting a lot of coverage besides the super bowl is the retired NFL players pension and disability fund or lack thereof. I read an article today in The Star Ledger written by Jerry Izenberg about this. Some of the stories that you hear about the old time greats are truely a shame. You think of some of the players today and say to yourself..where is he going to be in 25 years? I'm pretty sure the likes of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and other All-Pro players will be fine. But what about John Lynch, safety for the Broncos or any linebacker in the league. These guys aren't getting 75 million dollar contracts. Plus they subject themselves to probably the most physical abuse among the players.

This article just makes me respect Tiki Barber's decision to retire a TON more. He is a very bright man and values his health more than fame and fortune. Don't get me wrong he loves the game, but he sees the longterm issues of playing a lot more clearly then most players. He has 2 kids, both under the age of 5, and wants to go outside and be able to run around with them. Take a look at Jerome Bettis. He was quoted in espn the magagzine for saying that it takes him literally 5 minutes to go up stairs sometimes. His knees are completely shot.

What's this have to do with poker you ask? Money management. You see a lot of these people getting paid 8 figure deals and they live in their HUGE houses with 67 cars and live a lavish lifestyle. Well what are you going to do when you retire? What if your're like Terrell Davis and sustain a career ending injury? Ok sure, you're getting paid 8 million dollars a year. That doesn't mean you have to have bills totalling 500k, plus a 2 million dollar house, with a 275k car, with a house in california also. How about actually only paying yourself 4 million a year, and putting the other 4 million in savings and not touching it.

We as poker players have some of the absolute best and worst money managers in the world. What kind are you?

Here is the link to the article I was referring to

http://www2.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=24685860