Goals: Part I

As I write this column, it is nearly 2019. By the time you read it, 2019 will be well underway. Many people use this time to make New Year’s Resolutions and set goals for the new year. This is always a useful exercise. The general idea is to chose goals that lead you to take actions. The actions are what will enable you to achieve your goal. Usually this means breaking big goals (macro goals) into smaller goals (micro goals.) Someone once did a study of the most financially successful graduates of Harvard Business School and found that nearly everyone in the top 10 percent followed some sort of planning, goal setting and daily-action regimen, while almost no one in the bottom 10 percent did.

Goals should be quantifiable and stated positively. The reason a goal should be quantifiable is to allow you to know when it has been achieved. For example, a goal like becoming healthier in 2019 is too vague. A better goal would be to do at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times per week. This is an easy goal to schedule. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I will get on the treadmill for half an hour. If I miss a day, I will catch up with a weekend workout. Being even more specific is better. You could state it as 30 minutes at 4 miles per hour at 7:30 am. Your progress should be relatively easy to track. Be gentle with yourself if you mess up. Tell yourself that you had other priorities last week, but you will get back on track right away.

Now let’s look at poker goals. I frequently hear players state, “I want to maximize my hourly win rate.” This seems like a laudable goal, but it is really a very poor one. First it is not quantifiable. No one knows what their maximum win rate is. If you are winning, how do you know how much better you could have done or if you came close to winning the most you could.

Is your goal really to make as much money per hour as you possibly can? Before you say, ‘Of course,’ allow me to suggest some alternative ideas. Hopefully you play poker for enjoyment as well as money. Should an online player who can make $105 an hour playing 16 tables reasonably well or $95 playing only 8 tables, but playing very well risk exhaustion and forming bad habits to grind out that extra 10 dollars?

I play mostly cash games. Playing in a nine-handed game, if I knew I could follow a super tight strategy and make $105 or loose aggressive style and make $95, I know the latter would be less boring and more enjoyable. Or perhaps, playing tight no-limit hold’em seems so boring and routine, I’d enjoy playing pot-limit Omaha or mixed games much more, even if my win rate was less. Or the case of a small winner in very high-stakes games, who could average more in a softer, medium-stakes game, but enjoys the competition, education and prestige of playing in ‘the big game.’ Although it is also hard to quantify or measure, I’d suggest a goal of maximizing your enjoyment while playing and winning is a better goal.

Another bad goal is to specify an amount to be won. My goal is to win $20,000 a month. I can break this down into a micro goal of $1,000 a day for 20 playing days each month. This is certainly quantified. It is easy to see if I achieved my goal for the day. But it creates a variety of other problems. When should I quit for the day? If I hit my daily target during your first orbit, then what? Risk sinking below my goal or quit after half an hour? Or what if I find myself losing at the end of six hours? Do I continue to play, even though I’m becoming tired and the game isn’t very good or quit far short of my daily goal?

A better goal might be to play at least two hours and at most 10 hours, letting the length of the session be determined by how good the game is and how well I’m playing. If the game is great, and I expect to earn $200 per hour, play as long as I’m playing well. If I can only grind out $40 an hour, because the game is poor or I feel a little off, then cut the session short. Live players should plan on putting in more hours on weekends and holidays when the games tend to be good. Be prepared to have some short weekday sessions. That might be a good time to go the movies. Or better yet, put in your half hour on the treadmill first, and then schedule a movie.

Steve ‘Zee’ Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful gamesplayer. He has been a full-time gambler for over 35 years. With two WSOP bracelets and few million in tournament cashes, he is easing into retirement. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at some major tournaments and playing in cash games in Vegas. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A in New York City -The Library near Houston and Doc Holliday’s on 9th St. are his favorites.