Flowing Like A River To The Sea

Welcome to Radio Shack.  You’ve got questions, we’ve got blank stares.  Found that gem on Slashdot once.

Anyway, it’s I who have questions, post your blank stares in the comments if you wish.

I’ve had some internal dialogue with myself (not as disturbing as internal gas, mind you) and wondered about the time commitment that playing poker requires.

In that Martin Short synchronized swimmer skit voice:  “I’ve been playing a lot of poker.”  (For the clueless, he originally says “I’m not that strong a swimmer.  Guess you had to be there.)

Anyway, back to the point.  I’ve been spending a bunch of time playing, both online and off.  I’ve managed to justify to myself that it’s a worthwhile investment of time since I have financial gains to show for my efforts.  But how much time is too much?  That is the question.

If poker is truly the hobby that I claim it to be, then I should be able to scale back a bit and suffer no consequences.  Keeping it on the recreational level means just that.  But what if it’s not?  What if all this time investment is supposed to lead to greater things?  It most likely won’t, but if it did, then I could more easily justify this time expenditure.  Can’t let the mad skillz deteriorate, you know.

But I’m not sure I can justify it.  I suppose if I looked at my winnings on an hourly rate, I’d be sorely disappointed.  There’s a chance I’d be better off asking if you want fries with that.  Perhaps that’s why the one thing I do not document is my time investment.  It might be too scary to look at.

Does anyone else feel that they’re spending too much time playing?  Being the addictive personality type that I am, I know I’m perhaps beyond the threshold of normalcy.  I certainly don’t want to cut back, but there is that tiny voice inside my head recommending that perhaps I should.

If only that pesky job of mine didn’t get in the way, I could free up a bunch of time.