Background

Twenty-fourteen hasn't been the greatest year so far. Every time new year's eve rolls around I think we all find ourselves looking forward to a year of prosperity, fun times, and great opportunities. Well, five days into those thoughts and everything has pretty much gone to hell.

It all began back in 2008 when my family and I moved to Las Vegas. It's an interesting coincidence that of all the cities in the world, my dad's job happened to lead us to Las Vegas (and now I'm making this thread on a poker site). The pay was terrible, but it was either he took the job in Las Vegas or he was unemployed. So we packed up our things and moved into a bank-owned REPO during the summer of 2008. For the next five years, my dad's salary wasn't even enough to cover the bills and now on this day, January 5th, 2014, my parents are over $30,000 in debt.

Let's put the icing on the cake: my dad was laid off on December 1. With no savings, the ship is slowly sinking. I moved back in with my parents to help pay the bills, but at this point it's not even close to enough (even with his unemployment). Earlier tonight, I also found out that my younger sister (fifteen) has a disease known as Trigeminal neuralgia, a very complex neural condition that requires immediate treatment.

We don't have money (as a family) to get by day to day, let alone pay for my sister's medical treatment. That's where myself and this thread come in. I don't have a plan B. I work nine to five as a software developer, but I don't make nearly enough to support a family. I've been contributing almost all of my recent income to helping us make house payments, but my savings fund is depleted. We are way too close to hitting rock bottom and I will not let that happen. This has been a bumpy start to 2014, but I'm ready to make this into a life changing year. I invite you all to join me on my journey of making a better life for myself and my family by playing poker.

Goals:

Make enough money to pay for my sister's treatment.
Make enough money to pay off my parent's debt.
Quit my job to pursue poker full time.
Buy my dad a new car as a present.
Get much needed renovations to our home.
Graduate from high school.
Help my dad with his drinking problem.

This Thread:

This is not simply a poker thread. This is a life thread. I want to make friends throughout this journey and have a place to discuss my poker. I want to be held accountable for my goals and have a centralized point where I can keep track of them. Besides, a lot of people are going through tough times. If I can serve as a motivator for even one person, I think this thread is well worth it. That being said, this thread is ultimately for myself. I'm ready to try and make a difference in the life of those around me. I want to provide something for the people that mean the most to me and I want a place to clearly illustrate my intentions. My hope is that at least one person out there will benefit from this thread.

The Beginning:

I have currently only been playing online NLH for only a month, but I've been a part of the game for much longer. I am a losing player over a very small sample, but I'm ready to turn that around. Let's do this.

Current Bankroll: $5588

Day 1 - 1/5/2014

I won't be playing any poker today. I'm currently stuck playing the "catch-up" game with my online school work. Now that I think about it, I guess I should explain. I originally dropped out of high school my senior year to pursue web design and software development full time (self-taught). That has worked out just fine for me and I work a very fulfilling nine to five job in the heart of downtown. That being said, I received a promotional offer to attend online classes here in Clark County to get a diploma. Not getting my diploma is something that I have secretly, deep down inside regretted since the day I left school. I don't know why I regret it, I just do, so I decided it would be a good idea to take up the offer.

The first semester ends tomorrow at midnight and I have done zero work in three out of the four classes I'm taking. Feels just like old times, cramming before the night of a test. I think it's also worth mentioning that I did very well in school, I just simply didn't see that value in it at the time (and quite frankly I still don't). It's just something about having a diploma that will make me feel even better inside about my decision to drop out at the time. Anyways, I'll be grinding away at school work tonight and tomorrow, so no poker for me. After that it's off to the races!

Best of luck, hope your family is okay. If you want to discuss strategy add me on skype: pitabread189

Thanks, I definitely will do that on Tuesday when I get back into poker.

Day 2 - 1/6/2014

Today is the second and last day that I will be completely without poker. I have some final work to finish up for school today and then I'll be set to kick things off tomorrow. As far as plans for tomorrow, I'm going to be enduring a minor "crash course" to try and get my game into tip-top shape before I venture out and try and make some money. Please feel free to give me advice (as far as what resources to use). Here is my plans for the crash course as they stand now:

Read Mathenoobics of Poker thoroughly and take notes.
Read Poker Math That Matters thoroughly and take notes.
Take the Poker In a Box online course.

I will be engaging in this crash course for both Wednesday and Thursday. During this time I will be primarily studying the resources I've listed, participating on the 2+2 forum, and only playing poker about 20% of the time. If I finish up the things I listed, I'll likely add a few more to fill up all of my time during those two days doing quality studying. I don't have work Friday, so I'll be kicking things off with a three day weekend of pure poker grind.