shipitfish | Moved to NYC, Have No Poker Time: But I'm a Pro Now

Today, at least in the eyes of my government, I became a professional poker player. I just filed my 2004 federal tax return, on which I filed a Schedule C designating myself as a "Professional Poker Player" for the income I received in 2004 from playing poker. I hope the rest of you were all honest on your taxes: just because we're in a hard-to-track cash business doesn't mean we don't owe our share.

It's strange to see the numbers on the page and see that I am really a winning player. Having used much of my bankroll as funds for my move, I am so depleted that I feel like I won nothing playing poker in the last year and half since I've started playing for serious money. But I did; it's right there on the page.

Right before I moved, I was running quite poorly and frustrated with the game, too, so it's hard to get past that since I've had no time to play. This week, I played two online sessions, both with break-even results. Tomorrow, I am going to try the most well-reviewed of the poker clubs here in New York City (where I moved to on 6 April).

I am glad to be in New York, although reading Greg's email announcements about his game make me feel sad: that sense that something I was intimately a part of for over a year now just goes on without me. It makes me feel like I have left a part of myself behind. (BTW, for those of you that were asking, the one-year anniversary of Greg's game was 10 February 2005 -- my records indicate the first game was on Tuesday 10 February 2004. If Greg's game is still going in 2006, I hope to visit town for the second anniversary party.)

I did start writing a tribute to Greg's game, which gave a bit of the history and how it progressed. I will commit to finishing that in the next two months.