After Graduation

Graduation is about 40 days away. So what will I be doing with my B.S. in Cinema & Photography, with a Screenwriting Concentration? I'll be playing poker. The lease on my Ithaca apartment doesn't end until July 31st, so I'll be living here through July. I'll be playing at Turning Stone 3 to 6 times a week, 30 to 100 hours a week. I'm going to try not to hit the tables too hard, though. I'll also be playing online on my "off" days, just to earn a little bit extra.

I've got a decent bankroll of about $3,000. I'd like to build that up a bit this summer. I've been playing really well lately, making good bets, good raises, good folds, good calls. My mind's been clear and my reads have been sound. If things go well at the beginning of summer, I might move up from $100 Max to $300 Max.

If the summer goes well, I'll move back to Norwood and play at Foxwoods. A week long trip to the Stone might be in order for August during the Empire State Championship. At home, I'll probably play more online, especially when the weather gets colder and shittier.

This summer, I'd like to learn how to play limit hold 'em. It seems like a game I could potentially master and be better at than I am at no-limit. The $4/$8 limit game at Foxwoods is said to be particularly juicy.

I'd love to play the $1/$2 NL game at Foxwoods ($300 Max) and pickoff drunk tourists. And mix that in with $4/$8 limit, along with $100 tournaments. If things go well, I can move up to $500 Max, and $10/$20 limit. And then $15/$30 limit, then $20/$40, then $30/$60, then $50/$100, and so on.

I also want to master stud and Omaha. These are great games because few people know how to play them properly, particularly pot-limit Omaha hi/lo. Foxwoods has a $500 Max PL Omaha game, and if I can grasp it with online practice, I can absolutely crush it.

Another thing I'd like to do, if the poker is working out, is make low budget short films and put them online. It's a good way to get your name out there, and if they're good, and the right person sees it, things might develop. I'll also keep writing my scripts and enter them into competitions, see if anything clicks.

Another thing I can do is help my mother clean out my house. We've got a lot of junk, and some of it can be sold on eBay, make a few extra bucks on the side while cleaning up my house.

Then there's writing on my Red Sox blog. I feel like if I really focused on it, I could make $5,000+ off it in a year, instead of the $1,000 or so I'm making off it now.

The ultimate goal is grad school. I'd love to go to USC or Columbia for producing, neither school will be all that easy to get into, and neither school will be cheap. And they also won't be cheap to live in, either. It's also somewhat important that I not be scrimping and saving while I'm there. I think it is helpful to have a flashy image, drive a nice car, wear nice clothes, go out to nice places. This costs money. But if you pull up to a meeting in a nice car, wearing nice clothes, people have more confidence that you can get things done. Which is what producing is all about.

Now if poker doesn't work out, I still have options. The military might be the best one to get money for grad school. My brother's going to get some $$$ from the Army once his service is up. It'll be interesting to see which branch will allow me to do what since I have fallen arches, but they all seem pretty desperate for personnel with Mr. Bush's war going on. Combat wouldn't be something I'd try to avoid in my duties. I feel like a jerk because poor kids have no choice but to join up and fight, and middle class kids like me have other options.

I spent 13 years in Catholic school, the Marines should be a breeze compared to that.

Just kidding.