Note: I don't feel qualified to answer this - but hey I'll take a stab:

I would look at it from a life perspective first. Right now you aren't playing poker and therefore you aren't earning that income from your bankroll. How much of the $1000/wk do you need in order to make the bills. STEP 1: Pay your bills first.

Next I would make sure that money that you are forced to withdraw from your bankroll is non-essential to playing the limits where you are earning the majority of the time. As a pro, I expect you have a relatively larger bankroll for your limits than I do (for example), so I would expect even with a bit of withdrawal from the account, your bankroll will be able to withstand it and be able to play at you current limits. STEP 2: Make sure you can still play at the level where you were earning your wage.

That's pretty much all I have to say about it. As long as you pay your bills and keep the bankroll ready for when you'll have the opportunity to return - the logistics in between aren't too big of a deal.

Of course, if you need to record all of this for tax purposes (being a pro and alll...), then I guess you probably need the certified advice of an accountant (in my opinion).

Hope there's something useful you can gleam from here.

/d

starstealer,

Bills aren't a problem. My total monthly nut is only about $800. I think the reason that I asked is my bonus.... I look rather forward to that quarterly bonus and this is going to screw it up. The way I do it is thus: there are 13 weeks in a quarter... I pay myself $1000/wk or $13,000 during this time. Let's say my results are that I win $30,000 during the 3 months. $30,000 minus $13,000 leaves $17,000. Of the $17,000 - half goes into bankroll building and I get half (or $8,500) as a bonus. If however this endeavor forces me to play only half the time - then I earn $15,000, pay myself $13,000 and get a measly $1000 bonus for the quarter which is pretty depressing.
Thanks for the thoughts

TUP

Ah - now I understand.

My advice? "Suck it up" - not meant as an insult. If you have set this up as a bonus for performance - realize that you won't be excelling this quarter (granted because of things outside of poker).

Another option would be to pay yourself less each week during the upcoming quarter and base your bonus off of that lower amount.

Look at it from the perspective of a car salesman (which is a perspective I don't have, but hey we can all role play right?) - if you are supposed to sell 10 cars per month and at the end of the quarter you get a bonus if you exceed 50 - then what do you get if only sell 32? Nothing more.

I can understand the want of having that extra money, but I would say it should help you get back into it when your current obligations are finished.

Also, if you are getting some extra money from this endeavor - treat that as "poker" income (as you said it is displacing poker for now) and work out your bonus with that in mind. I'm not sure that this would work too well, but it is something to consider.

/d