One piece of advice I’ve always taken from people who have had success in their chosen pursuits is the importance of setting goals.  This isn’t something I’ve ever done with poker, at least other than watching the World Series Main Event and thinking, “Gee, it would be nice to win that one.”  I’m not delusional enough to think I belong in nosebleed cash games with pots the size of my student loans, but I do think I should keep improving my game.  To achieve these results, I’ve created a list of short-term goals (with a list of long-term goals to follow).   Most of them are things I want to do during the month of May.  I’ve got a really light workload, but I leave for the World Series towards the end of the month, which means I’ll have to step it up during the first few weeks.  Have a look at what I’ve set out to do for myself and hit our forums to share your thoughts.

1. Have a +ROI during SCOOP: I want to play as many events as possible.   More importantly, though, I want to make some money while doing so.  I’m not setting a strict dollar amount, but so long as I come out with a positive return on investment, I’m happy.

Note: I cashed in the first SCOOP event, so I am +ROI as of this article being published. I’ll update in a forum thread as things go on.

2. Satellite into, and play, the SCOOP Main Event (low): $109 is a little out of my roll.  I can always make an exception and deposit a buy-in just for this, but it would be easier to satellite.  Stars is running a slew of satties for all the SCOOP events.  Getting in via satellites also means that if (er, when) I cash, I’ll get a larger return.  Then again, it’s never right to look at things from a min-cash perspective, especially considering that I could probably make more money at work than I could over the amount of time it would take to min-cash.

 3. Make $1,000 during a calendar month sometime in the next six months: My last $1,000+ month was in December.  Studying for the bar exam left me with little playing time over the first third of 2010, but that should be changing.  My biggest opportunity to realize this goal will be during SCOOP.

4. Get a $215 Step ticket and play the Sunday Million: I’ve yet to play the Sunday Million, but with an ever increasing field, I’m hoping to try to get in on a regular basis.  The Steps system is a good way to get there.  If things get desperate, I might start trying to satellite in.

5. Reach Silverstar in May: One of my long-term goals is to reach Supernova, but that is unlikely to happen until, at best, the next calendar year.  For now, I’m going to try to get to Silverstar and see how things go.

What are your short-term goals?  Hopefully I’ll see you at the virtual table during SCOOP.  Either way, let me know by commenting below, or in our forums.