You can only get so good by playing. A lot of what leads to success are the things they don't show in movies. Reading, thinking, studying...putting that work in is what really pays dividends. Is it annoying sometimes? Sure, but less so when it helps you bloat your bankroll and bully others. Believe me when I say it'll be much more annoying to your opponents.

It was the middle of the school day when Joey made an important decision. His face was stern and determined. 'I've been neglecting my studies for far too long. It's completely irresponsible. There's no time for laziness and childish distractions. I'm going to become a serious student.'

As he sat at his desk in the classroom, Joey enthusiastically opened his book and studied the pages. Many minutes passed by as he willed himself to continue reading, resolute in his desire to gain the knowledge necessary to one day become an outstanding adult.

"Mr. Fiore..."

Joey snapped out of his focused trance and looked up. His teacher, Ms. Rodriguez was standing in front of his desk.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Joey, what are you doing?"

"...Ms. Rodriguez, I'm studying. Isn't that what this class is for?" He squinted his eyes, confused.

"That's not the problem. This is Spanish class."

Joey nodded. "Si, señora. I know."

"...If you know, then why, in the middle of class, are you reading a poker book?!?"

...

Joey looked down at his study material. "Crush the Poker Competition, Vol 1."

"I'm translating it to Spanish?" Joey took a shot.

Ms. Rodriguez had a throbbing vein in her temple. "Put it away..."

He missed..."Yes, mam."

Joey had started to spend some of his winnings on poker books so he could study when he wasn't playing. He discovered that the amount of poker knowledge out there in books was incredible. Each new chapter opened his eyes to a larger world and there was no end in sight. He began to become addicted not only to playing, but also the process of studying and improving his game.

It was too bad these teachers didn't understand his passion. When he thought about it, Joey shook his head in disappointment. 'No matter how much I try to focus and work hard on the important things, factors outside of my control keep pulling me towards bad directions and childish distractions. It's going to be difficult to develop into a successful adult like this.'

In his mind, gambling had become the responsible thing to do, and school was a childish waste of time.

This was a peek into the mind of a degenerate. He'd already completely lost touch with normal society.

Thinking about it for a little while, Joey sighed and tapped himself on the head to mock his stupidity. He realized he'd been acting like an idiot. ''What am I even thinking about? What I've been doing is completely ridiculous. I can't go on this way or I'm going to end up ruining my life.' He looked at his Spanish textbook on top of the other schoolbooks at his desk. He took it in his hand and opened the cover. He gazed deeply at the book as he made another important decision.

'I'm going to cut the covers off and glue them onto my poker books.'

...

This way, he wouldn't be bothered by these snake oil salesmen who called themselves teachers. Foreign languages, calculus, science...Joey looked down on all these foolish classmates misusing their lives to learn this useless knowledge. He wasn't interested in wasting time learning to hablar español. 'If I really think about it, all I need to know how to say in Spanish is a few words: 'call' and 'raise.' Why do they make it so complicated?'

...

His life began to enter a steady routine. He would go to school, read poker books, then either go to Angelo's to deal or to Pocket Rockets to play when he had days off. Remembering what Ellie said, he even started an exercise routine to train his body, which would hopefully improve his mind. He would run outside some mornings before school and on weekends. It was still too early to see results but Joey was optimistic.

Weeks flowed by like water and the holidays were soon approaching. Spending all his time playing and studying, Joey was seeing a real development in the theoretical part of his poker game. He discovered that concepts he had previously mentally called "this thingy" and "that thingy" had official names in the poker community. It made it much easier to search for more information about them and even talk strategy with others, further elevating his game.

His knowledge wasn't the only thing to increase. Steadily, Joey's bankroll also grew. Poker is a game where luck famously plays a big role in the short term, but in the long term, and even the medium term, you will visibly see the results of your efforts. The consequences of developing poker skills are not abstract or unknown. If you play better, you'll win more.

Working hard brings noticeable results, and the results motivate you to work harder. This creates a virtuous cycle. If you also like the parts of the work that others would find tedious or boring, then you're simply bound to succeed eventually as long as you keep doing the right things.

This was the most interesting and productive time of Joey's young life. Of course, you could arguably ask him, what exactly are you producing?

Even he would be stumped at that question, but life is about living after all. If you're lucky enough to find something that interests you, you should go out of your way to do it. If you're also good at that thing, and you can make money from it, well that's what they call a dream job. Joey didn't know it yet, but he had stumbled on the proverbial holy grail.