An accountant type will have a totally different approach to monetary floors and ceilings than a commodities investor type. Money management, I think, is something between myth and reality, depending on the individual. While managing money balances on the fence, the idea of preparation doesn't. No, I don't think so. If poker is your escape hatch from the ups and downs of reality, if you can immerse yourself in the game to the exclusion of that spat, that loss, then by all means, play.
Preparation is a reality.
In an earlier column, I wrote about image. I bring that topic up now because I've heard it said many times that a person whose everyday personality is passive can never expect to succeed at poker. This, I'll say from the outset, is myth. Nearly everybody, even the most introverted, can overcome passivity for a short period of time because they all have a bit of the ham or actor in them. A quiet unassuming person can look at the poker room as a stage.