Obsessive personality

[Niwa]

When growing up I've always been great at what I've done sport and gamewise and I've continue with the philosophy that as long as I'm going to do it I might aswell put everything I got into it and become great at it. I played soccer and I was great but then the other players became bigger and stronger and I remained quick and small. The game became harder but I continued to struggle and I was always one of the best but in my puberty I got sick and couldnt continue to play so I found other things to do.

I started to play computergames and the only games I seemed to enjoy was the games including skillbased multiplay. I played whole days and dreamt dreams about the game during the night.

One day I was invited to play poker by one of my friends and I had never played the game so he went over the rules and we started playing. After a while I understood that this wasn't a luckbased game at all so I started studying and playing ALOT. Not a day goes by without me thinking about poker, it's not that I can't stand being away from the tables, its the fact that you can get better and better and still be a mediocre player in the eyes of a great player. I've made alot of money playing poker and I currently make a living playing but I can't say that's the only reason I'm playing it. As a competitive and obsessive person I really want to become great and I always have goals that I need to reach not to prove myself to others but to me. I don't care if my friends thinks I'm great or anyone else until I have fixed my flaws and look back at hand histories where I would have done the same thing afterwards as I did when playing the hand.
I've quit playing computergames and focusing on poker and I love it. For a person with an obsessive and competitive personality this is something to stick their teeth in.

I don't really have a point with this post but I have thought about this ever since I read 1800GAMBLER's post where he stated he ALSO had an obsessive personality. I've also found that many of the top-gamers in the world has also become good pokerplayers and that's where I started to wonder, how many in here have obsessive personalities?

Does it take a competitive and obsessive personality to become a great player?

[ryanghall]

I think in a lot of cases, yes.

I was heavy into tennis for a long time. As well, I played pool for money and I was pretty heavy into the Magic Cards for a while.

Having this type of personality helps a lot in poker. I would assume most strong players are like us.

Ryan

[Kirkrrr]

I hear you 100%. Once I become involved with something, I will give it every spare second of my time, either doing, learning and studying, or thinking about it.

Will Smith in one of his interviews years and years ago said something that has stayed with me ever since: "Sucess is named by a chef named obsession." If you want to be better than X number of people at anything, you will have to outwork at least 95% * X. The way I see it, success is usually just a matter of time commitment, and not giving up when things all of a sudden take the inevitable temporary nosedive.

Kirk

[Niwa]

Are the good pokerplayers in general successful in life in terms of jobs, sports and hobbies?

[jkkkk]

I'm generally an obsessive competitive person, I played sports in school and for clubs but I wouldn't say that was an obsession, my obsessions have generally been things that have really sparked my mind, including; dj'ing, computer games and obviously poker.

Its hard to compare my interests to one another but I think the one key similarity is that I always try to become the best that I can, whether its focusing on the finer points of chance and psychology when thinking about poker or focusing on the progression, track selection and mixing technique for my next set. I don't really see this in many of my friends.

The odd thing is, this makes my friends sound lazy when infact the opposite is true, I'm always rushing my assignments at the last minute (I have it down to a fine art /images/graemlins/smile.gif ), I never go to the gym and I do the minimum hours of work that I can (partly because I hate the part time job that I have and partly because of the $ from poker).

I think poker changes the way people view life, it is a great mentor, like any good obsession is.

P.S

Why is this thread in this forum?

[AZK]

Since finding this site a few years ago, there hasn't been a 36 hour period where I haven't checked it at least once. Not kidding. Obsessive? Maybe.

[Niwa]

Every time Im near a comp I check it out.

[Niwa]

You just gave a perfect description of me. Last minute with assignments lazy at the gym and so on.

Im not saying I obsess over every interest I have its a few selected things that I do 24/7 over periods of time.

[BobboFitos]

[ QUOTE ]
Since finding this site a few years ago, there hasn't been a 36 hour period where I haven't checked it at least once. Not kidding. Obsessive? Maybe.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, I bet the same holds true to me. Even when i've been at a casino or wherever w/o my laptop i borrow a friends to puruse 2p2...

[AZK]

it's [censored] sick.

[Marlow]

[ QUOTE ]
Since finding this site a few years ago, there hasn't been a 36 hour period where I haven't checked it at least once. Not kidding. Obsessive? Maybe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I will say this: I've been visiting this site off and on for about 6 years. When I didn't come here, my game suffered and I became much less "obsessive." But when I do visit this site, it becomes part of a consuming drive to get better. For the first time in my poker life, I've set very specific goals about what limits I want to play and what I want to learn, etc. As a result of having these goals, the majority of my time is spent thinking about or playing the game.

Because of my expereinces, I think that the drive to succeed does not necessarily need to be something that you are born with or not. I think that it can be a choice, too.

Marlow

[tommo]

[ QUOTE ]
are good poker players successful in general

[/ QUOTE ]

probably more successful on average than the bad pokerplayers. But that doesn't mean they are succesful compared to the general public.

[Niwa]

people with an obsessive and competitive personality is imo much more successful than the general public.

[tommo]

[ QUOTE ]
people with an obsessive and competitive personality is imo much more successful than the general public.

[/ QUOTE ]

Definitely depends on your definition of success. Many non-obsessive people would say that obsessive people are very unsuccesful. and I don't just mean this in a wishy washy kind of way. Many obsessive people are not happy at all, sometimes they miss the big picture etc. etc.

But with that being said, I am a very succesful poker player and very obsessive. Not to mention doing well in school, sports blah blah blah...

[edge]

Whenever I pick up a hobby, I research it extensively and try to find the best discussion forum about it (there's always at least one really good one).

[Kirkrrr]

Yup. I will sometimes look at really interesting posts on my little Treo between hands, or during. This website has done more for my game (such as it is) than I could ever imagine when I first found it.

Kirk

[pottie]

[ QUOTE ]
Once I become involved with something, I will give it every spare second of my time, either doing, learning and studying, or thinking about it.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is me!

Could the following be related to this obsessive personality?: One day you feel that you cannot live without a certain female in your life and it messes up your thinking for an entire day, the next day you don't even think about her...

[Kirkrrr]

[ QUOTE ]
the next day you don't even think about her...

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL Yes /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Leptyne]

There has been much written on the subject of emotional contol in poker. It is very difficult to turn your emotions off when playing and then to turn them back on after the game. There are successful poker players whose personal lives are a wreck.