Motivation
 

I could have played cards tonight. If I played for three hours tonight I could have bought ten CDs. Or had enough for dinner for two at Pano and Paul's (vy nice atlanta restaurant). That would have definetly gotten me laid.

But instead I drank a beer and watched "Whose Line" at a friends apartment. We also "broke into" a house she was house-sitting. Next to the governor's mansion on West Paces Ferry (vy nice street in atlanta). Damn that was a nice house.

But at least I did something. Some nights I'll just be by myself and watch tv (X-files, pedro). I know that if I play cards there is a relatively high probability that I'll make money. But I don't.

Instead, I won't play until I get an overdraft notice from Wachovia. Then I'll play until I win enough to put me back into vy comfortable territory for my checking account.

I sincerely hope this post doesn't come off as bragging, because anyone who knows me will tell you that I really don't care about bragging about money. And if I do, I'm joking. But there's really no way around not talking about money on a poker forum.

Perhaps this post is rambling, but I don't care. It's 2:00 am.

Anyone else have this problem? How do you force yourself to play? Cuz poker is pretty gay. I tried doing the avatar challenge, but I didn't really care that much. I mean it's just an image. And I can adblock it too.

Maybe there are some other forms of motivation.

Anyway, I'd really like to win a lot of money in the next ten days. After that I head up to school. So I'll be taking two-three weeks off. Maybe that will help. But I'd like to take about another $1k into checking over the next ten days. Almost made the whole post without mentioning specific numbers, but what the hell. It's just a number. Perhaps that's part of the problem.

Re: Motivation
 

I wish I could have played cards tonight. It's not for the money, I just really enjoy poker. But I have almost no time at the moment and apart from that my girlfriend seriously hates it when I sit down to play. It's getting to the point that when I fire up the computer she starts snarling. Add to that the fact that she's a marble scupltor with pretty damn big muscles and it's getting scary.

So I can't commiserate with you. A 3 hour poker session? Oh, I dream. I didn't play the King of the Kiddie pool because she wouldn't have understood me getting up at 5am to beat, "a stupid bunch of guys on a stupid chat forum."

Re: Motivation
 

i respect you

Re: Motivation
 

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Instead, I won't play until I get an overdraft notice from Wachovia. Then I'll play until I win enough to put me back into vy comfortable territory for my checking account.

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You sound like you're a 20-24 year old with a spending problem. Using poker as a way to bail yourself out of trouble isn't a long-term solution. Screw poker. Get your spending under control. Then you won't have this problem.

Read Suze Orman's "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke". I haven't read it myself, but she gives excellent advice on her weekly show and I saw the PBS special for the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Edit: Changed the age range from 22-24 to 20-24.

Re: Motivation
 

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I wish I could have played cards tonight. It's not for the money, I just really enjoy poker. But I have almost no time at the moment and apart from that my girlfriend seriously hates it when I sit down to play. It's getting to the point that when I fire up the computer she starts snarling. Add to that the fact that she's a marble scupltor with pretty damn big muscles and it's getting scary.

So I can't commiserate with you. A 3 hour poker session? Oh, I dream. I didn't play the King of the Kiddie pool because she wouldn't have understood me getting up at 5am to beat, "a stupid bunch of guys on a stupid chat forum."

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Tell her that poker is paying for her Chanel purse.

Re: Motivation
 

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Instead, I won't play until I get an overdraft notice from Wachovia. Then I'll play until I win enough to put me back into vy comfortable territory for my checking account.

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You sound like you're a 22-24 year old with a spending problem. Using poker as a way to bail yourself out of trouble isn't a long-term solution.

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Well it's really not "trouble" because it's all the same money to me. But I get what you're saying.

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Screw poker. Get your spending under control.

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I agree with screwing poker. But basically (and I know that this is going to sound really bad) I can afford to spend money. I don't have that many expenses since I'm in school. I don't have to come up with tuition money. It's all gravy. And while I probably should cut back on the spending. But I'm spending on things that make my life more enjoyable. And my family's lives more enjoyable. For example, I was able to buy my dad an ipod and car kit thingy for his bmw for his birthday. And I bought my mom a lot of books and cds for her birthday. First time I've been able to do that. And I'm amassing quite a good music collection and I'm in the market for a good sound system. I'm able to go out when I please and not have to work as a waiter like my friends do. That probably sounds really spoiled and selfish or whatever. But I'm being honest.

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Then you won't have this problem.

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I don't understand how not spending will help me play poker? Not trying to be a dick...

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Read Suze Orman's "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke". I haven't read it myself, but she gives excellent advice on her weekly show and I saw the PBS special for the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Will do. B&N tommorrow.

Re: Motivation
 

First off, I don't know that this is so much a motivational problem as much as a personal dislike of poker. Sure it makes you money and all, but Poker as a monetary supplement requires you to to like sitting at that table, win or lose. I mean, If I was a really awesome grade school teacher, but hated children, should I be teaching?

I don't think you have a general dislike for poker, though. Otherwise you would have never started in the first place, or gotten as good as you are. You just get to that place that we all get to. Where the other players suck, and sitting at a computer for hours on end sucks, and Pokertracker stats suck, and if you have to see your Aces cracked again by a rivered gutshot your climbing a clocktower, VARAIANCE BE DAMNED!!!

You know how you get to this place. Playing too long when you have to. Your waiting until it is an absolute necessity to play, and then playing for so long that you actually get sick of it. I understand that completely. I've been there too. It took me a while to realize that if I just spend a little bit of time a day playing, instead of waiting until I actually need to play, not only do I spend more time at the tables than necessary, I enjoy every minute of it.

That's not to say I still don't get tired of playing. But when that happens I take a sabbatical, boot up the Xbox and catch up on my hobbies.

Re: Motivation
 

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How do you force yourself to play?

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I don't force myself to play, ever. If I don't feel like playing, I don't.

It's important to keep other interests in your life, even if you play poker professionally. There's a whole bunch of stuff I like doing. It keeps me fresh and active, so when I do play poker I enjoy it and don't feel as though I have to "force" it.

That said, I do set goals for how many hands I'm going to play in a week, because I do have some monetary goals I want to achieve. But even so, if I don't feel like playing, I do something else.

And I enjoy playing. Most of the time. I don't think poker is "pretty gay".

Re: Motivation
 

If you're going to B&N you might want to check out Zen Mind Beginner's Mind (Shunryu Suzuki) as well. If you can understand what that book means poker won't be boring anymore.

Re: Motivation
 

But I'd like to take about another $1k into checking over the next ten days.

Reading this is really [censored] depressing dude. For someone who can win that much in ten days, how could you not want to play this game?

[censored], I wan't to play this game and I'm a losing player (not an addict).

Brad