Hi all,

I am usually quite stubborn and prefer to find my own way out of difficulties, but lately I have hit a wall in my development as a player and feel that I definitely need some advice from the more experienced of you. Here is my problem:

I am a foreigner, fairly new to poker. Learned how to play about 11 months ago and have been "hooked" ever since. Given the initial goals that I set for myself, I am quite satisfied with my perfomance over that time period. Have put a lot of effort in working on my game and fully realize that there is A LOT more to learn (it seems to me that every single thing that i figure out helps me discover at least a couple aspects of my game that I need to improve; guess that is normal). Was even able to afford to play poker full time over the summer and keep it as my main source of income. Worked out fine.

Not everything has been as smooth as it sounds, but overall poker has turned into a profitable hobby for me(again, that is according to my own standards; won't go into details). Still, somehow I lost interest in the game. I am coming back from my best month so far - worked the hardest, but the payoff was also the biggest. And now in November I don't seem to have the patience and whatever else it takes to play anymore. I just seem to dread the "grind" and the occasional bad beats - almost as if I believe that I have figured out what it takes to win at the levels that I play/prefer and am starting to doubt if it is worth it...

Is that normal? Have others experienced it? Also, do you have any suggestions how I should deal with my current problem? I just assumed that it is some form of a burn out and took two weeks off. Also, cashed out some money and "treated" myself to some finer things (enjoyed that part the most :-))). I only play (multitable) 100NL and 200NL so I have even considered trying a different game for a while. Am reading Harrington and Miller+Sklansky and will give tournaments and limit hold'em a try. Anything else I could do? It seems that I need to readjust my approach and my attitude towards the game, but how???

If you have any helpful suggestions for me, I would greatly appreciate it if you share them. Thank you in advance for the help. I have been as serious about poker as I have been about any of my other hobbies (even sports!!!) and now this current situation frustrates the hell out of me.

Bate