"Why Am I Doing This?" (Long)

[Rushmore]

This is probably one of the most important questions poker players should ask, yet one that many try to avoid. There are two major scenarios which call for this question, but they're totally different in context.

1.) "Why am I playing poker for a living?" This one requires a different discussion at a different time in a different thread, possibly at a different site. I want to discuss

2.) "Why am I (raising/calling/folding/playing/posting)?"

We all play so much poker that sometimes we do things out of habit or kneejerk reaction rather than solid reasoning. When you throw multitabling into the equation, this problem gets magnified exponentially. No matter what the cause of the problem, it's certainly worth trying to combat.

The other night, I was in an $80/160 game at UB. Normally, the game plays very aggressive, with laggy players, many of whom are apparently mentally unstable, out on a day pass, I don't know. You get used to making certain plays in this context.

So I am in the big blind, there's a MP raiser, all fold, and I call with 9T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. The flop comes 99xr.

More out of habit than anything else, I bet out (I like this play against the uber-lags because they will often raise on the flop with overs and then bet when checked to on the turn, then call down with ace-high, which is great for several bets. If they have an overpair, you make many extra bets. The lags just won't give you credit for a hand in a spot like this if you bet out).

The guy mucks.

I hadn't actually taken the moment to ask the question. This player was bordering on weak-tight. It wasn't that he snuck in and I didn't see him; I KNEW he was weak-tightish, and I had notes on him, and I knew that it was this player I was playing a hand with.

Fact is, I should have asked myself the question in the subject line, but I didn't--I just reacted to this fairly common occurrence as opposed to assessing this particular situation.

Another example:

You see it all the time, especially at the lower/middle limits. Guy calls two bets cold with K9 or A6 or 83s or some cheese, then pays off a much better hand all the way.

You just know that he's "gambling." We know that he loves the action, and remembers that time when he won a big pot with that hand that one time, that special day way back when.

But if he honestly took a moment and asked himself "Why am I doing this?," he might actually improve his game. Instead, he's getting led around by the nose by some irrational impulse, and he's feeding something that has nothing to do with poker, and certainly has nothing to do with making money playing poker.

I sat down with $10K in the $150/$300 game at UB the other morning, and clicked "wait for the big blind." I normally play anywhere from $30/$60 to $80/$160, but for some reason I was about to pay the big blind of $150 in this game.

As the button moved toward me, I actually asked myself out loud "Why am I doing this?"

The answer, it turns out, is that there was no $50/$100 game, and I didn't "feel like playing $30/$60 or $80/$160" (whatever THAT means).

So I left the game, drove to the course, and played 18.

Of course, I wish I'd asked myself "Why am I about to hit driver into the water on #6, when I know I can go 3 wood/7-iron?" but that's another question altogether.

[Jazza]

good post, i agree, we should all remember to ask ourself this question

[Exsubmariner]

I can't speak for you Rushmore, only for myself and I have only a vague grasp on my own psyche and how it works. I play poker first and foremost because I am an intelligent human being who is good at math and logic. I was hardwired in my genetics to be that way. I would be unhappy if I did not indulge my brain in endless calculations. I am naturally attracted to strategy. I have a creative streak. I like to watch people and how they behave. I like living well. My job, although well paying, is sometimes boring and does not allow me to indulge my creative strategist streak. All that added together makes poker a perfect game for me to play.
I have some designs on making poker my professional endeavour. It would relieve me of all the natural problems that come from being employed by someone else. You don't get to pick your boss or your coworkers, namely. You don't write your own schedule, and sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to but you put up with it because you need the money. One might make the argument that this would be no different being a pro poker player, but I think the pros far outweigh the cons. The prospect of financial freedom is too alluring.
I have a deep psychological drive to think and act independently and be the author of my own life. Poker could be a vehicle to that end. This is why I stay up til 3 AM playing online and studying 2+2 books.
I bet it was the same for you before you became a pro. Is your life really that bad? You had a crisis of conscious playing 80/160 and you had to go to the golf course to hash it out. Think about it. If you were not who you are, you would in no way stop anyone from "gambling"....which is bad for them, but they know that. If you want pity them. But, if it were not you it would be someone else taking the money they clearly don't care about.
X

[tek]

[ QUOTE ]
1.) "Why am I playing poker for a living?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Because I'm an ass with no tact (hard to believe, huh?)who can't play office politics [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
Because I'm an ass with no tact (hard to believe, huh?)who can't play office politics

[/ QUOTE ]

So, the answer is "Because I have to."

I hear you.

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
I bet it was the same for you before you became a pro. Is your life really that bad? You had a crisis of conscious playing 80/160 and you had to go to the golf course to hash it out. Think about it. If you were not who you are, you would in no way stop anyone from "gambling"....which is bad for them, but they know that. If you want pity them. But, if it were not you it would be someone else taking the money they clearly don't care about. X

[/ QUOTE ]

Just for clarification:

I was referring more to the limitless times while we're playing when this question would be valuable. As for "Why am I playing poker?", as I said, that's a different question for a different day.

Just for the record, if my life were "that bad," I would change what I was doing.

Last, I didn't mean to imply that I was having a "crisis of conscience." I meant to say that I was making a bad decision without actually considering it properly. I have no problem whatsoever with taking peoples' money at the poker table.

[Exsubmariner]

OK, I misunderstood your post. Right on. I have been thinking on that particular point of "why do I play poker" for some time now, and that's the reason I spewed such a long post back. Is this like some kind of ink blot test, where I read a general question and then my subconscious takes over and causes me to prattle like Sigmund Freud? hmmmmm.
In the case of the weak tight, you should have definately checked along your trip nines and hope something hit him on the turn or river and you could then check raise him.
Prolly doesn't add up to much in the grand scheme anyway. Keep winning.
X

[bodie]

I often find myself making a move at the poker table at which I simultaneously ask myself, "why am I doing this?". Why am I calling when I don't have great hole cards, why am I calling this flop? My best answer (and I do think about this when I begin to regret those things) is that I do it because,
a) I've been sitting there a while not getting anything worth playing
b) I feel crazy for a minute and just don't care

I think that's different from when you bet out on the nines, because that was a tactical error rather than just a stupid move.
In my case, I think occasionally I just lose my patience and self-control - and I always end up regretting it.

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
I often find myself making a move at the poker table at which I simultaneously ask myself, "why am I doing this?". Why am I calling when I don't have great hole cards, why am I calling this flop? My best answer (and I do think about this when I begin to regret those things) is that I do it because,
a) I've been sitting there a while not getting anything worth playing
b) I feel crazy for a minute and just don't care

I think that's different from when you bet out on the nines, because that was a tactical error rather than just a stupid move.
In my case, I think occasionally I just lose my patience and self-control - and I always end up regretting it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although it was clearly a tactical error, as you say, my point in referencing it was that it was an error that came from not actually considering why I was making the bet, from acting out of pattern or habit or rote or impulse because I play so many damned hands of poker that I don't think that each unique move needs to be considered, not even the tiniest little bit.

I was saying that removing the question "Why" from every equation seems to be a dangerous thing, and an easy mistake to make.

[Pocket Trips]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I often find myself making a move at the poker table at which I simultaneously ask myself, "why am I doing this?". Why am I calling when I don't have great hole cards, why am I calling this flop? My best answer (and I do think about this when I begin to regret those things) is that I do it because,
a) I've been sitting there a while not getting anything worth playing
b) I feel crazy for a minute and just don't care

I think that's different from when you bet out on the nines, because that was a tactical error rather than just a stupid move.
In my case, I think occasionally I just lose my patience and self-control - and I always end up regretting it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Although it was clearly a tactical error, as you say, my point in referencing it was that it was an error that came from not actually considering why I was making the bet, from acting out of pattern or habit or rote or impulse because I play so many damned hands of poker that I don't think that each unique move needs to be considered, not even the tiniest little bit.

I was saying that removing the question "Why" from every equation seems to be a dangerous thing, and an easy mistake to make.

[/ QUOTE ]

The only really bad play in poker is one that you can't justify logically. Poker being a game of making decisions based on incomplete information you are bound to make some mistakes and bad reads and bad plays etc. but as long as you can say to yourself "ok well I made (X) play at the time based on (Y) information and it turned out I was wrong" your head is at least in the game. Now at least you can correct the mistake you made and adjust your play accordingly. It is when we go on autopilot and make the "usual" move when there are other factors to consider that we start to make mistakes like this.