Started in 1999 and Just took 3 months off, oh what it did for me

[Ipodkid]

Hey all, I see a lot of posts especially in this area of the forum dealing with should I quit, should I take a break, and various questions all asking essentially the same thing. I have played online since 1999 and started on Planet and eventually pokerroom. I played literally 7-10 hours a day every single day, only exception being funerals which I got home and had session after. You could say I was obsessed, or you could say I was dedicated. About 4 months ago I went on biggest run of my life at Ultimate Bet, I was up 24k in less then 3 weeks and I dont play over 5 10 NL or PLO. I cashed out and decided I was going to take a break. I uninstalled all poker sites from my computer (9) at the time, and got rid of my history so I wouldnt see 2+2 or any other forums I take part in. I totally cleaned off my bookshelf of over 40 poker books and put my Cardplayer mags in a box in the garage. I was goign to purge myself of poker and was not going to be tempted.

The first week was terrible, I was so board and life seemed so slow that I was aching to get back in action, afterall I had a huge nut in the back from UB and my bankroll was over 50k for first time since I started (I withdrew weekly to live, keeping only my small bankroll active). The Friday of the first week came and Cardplayer mag came in the mail, I was dying to open it but did not. I started going to a work out place with my girlfriend and got into lifting weights and doing cardio, someting I never really did since highschool football (no I wasnt all county in 1995). I started going out with my girlfriend and got laid a lot more as I actually went to bed when she did instead of 4am or so after a long session. I found reading really kept my mind active and bought all of the Dan Brown books and read them slowly for maximum enjoyment.

All in all I made some serious changes in my life during the break, I got healthier, improved my relationship, got laid more, found a love of reading novels, and oh yeah got laid more. I just started playing again this week and while I was a little rusty, my game seems pretty much the same. I had a huge session at party this week and even dragged a 1k pot with Ace high in PLO8 and the 10 20 plo8 game.

My advice to anyone wanting to take a break or hitting a bad patch is to do so. Poker for all practical purposes will be here when you get back. You owe it to yourself to be at the top of your game and most pros will take a break when they need to, if you are going to be at the top level you need to be focused as well and not in a rut. If your hitting a bad patch remember that all of us do, if your seeing countless bad beats remeber it has happend to all of us. Poker does not hate you, poker does not have it in for you, but if you beleive you will win every session you play, ever race you get involved in, every hand your 74 to 26 favorite in, then you need to find another game because the element of luck is ever present. Remember luck is the only factor that keeps bad players playing you, and consider if there was no luck in poker "Phil Hellmuth would win every hand" LOL Hope this helps someone out there [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Bender

[Stormwolf]

how ws the nl games in 99 compared to these days?

[Ipodkid]

A lot less move in preflop honestly, I think the poker on TV has gotten a lot of younger players into a move in mentallity. It was more "poker" back then and not just big bluffs / moves. I am all for making moves but back before tv poker you didnt see so much preflop action.

[gomberg]

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how ws the nl games in 99 compared to these days?

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NL games didn't really come into the scene till like 2001 or around then - and even then the max was usually like a $100 game.

[Bodhi]

Nice post.
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I started going out with my girlfriend and got laid a lot more as I actually went to bed when she did instead of 4am or so after a long session.

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I never play until 4am. Not any more at least. My winrate goes wayyyyyy dowwwnnnnnn after 10pm or so, even though I consider myself a night-owl.