Do I have a gambling problem? Bison maybe?

[nigelloring]

Sorry for posting this in OTT - this is the forum I read the most, and I didn't know where else to go.

I have a degree in Physics from an Ivy League, and also work in a job where I use EV calculations daily (I am a trader).

Here's a brief & rough summary of my lifetime poker profit:

Augt 2004: +$900 learn the rules and get lucky at an evening with my colleagues (NL $3/$6). Incidentally, I learnt from a professional gambler, but I guess it makes little difference when you're learning whether a flush beats a str8.
Augt 2004: $0 Playing on the Party 25c/50c NL, learn basic things like "the ace-high flush ain't the nuts when the board pairs"
Sept 2004: -$2000 Still playing the Party 25c/50c NL, really badly
Octr 2004: -$4000 Wanting to experiment (the money didn't mean a whole lot to me), I moved up to the Party $1/$2 NL, which at the time was Party's "big" $100 tables.
Decr 2004: -$800 Getting much better now, feeling the edge I'm getting at the tables.
Jany 2005: +$6000 Now discovered SnGs, and am confidently 4-tabling the $50+5s.
Feby 2005: +$8500 still pumping away at the $50+5s. Tried the $109s and $215s but was getting eaten alive there.
Marc 2005: +$11000 Now trying the Party $3/$6 and $5/$10 NL. Moderate success but nothing to write home about.
Aprl 2005: +$26000 Got a lucky streak in the big Party ring games. Bought a WSOP seat with my winnings (I plan to declare every penny of this to the tax authorities, so it is a tax write-off)
Today : +$16500 Got really creamed this weekend at Party cash games. Given that I've forked out $10000 for a WSOP seat, I'm really only playing with profits of $6500. Since March, when Party introduced their bigger limit tables, I've played just shy of 30,000 hands, according to PokerTracker.

I feel like I understand the laws of probability far better than the next guy, and when I started trading I used to never experience frustration at unluckiness in the markets.

However, since I've started playing poker, I've found it hard to transfer my non-tilt skills to the table. I still don't get even 20% as frustrated as some of the guys I've seen post on 2+2, but it is disturbing to me nonetheless.

Poker has basically taken up all my nights and weekends for the past 7 months. When I come home from work, I automatically switch on the computer and start multi-tabling.

I really need a gf in my life, and I've prevented myself from finding one by playing poker all the time. In fact, even as I write this, I am two-tabling the $5/$10 NL. I thought last night, as I lost my 4th $1000 buy-in, that I would stop for a while, but it just seems so natural... Typically I "give up" poker 3 or 4 times a week.

Should I at least step down to the lower levels? I don't get the feeling I'm learning anything new. In fact, if I'm not playing poker to earn extra money, and I'm not doing it because it's fun, and I'm not doing it to learn stuff, then why am I? My best guess is that it stimulates a part of my brain that I like to use.

Comments and questions appreciated. I'm off to open a third table now...

[drewjustdrew]

Is that you Jackpot Jay?

[drewjustdrew]

[ QUOTE ]

I feel like I understand the laws of probability far better than the next guy, and when I started trading I used to never experience frustration at unluckiness in the markets.


[/ QUOTE ]

Probably one for the psychology forum, but I would say your frustration is felt because your unluckiness is at the hands of some poor playing jackass, not some impersonal market.

Just tell yourself - keep making good decisions, the results will handle themselves.

[Eurotrash]

I think if you want bisonbison to answer this, you'll have to ask it in his thread. He's not going to do housecalls

[bisonbison]

Dear Nigel,

Yes, right now you've got an unhealthy relationship with gambling. And I could say that if I'd only read "Typically I "give up" poker 3 or 4 times a week."

I don't 'give up' on poker three or four times a week: I play when I feel like it.

So what can you do? You can not play poker for a month. Just quit cold turkey. Don't come to these forums, and don't read poker books. See how you feel. But, yeah, if it's interfering with the other things you'd like to do in life (have friends, a g/f, etc.) it's a problem.

[meep_42]

Schedule poker like a 2nd job. Schedule time to get your ass out of the house.

And wtf... losing $2000 on .25/.5 NL? Who does that?

-d

[Voltron87]

if playing internet poker 7 nights a week keeps you from having a girlfriend, yes you have a gambling problem.

[MoreWineII]

[ QUOTE ]
Do I have a gambling problem?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. It's close, but vagina > poker.

[bisonbison]

Yes. It's close, but vagina > poker.

It's not close. By a lot.

[MoreWineII]

When you're married to that same vagina, it's closer.