Motivation

[Durs522]

I don't really know your history since I'm still pretty new here, but do you only play hold'em? If so you might want to consider learning 7cs or omaha. I feel like when people are bored with poker, its simply because the game turns into a process and you almost turn into a machine. Learning a new game will keep your mind focused and your heart in it. You'll want to achieve the same success with 7cs that you have with hold'em. This is just a random thought at 6am, not sure if it will actually help.

On another note, I totally understand what you're saying about the motivation factor. I feel the same way at times. I mean, do I really want to sit in front of the computer and play poker all day when there's beer to drink and chicks to hit on? Have you considered playing live more also? I'm not sure if this is an option where you live but it can make the game a lot more fun as well.

Hopefully my drunken ramblings have helped in some way, probably not though lol.

Durs

[aron]

Don't you think there is a chance that you will have the same problem with whatever job you will eventually get?

I mean most ways of making money are boring. If I could support myself by playing poker that would be just about the sweetest thing ever.

-aron

[Nfinity]

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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

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I echo this sentiment.

[TheNerd]

you're going to spend the rest of your life doing stuff you don't enjoy for money. It's nice to have money to have the freedom it affords (buying Presents, going out for dinner) but right now you are at a great time of your life. Enjoy it!! Leave poker to the fat, balding middle-aged men with nothing better to do (like Me!!)And don't worry that you're saying goodbye to poker forever - you'll be back, oh yes, You'll. Be. Back. mwhahahaha!

[Aaron W.]

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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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Except that it's not all gravy. Spending until you're overdrawn your account is a bad habit that is setting yourself up for failure (financially). Whenever you graduate and end up "on your own", you're going to have to transition from a lifestyle of maybe pure $500-800/month luxury spending (I actually suspect it might be closer to $1500/month based on your measure of "3 hours poker = 10 CDs" -- but I'll be conservative) to $1000-$1500/month regular monthly expenses, plus you'll likely have the $500-800/month luxury spending habits. Most people don't get jobs paying that much right out of college. And this is why so many people have so much debt early in life.

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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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"Screw poker" means you're quitting playing poker. Isn't this the problem? You don't really want to play anymore (or at least in the near future), but this is your finanacial escape mechanism, so you're compelled to play it. Poker has started to become like work to you and work isn't very fun. It's the same thing as being waiter, except your hours are more flexible.

[Paxosmotic]

shadow,

I love ya, but this post kinda sucks. If you're to the point where your bank account is going to overdraw if you don't play poker, then the choice isn't if you're going to play poker on a given night but how much of it you'll play. If you're relying on poker income just to keep your bank account in the black, you don't have much of a choice whether or not to play. It's a job like any other. If you don't enjoy poker enough for it to be your regular job you need to find a new one. If you like it as a hobby you need to find a real job to cover living expenses so that you can use poker for discretionary income. But if poker is your sole source of income, well, you don't really have a choice as to whether to play, do you?

I don't really enjoy poker myself. The only part I enjoy is when I'm able to make a great read against someone and manipulate their play accordingly. Getting a weak-tight player to fold a better hand. Isolating a TAG who open limped from MP3. Those are about the only exciting moments in my poker life. The rest is just grinding. I've become accustomed to a certain lifestyle which poker affords me, and the enjoyment I get from poker is not playing poker, it's what poker allows me to do when I'm away from the table that keeps me going. I don't play poker for fun. I play poker because it's going to pay for Haley's engagement ring and it paid for the new computer I'm buying in 3 weeks and it paid off the $2,500 in debt I had when I last cashed out. Poker sucks, the freedom is gives me doesn't.

Rick

[bozlax]

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Tell her that poker is paying for her Chanel purse.

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She'll carve a Chanel purse out of qranite and whack him over the head with it. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[NateDog]

I don't really get it Shadow. Am I that far removed from 'the kids' today? I just turned 30, and have been in the business world since I finished college 6 years ago. I would've killed for the opportunity to make a grand in a week when I first graduated. Making ends meet when you aren't living with your folks anymore is not easy. 6 years down the road, it's easy to laugh about pulling in 20K a year and only buyin what's on sale at the grocery store. I've come to think of those times as a pennance. I was learining the ropes, and how to make it work. I get to spend on all sorts of thing now, but only cause I learned how to make it work with a lot, lot less. Learn some money management skills. Taxes are real. You have to eat every day. Go play poker young man!

[benkath1]

I'm a 33 year old husband and father of one nine year old girl. I have a good job with good benefits and a nice retirement plan. I started playing poker because I liked it and it was a fun hobby. I have been off work for 6 months and poker has been my 'job'. I still love it and can sit at the computer all day, every day, but if I was 23 and doing it, I would be sad. There is a lot more to life than sitting on your ass all day. You might do that after college. If poker is your only job right now, look at it as a job. Set you hours and hold yourself to them. When you're done, punch out and go play. Beats waiting tables. Daniel N. has a good blog of when he first started out in Canada. He knew his hourly rate, and played for 8 hours a day and went home, or to the pool hall, or bar, or whatever.

If you can make a grand in a week, then do it. But then take a break and come back like it is a job.

Money management is not something people are born with. It is something you have to learn.

[Catt]

Sounds like a break is just what you need, duder. Go back to school and have some fun; poker will be there if your interest resurfaces.