Motivation

[shadow29]

There's so much good stuff in this thread, I'm going to go down and reply to each one.


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First off, I don't know that this is so much a motivational problem as much as a personal dislike of poker.

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Basically it's a personal dislike of poker right now. I started playing for the mental challenge. Like chess before. And I could make money at it. But mainly it's a mental challenge thing that lets me not have a gay job. I still interned this summer (stopped now, since summer is over) and I really enjoyed that. It was in my chosen field of politics and I'm addicted to it. Not adddicted to poker by any means. But politics pretty much never gets "gay", except when I have to make ten thousand cold calls. But even that is not so bad. But I guess that I'll get burned out eventually since (comparatively) I've been playing cards muc h longer.

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Where the other players suck, and sitting at a computer for hours on end sucks, and Pokertracker stats suck, and if you have to see your Aces cracked again by a rivered gutshot your climbing a clocktower, VARAIANCE BE DAMNED!!!

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Actually this isn't so much of a problem for me. The players suck, but that's because they are bad at cards. I'm getting to a point (finally) where rivered gutshots (or even 2-outers) don't bother me. I'll still get pissed off if I go through a big downswing (>100 BBs) but not because of each individual hand.

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...I just spend a little bit of time a day playing, instead of waiting until I actually need to play, not only do I spend more time at the tables than necessary, I enjoy every minute of it.

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This idea is good.

How about this plan guys. I'm not going to buy anything except food for the next ten days. Well not like that. But no extraneous spending (unless it's going to get me laid). No CDs, no vidja games, nothing. (Well after I get that book from B&N). That will mean that I don't have to worry about money because I'll still have lots of money in checking. (Not bragging). Then here's where I get shaky. Should I set an daily hour goal? Or just say that I'll try to play more than five hours this week?

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That's not to say I still don't get tired of playing. But when that happens I take a sabbatical, boot up the Xbox and catch up on my hobbies.

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Good idea. I'm going to blast some drives later today.

[shadow29]

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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?

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It's not like that at all. I don't know why. Perhaps because I can win that much I feel like I can always win that much, but later. Or something. But I can never understand people like bikekick that play ridiculous amounts of hours. (I'm no where near his earning potential or skill level, btw.) But I guess it's because it's not sooo much a money thing for me. I can't really explain it. Sorry bro.

[shadow29]

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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.

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No, that won't help. For me it doesn't matter what game it is. I just see poker. I see (JJ)J and I think oh ok strong hand. Same happens when I see AA or AA23. I just see it all as the same game, except with different sorta "house rules". I mean they all have the same hands. A gutshot is a gutshot. Whatever.

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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.


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rofl This would be an excellent suggestion if I weren't 12.

[shadow29]

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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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Yeah I definetly understand what you're saying here. And perhaps you're focusing too much on the "overdrawn" statement because I didn't explain it all that well. Basically I'll play cards and since I'm staying put at this level for the next couple months I'm withdrawing instead of bankroll building. I don't always spend until I'm overdrawn. I check the balance only periodically because generally the balance very much outweighs each daily/weekly purchase(s). If I haven't been playing cards for a while then those expenses will start to rack up and sometimes I forget to check. If I do check and see that I'm nearing the end of the line (like getting to $200 or less) I'll stop spending and start playing cards. And by the time that I have enough to put back in checking, I don't want to play anymore. It's really a [censored] terrible cycle and that is what I'm trying to fix.

I don't know why I just included a blanket "overdrawn" statement. Probably because it was 2:00 am and I was sorta drunk. I have plenty of money in checking now, so who knows.

Oh btw. I don't think that I'll have debt issues in the future. I don't use credit cards, I'm all cash. I got scared outta my mind by a friend's debt issue. Don't want to go into it here, but it's scary enough to make me never want to use credit cards. I know that that will probably be impossible, but I'm just going to use them for bills in the future. Set it up to auto-pay from cash and not put anything on them like airplane tickets or whatever.

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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.

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Oh I didn't know what screw poker meant. I thought it was like "[censored] the COPS! Yeah!". Heh. But yeah I agree completely with the above paragraph. Don't know how that helps me or sets me on the right path.

[shadow29]

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I love ya, but this post kinda sucks.

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I know dude. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] But I gave fair warning.

I think that I addressed all of your points in my previous responses though.

And I agree that I definetly love the freedom.

[shadow29]

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I don't really get it Shadow. Am I that far removed from 'the kids' today?

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I don't know. I don't think that you can draw a representative sample out of just me because I am quite atypical when it comes to "the kids".

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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!

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Well let me start backwards. I pay taxes and have paid taxes the last three years. I have and always will pay taxes on my gambling income.

I haven't graduated college yet, but when I do I plan on going to grad school to get an MPA (Masters of Public Administration). Poker will pay for grad school. That's the plan anyway. I'm also planning to play cards to supplement my income. Although in my field poker will likely 2x or 3x or more my regular income. I'll be doing politics because I love it. And what I'm worried about now is getting burned out too quickly and not being able to pay for Princeton in a couple years. And not being able to afford a townhome in Georgetown in a few more. The plan is for poker to allow me to live very well while simultaneously having a job that doesn't pay all that well, but which I love doing. So I'm trying to nip this thing in the bud right now.

[tiltaholic]

hey dude-

i didn't read all the responses in the thread but no doubt they are mainly good.

i'm surprised by this post coming from you. but then again, everyone goes through a motivational funk. for me, it happened because i was losing/breakeven/swingy. my personal solution was to move up to 3/6, challenge myself, and focus on my game again. its working. i want to play again. a lot. for you, i guess it's because of winning. that same feeling prompted me to move from 1/2, where it was all about the hours and eventuality of profit, to 2/4 where i had to think about the game again.

i know there's a lot of smack talking about age (and money) around here, so please don't take any of this the wrong way. i alternate between wishing for and being thankful that i lacked your poker talent (or any poker talent for that matter) when i was your age. in a deviation from your normally displayed maturity, your post basically nails you spot on as a youngster.

everyone here plays for their own reasons. some play for the intellectual challenge and money is a bonus. some play (and learn) to hope to make this their livelyhood and perhaps seriously supplement their income. some play to build their bankroll and move up. some play for extra cash to buy cool s[/i]hit. whatever. to each his own. the thing i take issue with is your non-poker financial strategy. as you know, having the poker maturity and fiscal discpline to maintain a bankroll and play within one's limits is essential to being a succesul poker player. the same is true of "actual" non poker money. that you are not treating your non-poker bankroll with the same respect as your poker bankroll is a bit shocking.

to look at this from another perspective:
many people (at least poor people like me) would KILL for the ability to generate $1000 a week in supplemental income. at your age (sorry) with virtually no expenses it is not too far of a strech to say that that kind of money, if invested, could really set you up nicely for later in your life when significant and unavoidable expenses do begin to surface. sure, it's nice to burn money now because it's possible and it's fun...i won't deny that. i guess what i'm saying is that true financial stabilty and independence is not, "well, i need to get my bank account in the positive, i guess i should play a few hundred hands this week..." personally, i believe that raw earning power (such as you have) shouldn't be thrown to the wind, but more importantly i believe that you should play towards your own goals, because you will attain them.

poker will be here in a month. take a break, think about why you play, if you want to play, and follow your own goals. but seriously, try to apply someof what you know about poker finances to life finances. doing that will allow you the ability to "move up" in the other sense.

damn i'm old.

[Rev. Good Will]

No fair! Many people here are busting their ass trying to get to your level of play (cough, me, cough), so the least you could do is rub it in our faces and just keep making $ [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

seriously dood, I think taking a break is just what you need. Don't even think about poker during that time, and just relax, go out, SIIHP, whatever. I respect what your plan is once you get out of college, a job being more than just a paycheck is a good concept not many have grasped.

[Redd]

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rofl This would be an excellent suggestion if I weren't 12.

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I haven't graduated college yet

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...I don't get it. Are you actually 12, or are you in college?

[Nfinity]

Shadow, I'm in much the same position your in. First and foremost I'm all about school, and I really don't have to worry THAT much about finances, because of cheap rent and those wonderful grant and student loan checks.

That being said let me move on.

Since I was 16 I have run the gammit on jobs. I've done the fast food thing, I've peddled books retail, waited tables, and even humped a graveyard factory shift or two. I look at poker as the best job I could possibly have regarding the situation I'm in. It's work semi part time retail or serving and go to school, because of the hours you have to put in. I can't work the night shift and do it, because I end up going home to sleep rather than going to class. Poker as a job is something I can schedule around school, and that to me is [censored]' awesome.

However, at the skill level I'm at, there is no way I could survive on my poker income without a little help from my school fundings. This is my motivator, to be able to do the work that I love(poker) and use it as means to have something that will better my life (school).

I think your main motivational problem is being able to buy what you want, whenever. Once you have it you have a new toy to play with, and there really isn't any reason to go back to "work" because your not going to get fired, and it's not like you really have too, because you don't need money right this minute...

So I think your plan is a good one. Build up a little storehouse of funds and then go about your business. Keep your bills paid and occasionally buy the stuff you want, It's your money and you work hard for it. By all means spend it, and take the time out to enjoy the things you buy. But always try and maintain the discipline to come back and do what has to be done.

As far as setting daily goals for hours or hands, I don't like that. Daily is too confining for me. I like to think of this work as something that doesn't need to be done "right now" as long as it gets done. I like weekly, that way if today you want to go get laid, you don't stress about not getting your hours in.