Two and Through...

[Festus22]

Well, it’s been almost exactly 2 years since I began playing online poker. Wow, typing that makes me realize just how fast time flies. And honestly, I think I’m about at the end of the road. The games are getting tougher IMO especially when compared to what they were when I started and even compared to maybe 6 months ago. Why? Who really knows but I believe the proliferation of PlayerView, GameTime, etc. has had an impact. A poor player is immediately recognized, sought out and pillaged with much greater efficiency than in the past and lasting a much shorter time as a result. Another reason is one of an increasing proportion of good players. Take 10,000 new players. Maybe 1000 are good enough to make money and stay with it and the other 9000 bust out or just quit at some point. Then take the next 10K batch with the same ratio. Now there’s 2000 good players to contend with and so on. I think this phenomenon has continued up to the point of having quite a large percentage of players who are between good and excellent. I’m sure there’s other reasons as well.

That leaves someone like me, who was probably decent but not all that good, facing ever increasingly skilled competition and seeing falling profits as a result. My run has been OK – probably below the mean of most 2+2ers who’ve been here as long as I have but pretty decent. I started with $130 (and about as clueless as they come) and just crossed the $25K mark. I think it unlikely I’ll get to $30K for several reasons. The first is simply I’m not as good as I need to be to remain competitive and I’m not willing to invest the effort to improve anymore. That may sound lazy but I’ve spent A TON of hours reading both books and postings on this site and quite frankly, I think I’m pretty much as good as I’m going to get. It’s kind of like golf. It’s pretty easy to go from shooting 100 to 90, much tougher to go from 90 to 80 and for some, it’s simply not possible to go from 80 to 70. I think that’s me. I don’t have the poker talent necessary – plain and simple.

Another reason is boredom. With several hundred thousand hands under the bridge, holdem just doesn’t hold my interest anymore. I’ve read all the burnout/take time off posts that helps an acute case but I think I’ve crossed into chronic disinterest. I know just the other day I found myself constantly checking the hand counter so I could see how soon I would be done with my self-imposed 200 hand session requirement. Add to this fact that I’m basically a crone (42) compared to most of you and time priorities do change. Burning even 15 hours a week at holdem in addition to a standard job is just too much time away from family and friends.

So add all this up and it looks like semi-retirement for me. I’m finishing up my accumulated Paradise and Stars bonuses and plan on just doing the Party, Empire and EuroBet monthlies for as long as they let me. That should be good for $250ish per month and take maybe 4 or 5 hrs per week at the dollar tables. Of course that’s assuming I can at least breakeven. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I’ll share a quick story. I tested the “I’ll Only Play Against Better Players So I Don’t Get Sucked Out On As Much” theory by playing some Party $15/30. HA! That was amusing. There were bets and raises coming from all angles that I hadn’t seen before and had no idea what they were meaning. I was in deer-in-the-headlights mode. I just felt totally overmatched. Needless to say, I aborted that effort in short order with a fortunate 4 BB loss after 1500 hands or so.

So anyway, I wish this was one of those “I’m a poker hero” stories I see here a lot and I must say, I find it awesome that many of you have become excellent, even world class players during the time I’ve been here. Guy, ‘kick, Nate, thief, CDC, MaxP, NPA Ed, El Diablo (Ulysses in my day), JoeTall (LarryJoeFish I think?), and many more – way to go guys! And even to a whole slew of SS posters I can’t remember - many of whom have come and gone. Even now, I still scan the Mid/High forum every now and then for an interesting Mike I., Clark, or Mason hand. But unfortunately, this post is one from a fringe player who has reached the end of the line.

I certainly want to thank everyone who has helped me along the way with a special thanks to Mason and David for providing the forums and the literature. I also sincerely wish the best of luck to those of you pursuing poker as a career. It really must be a hard way to make an easy living if you’ve got the talent. Just don’t forget to stop and smell the roses from time to time.

Who knows, maybe someday the interest will rekindle or the fish will swarm again. But my internal EV says negative so in all likelihood,

Goodbye 2+2!!!

[Greg J]

I've always respected yr posts. Sorry to see you go. But hey, at least you had fun right?

Take Care.

[ds914]

[ QUOTE ]
It’s kind of like golf. It’s pretty easy to go from shooting 100 to 90, much tougher to go from 90 to 80 and for some, it’s simply not possible to go from 80 to 70. I think that’s me. I don’t have the poker talent necessary – plain and simple.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, but bogey golf would still be profitable.

Maybe you just need a break from the game. You've made a nice chunk of change, but maybe some time away will do you some good.

Good luck...

[EStreet20]

Good luck dude.

As someone who's dug his way up from .25-.5 and now finally has been able to keep money in his roll (without having to withdraw it in chunks) to make a run from a $300 deposit on May 1st to a 3-6 BR by now I want to thank you for being a poster who's always given sound advice and been entertaining and helpful. Best wishes in the future whether you come back to poker or not. If not, how many people who do something as a "hobby" of sorts can say they made 25 grand at said hobby? So overall you've got a lot to be proud of.

Take care,
Matt

[Losing all]

You were posting a lot when I found this site and I always thought you were pretty sharp. I understand the boredom and agree with many of your other points (games getting tougher, and why).

I have a suggestion- Play MTT's with your small whoring profits. Your ev might be garbage, but who cares? It should be fun and maybe you'll luckbox your way into some real cash.

good post Festus, GL

[smb394]

I haven't been around long enough to have read most of your posts, but from reading this I can tell you are clearly sincere in what you believe. Best of luck to you, and you know where to find us. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[ElSapo]

Hey Festus,

I'm shocked this thread hasn't gotten more attention yet - granted, that may change as the work day hits, but this seems significant. We have a winning player, making more than $10K a year, saying that the games have tightened down to the point where he's leaving the game.

I'm not sure there's anything to really say here - just that Festus is a long-term winning player and he's opting to more or less leave the game. That seems significant.

ElSapo

[Dov]

[ QUOTE ]
We have a winning player, making more than $10K a year, saying that the games have tightened down to the point where he's leaving the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a winning player because he has the maturity to honestly evaluate his skills in light of the game and his other life goals.

He is making a mature decision, which is +EV for him when considering all of the factors involved.

It is kind of like folding top set when you KNOW it is beaten.

I'm sure OP will continue to play, just not work as hard on improving his game. If it happens, he won't stop it, and he'll still review the occasional post or poker book.

He's just saying that what it takes to move up is more than it's worth to him now.

This is extremely important for us to understand. This is how you succeed in life. You need to know what you want and how to get it, even in the face of sometimes conflicting views.

Thanks Festus. I hope things go well for you.

[sfer]

Festus, great post. Hope you enjoy things and if you ever feel like playing or posting again, we'll probably still be here.

Best,
Dave

[BottlesOf]

Great post. I've wrestled with many of the same feelings about reaching a personal ceiling. However, after a lot of reflecting and reading, I'm pretty sure there are numerous places I'm capable of improving, I believe I personally can get better, and that is why the game still interests me. Good luck to you, and def. come back if you re gain the desire.