Do I have a gambling problem?

[d10]

Well if you really don't want anyone to hold back, here's what I'm getting out of your post:

Your personality as conveyed by this post has a lot in common with typical loose aggressive poker players. I would take an even money bet that says you are also a loose aggressive player. Although you may have shown a profit so far with this style of play, it's not a style that will make you a winner in the long run. Of course you may be disciplined enough to hold back your natural tendencies at the poker table and play solid poker, but again I would bet that you don't.

First of all you're playing slots and Black Jack, not that there's anything wrong with that if you're doing it for entertainment value and fully realize that you must expect to lose money playing, but given your statement it doesn't look like that was your motive for playing. If you don't have the discipline to avoid -EV games it's hard to believe you have the discipline to avoid -EV situations at the poker table. And in poker it's too easy to be a losing player, you can't afford to play anything where you don't have the edge, so again I think most people reading your post will have a hard time believing that you play poker in a way where you can expect to win.

Second of all, if you're waiting on a single pay check before you're able to play poker again, you either don't understand the concept of bankroll management, or you don't care. And if you don't care, you probably don't fully understand the short term variance involved in poker. So either way I don't believe you have a solid understanding of all the concepts necessary to be a winning poker player.

Not to mention you're taking every chance you get to justify your most recent losses and trying hard to convince everyone you're a winning player. I think you have doubts about that, you won't admit that to anyone, but you do wonder sometimes if you actually are winning at this game, and you want some validation from us. So this post is probably not what you wanted, but you asked me not to hold back, so I wont.

So do you have a gambling problem? I don't know, there's really not enough information in your post to make a conclusion. I think it's unlikely that you're a winning poker player. But that has nothing to do with a gambling problem. If you use all or even a good percentage of your next paycheck to play poker, then I would think you have a gambling problem. If you choose to ignore what this post and others are telling you then I would think you have a gambling problem.

[bkholdem]

Taken from gamblersanonymous.org

I will provide my own answers so I don't sound condesending lol.

TWENTY QUESTIONS
1.Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling? Yes. I have blown off work and called in sick several times to go to Foxwoods to play poker. I have also left early on many many occasions and went home and played poker online. (I could go into justifications but the questions DO NOT ask that.
2.Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy? Yes. My girlfriend resents the amount of time I spend playing poker.
3.Did gambling affect your reputation? No
4.Have you ever felt remorse after gambling? No
5.Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties? No.
6.Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency? No
7.After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses? No
8.After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more? No
9.Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone? No
10.Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling? No
11.Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling? No
12.Were you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures? Yes
13.Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family? No
14.Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned? Yes
15.Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble? Yes
16.Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling? No
17.Did gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping? Yes (I am quite preoccupied with poker and think about it constantly...including when going to bed)
18.Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble? No
19.Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling? No
20.Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling? No
Most compulsive gamblers will answer yes to at least seven of these questions.

So I come pretty darn close. I took this test about a year ago and actually scored 7 of 20 (18.Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble? used to be a 'yes' but I do not play my best when disappointed, frustrated, etc and am actively working on minimizing my play at these times while also working on developing better coping strategies so that I can play through these times and make fewer and fewer mistakes).

I could have justified a lot of my answers:

I skip work for other reasons as well.

Reluctance to use poker money for other expenses is bankroll management,...

etc but the questions do not provide for exceptions. They say 7 is the number so if you come close it is something to be aware of.

I am addicted to poker. I have been addicted to many, many things in my life. Poker is gambling. I am addicted to this form of gambling. I am a winning player but this does not change the fact that I am also an addicted player.

[TheCroShow]

thank you for that j10, hardly anyone has hit me with an honest answer, with the exception of a fellow 2+2er (private message) and you. my most recent losses? well, a trip to Las Vegas for my brother's wedding I would hardly call "a loss." Any vacation one might take will cost a lot of money, add to the fact that I'm still in school.

I am not a loose aggressive player, heck I may not even fit into the tight aggressive category, my friends jokingly refer to me as weak tight or as i like to say conservative wise. if someone bets into me i'll fold! it's that simple! haha i exercise discipline at the poker table and it's something i am proud of. i have the ability to change gears as they say in every poker book and every poker tv show, and that causes confusion with some of my opponents.

as for blackjack and slots, i was happy to lose my money. i was playing for entertainment value, i was not expecting to double my money but i had a lot of fun. my previous statement was probably misleading, and in my LV journal I made note of saying only play if you want to be entertained, I had some extra winnings and thought heck, I'm in Vegas I might as well try some different things. I have no regrets about trying some slots and blackjack.

my bankroll management may not be squeaky clean, but it has taken me a good distance. when i started playing poker it became a part time job. play once or twice a week, get a decent little payday for having fun then go home and pay the bills. i have no clear numbers, but would estimate i cleared around $2,000 from a combination of online poker and local games. not a lot of money at all, but it helped me with my bills and kept my poker game going.

for now i am going to keep working hard in school, take any shift i can get and keep grinding it out at the good ole micro limits. embarassing story, but i get a kick out of it. my bankroll started @ $5 (courtesy of Tiger Gaming hooking me up with free money! haha) So I turned..well absolutely nothing into some decent cash.

Thanks again for reading and responding. To get a better idea of who I am and where I want to go in life and in poker, here are a couple of links.

Cro's Vegas Journal

Poker Goals

[TheCroShow]

here goes!!

TWENTY QUESTIONS
1.Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling? Yes and my prof bugged me about it the next day. "Late night on Party Poker?"

2.Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy? No

3.Did gambling affect your reputation? Yes, some people tend to believe I would sell my TV just to play poker, obviously they do not know me that well. If I cannot afford to play, I will not play, that simple. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

4.Have you ever felt remorse after gambling? No

5.Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties? No.

6.Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency? No

7.After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses? No

8.After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more? Yes

9.Did you often gamble until your last dollar was gone? No

10.Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling? No

11.Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling? No

12.Were you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures? Yes, like buddy said...bankroll management. Do I REALLY wanna go out tonight with my buddies and drink at some bar? Maybe I'm just a cheapskate, I do not see the point of spending ridic amounts of money at a bar when it can be used for other things!


13.Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family? No

14.Did you ever gamble longer than you had planned? Hmm I do not plan out a time frame for the games I play in.

15.Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble? Nope, I don't play when going through personal troubles.

16.Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling? No

17.Did gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping? Yes, online poker BAY-BEE, some late nights in there man!

18.Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble? No

19.Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling? No

20.Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling? No

5 out of 20 I answered yes.

[SittingBull]

U are NOT ADDICTED in the REAL sense of the word. U are a POKER WORKAHOLIC. If U were really addicted,U WOULD NOT be a long-term winner at poker. An addictive poker player plays for the sake of just playing. He exercises NO discipline and patience--essential traits of winners.
He will play ANY hand and EVERY hand.
This is the true POKER ADDICT.
U are similar to a businessman who is so engrossed with his work that he neglects the emotional needs of his family.
Hence,there is a fine line between addiction and workaholism.
SittingBull

[Wozza]

[ QUOTE ]
If I were a psychologist and read your post, I could diagnose you with all sorts of big words. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I few shorter ones sprung to mind. Head, complete and dick were the first three. You can re-arrange them yourself...

[SittingBull]

chose to use all of ur current poker bankroll to finance ur entertainment. That's fine because u have a recurring bankroll from ur job. If U had NO regular job and relied strictly on poker winnings,U would be in serious financial trouble.
SittingBull

[Jacob_Gilliam]

When poker starts to affect your life outside of poker (no time or money for family, friends, other activities) then you do have a problem. Being addicted to your job or poker or whatever is always a problem if you can'tfind a way to balance your life.

[TheCroShow]

a friend of mine suggested adding extra activities outside of work, poker and school, activities such as: rollerblading, biking, college courses (he plays poker full time), jogging, painting or whatever comes to mind. i think that is a good idea and i used to jog quite a bit, then i got lazy and stopped. i also used to paint and that was always therapeutic.

[TheCroShow]

[ QUOTE ]
I few shorter ones sprung to mind. Head, complete and dick were the first three. You can re-arrange them yourself...


[/ QUOTE ]

ah yes i've had a few confuse my confidence for cockiness. there is a fine line there and perhaps i dance a little too much on that line. i approach everything in life this way, you should see me in class! when it comes to anything competitive, i'm in there to win and i'm a little more....vocal than others. that is an entirely different conversation though!