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  #1  
Old 11-20-2005, 03:07 AM
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Default Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

Hi all,

I am usually quite stubborn and prefer to find my own way out of difficulties, but lately I have hit a wall in my development as a player and feel that I definitely need some advice from the more experienced of you. Here is my problem:

I am a foreigner, fairly new to poker. Learned how to play about 11 months ago and have been "hooked" ever since. Given the initial goals that I set for myself, I am quite satisfied with my perfomance over that time period. Have put a lot of effort in working on my game and fully realize that there is A LOT more to learn (it seems to me that every single thing that i figure out helps me discover at least a couple aspects of my game that I need to improve; guess that is normal). Was even able to afford to play poker full time over the summer and keep it as my main source of income. Worked out fine.

Not everything has been as smooth as it sounds, but overall poker has turned into a profitable hobby for me(again, that is according to my own standards; won't go into details). Still, somehow I lost interest in the game. I am coming back from my best month so far - worked the hardest, but the payoff was also the biggest. And now in November I don't seem to have the patience and whatever else it takes to play anymore. I just seem to dread the "grind" and the occasional bad beats - almost as if I believe that I have figured out what it takes to win at the levels that I play/prefer and am starting to doubt if it is worth it...

Is that normal? Have others experienced it? Also, do you have any suggestions how I should deal with my current problem? I just assumed that it is some form of a burn out and took two weeks off. Also, cashed out some money and "treated" myself to some finer things (enjoyed that part the most :-))). I only play (multitable) 100NL and 200NL so I have even considered trying a different game for a while. Am reading Harrington and Miller+Sklansky and will give tournaments and limit hold'em a try. Anything else I could do? It seems that I need to readjust my approach and my attitude towards the game, but how???

If you have any helpful suggestions for me, I would greatly appreciate it if you share them. Thank you in advance for the help. I have been as serious about poker as I have been about any of my other hobbies (even sports!!!) and now this current situation frustrates the hell out of me.

Bate
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  #2  
Old 11-20-2005, 04:50 AM
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Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

Read the forums, make posts, and accept the fact that you arent likely a poker prodigy who can do it all on his own. Even really smart people need somewhere to start.
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  #3  
Old 11-20-2005, 06:52 AM
Mens Rea Mens Rea is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 10
Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

I know exactly what you mean. I go through these myself - times where I play and I just don't seem to care or want to put in the effort.

What I have found effective is to switch it up. I am mainly a live player. When I hit one of these funks, instead of heading for the casino on the weekends like usual, I grab mu laptop, lay on the couch in front of the TV, and play that way.

This way, I stay in practice, and the different techniques that you have to use online as compared to live forces me to actually pay attention and work on my game.
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  #4  
Old 11-20-2005, 12:52 PM
smoore smoore is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 924
Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

It honestly sounds like standard burnout, OP. I'd recommend a two week break from EVERYTHING poker. Really... stop reading this NOW and go watch TV or something [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
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  #5  
Old 11-22-2005, 04:22 AM
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Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

This sounds like normal burnout to me too. Happens to everyone. It means you're not enjoying yourself anymore--you're not enjoying playing the game. So, I will give you the same advice I use for myself when I am not having fun playing pool competitively for money anymore. Play the game simply for the enjoyment you get from playing it well. In other words, forget about the outcome--the bottom line is not the point. To play the game well and enjoy the beauty of doing that is what the game is about. If you are in the game for the beauty and enjoyment of playing it well, and of continually learning and improving in the process, then you will not be bored, you can fade the bad beats, and the winning will take care of itself.
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  #6  
Old 11-22-2005, 01:17 PM
ChicagoTroy ChicagoTroy is offline
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Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

Most people don't like most things once the novelty wears off.
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  #7  
Old 11-22-2005, 11:23 PM
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Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

Most people will invest a lot of energy to get started in something(poker, mountain biking, flyfishing,... whatever) until they reach a certain proficiency level. They get to a point where they are "pretty good." The basics become somewhat easy, the challenge goes away, and the novelty wears off. Also, moving to the next level requires more work - often times it takes more work than originally invested to move to only a little higher level....but this is what separates the great from the mediocre..in any thing.

What many have already said is good advice...take some time away - no poker - no watching WSOP - no reading about it. Pick up a book on something else you've wanted to learn about.

Here's another suggestion - one I picked up from somebody that taught me to juggle - find somebody else and teach them. You will learn more about the game than they will, and with a good student you will be forced to study and explain concepts. Hopefully you can find somebody who is enthusiastic about the game and their enthusiasm will rub off on you.
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  #8  
Old 11-23-2005, 03:59 AM
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Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

Hmmm, usually this forum gives advice on how to lose a gambling addiction, not get one.

Very interesting. Consider yourself on the lucky end of the spectrum.
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  #9  
Old 11-23-2005, 08:08 AM
Blarg Blarg is offline
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Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

[ QUOTE ]
Most people don't like most things once the novelty wears off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent and true and appropriate to the discussion.

[ QUOTE ]
Most people will invest a lot of energy to get started in something(poker, mountain biking, flyfishing,... whatever) until they reach a certain proficiency level. They get to a point where they are "pretty good." The basics become somewhat easy, the challenge goes away, and the novelty wears off. Also, moving to the next level requires more work - often times it takes more work than originally invested to move to only a little higher level....but this is what separates the great from the mediocre..in any thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Also good.

Burn-out or boredom is what virtually everything in life offers eventually. The human mind is too energetic, vast and varied to be able to feel good about being nailed into one place forever. It craves stimulation and difference. Once something becomes a habit, the stimulation and difference die down even when the subject at hand is actually pretty intensely interesting.

So if you're playing poker for a living, you have to learn to just work through the staleness or, if you can afford it, treat your mind and spirit so that they work optimally, by taking time off and doing something else. The mind and spirit, like the body, are something that can be trained to be more disciplined and focused, but it's slow going and it's best not to try to force it too hard and abuse the natural limits of your level of development.

Think of your spirit and mind as allies, instead. Give them what they need and don't expect from them what it's not their nature to give -- unbridled enthusiasm for and concentration on repetitive tasks, for one. That's just not the way the mind and spirit work. And what you're feeling is very natural.

Don't expect to be happy with everything forever. Learn to manage things so you can put in the time you need to meet your goals without burning out or hating poker. That may be more time off than you'd really like to spend, consciously, but you'll be meeting other needs that you also need to meet in order to keep yourself healthy and feeling right.

Eventually you may become more disciplined and need less time off, but maybe not. At any rate, you'll have to adapt and not try to force the issue unless you want to burn out much harder and be more miserable still. You may find that instead of a steady-state person who feels fine playing on a regular schedule, you prefer much more to work in cycles, putting in long hours quite happily and then doing absolutely nothing for a while too. You may prefer a scattershot approach of playing for an hour or two, quite a few times a day. You may even use all of these approaches at times.

Find out the mysteries of how you work best and adapt to it. It may not be the way you think flatters you most, but we all have our own rhythms and sometimes they take a long time to find. And then sometimes they change. Just keep a respectful eye on your capabilities and learn to harness them and make an ally of them.
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  #10  
Old 11-23-2005, 09:30 AM
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Default Re: Winning/non-losing player loses interest in poker. Please help!

Excellent post Blarg!
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