Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

I had a minor downswing last night (-20BB). Went to bed, turned on the TV, watched a movie then felt like "I don't know if I want to deal with this anymore." I enjoy the money, rocking the 08 tables at least at 4-5 BB each, but my heart isn't in the game anymore. I don't play for a living, nor do I feel burned out, but I had an overwhelming feeling "wow, I've wasted a lot of time." I'm in college, and I find myself winning or burning through a week's worth of work for my friends who would probably react like that kid who was cutting himself after a downswing if they went through the worst of my downswings.

I don't know what to do. My first instinct is just to withdraw the 2k or so I have and just go somewhere. I also feel like maybe this is just passing, but are existential crisises supposed to happen at year three of playing poker?

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

"that kid who was cutting himself after a downswing"

link?

And take a break and see how you feel in a couple of months. If you feel the same "just" quit.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

"Wow, I wasted a lot of time" is sunk cost. All that matters is if you want to continue to spend time on the game. It sounds like might be bored of poker. Nothing wrong with that, I'm sure you can find plenty of other things do with the time.

I can understand that shifting money around and playing games might not fully satisfy a person.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
"that kid who was cutting himself after a downswing"

link?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...e=0#Post7822469

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Sat down, played for an hour. Down 2 BB. My heart is defintely not into this anymore. Cashed out the money and will put it into a savings account or something. I'll reconsider this, but I'm a little ambivalent right now because my buddies are heading to AC on Friday. After teaching them how to play every poker variant of HORSE the last few years, they're probably going to be like "WTF" when I tell them I'm semi-quitting/on sabbatical.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

So stop! Online poker is a huge time suck. You're in college, cripes, go chase the tail around. Or, y'know, better yourself. You're not going to be in an environment that has so much to offer and so few rules and so many hormones ever again.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Take the money to AC with your buddies.

If you feel like playing, play live. Else, play BJ at $5 a hand and scream for cards and get loaded on the casino's nickle.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Only YOU can decide whether or not to quit poker.
But, if you do, I PERSONALLY don't believe it's been
a TOTAL waste of time.
LIFE is a poker game. For the rest of your life,you
WILL be drawing upon experience from your poker days,
even if you're not conciously aware of it.
If you can look at it through THIS approach, you may
even decide to not COMPLETELY give up poker.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

You are very level headed, whatever you ultimately decide is probably correct.

I find myself thinking about quitting poker from time to time, especially after down swings.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

For me, the time to scale back was when I realized that I was smarting from the downswings more than I was enjoying the upswings. I realized that it was a net bummer.

Now, I'm back to much more occasional play, and for fun only.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

I estimate the probability at 95% that you are a losing player who is just sick of losing. Very few solid winners consider quitting. Nothing wrong with that at all. But a winning player doesn't even contemplate a downswing as any sort of issue. Just a natural part of winning play. The fact that you even mention a downswing at all tells me that you are a losing poker player. Again, no prob, you are in the vast majority. Best to quit rather than lose further money. Losing poker is definitely a complete waste of time.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Me, losing?

Perhaps.

I never deposited a cent at Paradise. When I decided to scale back, I withdrew about four hundred.

They'd given me $2 as a teaser. Over a year and a half, I ground it up to a few hundred playing microlimit Limit HE, Limit 7CS and limit O8.

If that's being a losing player, I'll take it. Granted, I never got to the stakes where I'd win money of any consequence, but I did get a nice iPod out of the deal.

From my first two years of playing online, I was a net winner at every site I played except one, where I lost $25. This determined by comparing deposit with withdrawal, and none of it was bonus whoring, 'cause I wasn't playing high enough limits to make that happen in any reasonable time And, my $25 loss was easily made up for by what I won from a $0 deposit at Paradise.

So, no, I wasn't losing.

I left $12 at Paradise. When I came back, I ground that up to $60 over the course of a year, again at binky stakes. Deposited $50 at Pokerstars. It's down to $49 now.

Yes, now, after a year-or-so break, I feel I am a losing player (even though I haven't shown a net loss overall). My game just isn't where it was when I first decided to take some time off.

So, yeah, I was a winning player within the limits I was playing, but overall, the ups weren't as fun as the downs were bad, which as I said, was a net bummer.

Am I a "winning player" who could make a living off poker? Nope, and never have been. Was I a winning player within my limits? Yep.

There are just better ways to spend my time. And, if I want to make money in my spare time, I have much more reliable ways of picking up significant note without playing poker. The fact that I don't always avail myself of those other ways of making money simply reflects that I'd rather do things other than spending all my waking hours trying to make more money. Doesn't matter if it's poker or "regular work." There's just more to life.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
I estimate the probability at 95% that you are a losing player who is just sick of losing. Very few solid winners consider quitting...The fact that you even mention a downswing at all tells me that you are a losing poker player.


[/ QUOTE ]

sandmarc,

Given the hostile, arrogant, and unsupported accusation in the above response, I decided to review your last twenty responses on 2+2, and found the following, troll-like gems:

[ QUOTE ]
I seriously do not believe in downswings. At least, not in no-limit hold'em. You don't need the best cards to win if you know how to play. You can take many pots down with 3-2 if your timing and reads are expert.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
"Incompatible" usually means you were selfish and is usually a code word for the fact that you cheated on her.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
As far as the world is concerned, you are a non-person for the time you spend playing poker. Even running a business that fails doesn't do that to you.

It's fine to do this if you are single. But even having conned your spouse does not make it correct to risk your family's welfare to accomodate your own selfishness.

[/ QUOTE ]

However kids, all is not lost, as our Hero also posted the following:

[ QUOTE ]
As long as there is no abusive language or personal attacks it should be up to the forum members to decide what they want to talk about.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would strongly advise you to follow your own advice in the last quote if you are going to continue posting within this forum. On the other hand, if you simply want to flame away with nothing more than shear arrogance behind you, I'm sure they will welcome you in OOT.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

I know the OP's screen name on Stars and I have PTO stats on him as a winner over 330 hands playing $.50-$1 O/8.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Haha. Thanks for the numbers back up Steambotin, but I'm counting that in about ten seconds, someone is going to say, "so what about the 151,617 other hands?" playing 1/2 and 2/4 elsewhere. .5/1 = ATM (Except you Steamboatin. You keep snapping off my bluffs. Grr.)

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Well, sandsmarc, this isn't a personal attack but:

When you've got two majors and two minors to finish, moving to another country next year and just broke up with a girlfriend, I'm pretty sure ANYONE will think about quitting. I guess I should have mentioned that in the original post. I dunno if this is entering BBV territory...

Beat: Don't feel like playing poker anymore.
Brag: Hot French and/or Italian ladies (depends which job I end up getting) and for the meantime college chicks.
Variance: Winning playa' with the first category, barely breakeven on the second.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
Haha. Thanks for the numbers back up Steambotin, but I'm counting that in about ten seconds, someone is going to say, "so what about the 151,617 other hands?" playing 1/2 and 2/4 elsewhere. .5/1 = ATM (Except you Steamboatin. You keep snapping off my bluffs. Grr.)



[/ QUOTE ]

Poker 101, never bluff a calling station.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
I enjoy the money, rocking the 08 tables at least at 4-5 BB each, but my heart isn't in the game anymore.

[/ QUOTE ]

What a load of BS. If you were really "rocking 8 tables for 4-5 BB EACH" you wouldn't dream of quitting. That is an UNHEARD of rate. You'd have to have a HORSESHOE shoved so far up your a** .... you'd be floating with glee, certainly not whining to us about thinking about quitting.

I tell you, there is soooo much BS on this forum it blows my mind.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I enjoy the money, rocking the 08 tables at least at 4-5 BB each, but my heart isn't in the game anymore.

[/ QUOTE ]

What a load of BS. If you were really "rocking 8 tables for 4-5 BB EACH" you wouldn't dream of quitting. That is an UNHEARD of rate. You'd have to have a HORSESHOE shoved so far up your a** .... you'd be floating with glee, certainly not whining to us about thinking about quitting.

I tell you, there is soooo much BS on this forum it blows my mind.

[/ QUOTE ]

O8 tables (limit o8) not 8 tables.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

TL; DR but sounds like OP should quit

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

I just saw Maize's comment. Defintely I learned a lot from poker. I no longer fear math, my BS radar is sharp as hell and my emotional tolerance for things is higher than before. I also find myself a lot less angsty.

And yes, if I played 0008 Omaha 8/b tables, my head would explode, especially 6-max, which at 1/2 = ATM.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

mate, this doesn't have to be a binary decision of "quit" or "not quit". the answer's easy... take off 3-4 months and see how you feel after that. at first, you'll probably feel like you don't know how to fill up all the hours you used to play. but gradually your life will adjust and you'll get into other stuff. so after that period, re-assess where you are and how you feel about things. may also be worth asking your closest friends if you seem any different.

good luck with you, however it turns out.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Nice quotes, reminded me of how well I write. I stand by all of them.

There's nothing arrogant about the truth.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
I had an overwhelming feeling "wow, I've wasted a lot of time."

[/ QUOTE ]
And you have! Poker playing is a waste of time. Mike Caro made this observation many wasted moons ago. Caro was trying to justify poker playing by going on to say that everything we (humans) do is a waste of time. Living is a waste of time if we look closely at it. Caro might be right about living being a waste of time I don't know.

I believe though that more importantly than a waste of time poker playing is a waste of talent. It can become a "brain dead" endeavor. Once one acchieves some degree of efficiency and competency there really is no more to learn from playing poker. Poker proficiency offers only a "dead end" in time spent. Poker playing is repetitive and time consuming with questionable rewards. It is a perfect endeavor for the less than ambitious among us. The idea of "freedom" associated with poker playing is a myth.

pokerisme

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
Nice quotes, reminded me of how well I write. I stand by all of them.

There's nothing arrogant about the truth.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT. Just kidding.

OP- Take some time off and re-evaluate. You will know if that gambooool comes back again.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

If you don't want to deal with it and you've already moved on in your head then try to stop playing and see how you feel once you're done playing. If you miss it so much that you want to keep playing then you have your answer. If you don't miss it at all or maybe just a little bit then you know you made the right choice.

My girlfriend doesn't like playing poker as much anymore because it "contributes nothing to society." I frankly can give a damn if I contribute to society. I worked in the automotives for about 7 years as a sales engineer and while I liked helping people and liked being the top salesman I can't say I can care whether or not I contribute to society. I'm happy leaving the tables every night with a profit and that's all I care about. Maybe one day when I've got more money than I know what to do with I'll change my view, but right now it's all about the money. Actually it's usually all about the money

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Sat down with some new people at a bar, a few years older than me to get some input on my life plants then got to know this amazing girl. I think I might go back to the game -- the killer instinct is back, though I'm not so sure it should be focused on poker. Still reevaulating what I want to do though. Maybe I'm only in good spirits about the girl, but we'll see. Still not going to AC though...might be a few weeks or so till I get back to playing.

In others words, Steamboatin, stay out of .5/1.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

quitting after a downswing just sounds like results based thinking to me.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

yeah women can pick your spirits up. The important thing is that your mind is in it. There was a hockey team that I used to play for that had us memorize a quote which went something like this. "If you think you are beaten you are. If you think you dare not you don't. If you'd like to win, but think you can't, it's almost a cinch you won't. For in the end you find that life's battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man. In the end the one who wins is the one who thinks he can."

That was in high school about 16 years ago and my hockey coach's father was a chief scout for the Detroit Red Wings. We were lead to believe that they comitted the same quote to memory.

It's all about confidence

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

This place is clearly a lot kinder than BBV, but how has no one mentioned this:

[ QUOTE ]
I had a minor downswing last night (-20BB).

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Sat down, played for an hour. Down 2 BB. My heart is defintely not into this anymore.

[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming that BB = big bets, 20BB is not a downswing - it's a buy-in! And 2BB? That's noise. If these loses seem at all significant to you, then you either haven't played all that much, or you've been running good.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
In others words, Steamboatin, stay out of .5/1.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am currently donating at $2-4 on an Absolute skin. I have one of those unmentionable deals and am working off a deposit bonus.

Good Luck with the girl or maybe you already got lucky, hence the change in your attitude.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

Move up stakes to bring back the excitement.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

[ QUOTE ]
This place is clearly a lot kinder than BBV, but how has no one mentioned this:

[ QUOTE ]
I had a minor downswing last night (-20BB).

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Sat down, played for an hour. Down 2 BB. My heart is defintely not into this anymore.

[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming that BB = big bets, 20BB is not a downswing - it's a buy-in! And 2BB? That's noise. If these loses seem at all significant to you, then you either haven't played all that much, or you've been running good.

[/ QUOTE ]20 bb is a buyin? hohoho, maybe for you.

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

IM DONE

Re: Winning player, but thinking of quitting poker...
 

i havent read any of the resopnces, but i hated poker a month ago. I am also in college, and I made a ton more playing poker than I could at any job availible to me while still in school. I started to dread putting in time playing even though i was still making money. I played a lot less for about a month, but still hated it, then I just took off a whole month totaly. I didnt play, or think about poker. I cashed out a huge chunck of my roll, and moved down, and now I enjoy playing again. Just take some time off, maybe even a whole month. If you are making money then just take some time off and pick it back up in a while. I also play less often than before, but still make good money, and also look forward to/enjoy playing, which is a totaly different attitude than I had a while ago. also now i dont tilt at all, i wasnt bad at tilting before, but now it is basicaly non-exestant and the 2 outers on the river for 15BBs dont hurt, they are just entertainment now (ps, im drunk, sorry if i totaly rambled on)