How much would it take to make you quit gambling forever?

[MikeLowry]

Sounds like a very basic question that has nothing to do on the psychology forum. However, I believe your answer greatly defines the reason you gamble in the first place. I have heard Daniel N. say that there is not a dollar amount that could make him quit playing cards. If his statement is true then it looks like making money is not Daniel's main motivation for playing poker. Agree? Disagree? So ask yourself this question and think deeply of your true answer. You may find out that you are not playing for reasons you orginally thought, which in turn could plug some leaks in your game. BTW I am not in anyway claiming to be a wealth of knowledge in this subject but, I recently thought this question over and came to see where the biggest leak in my game was. In turn I hope that making others aware of this I could possibly help someone else in making correct decisions at the table.

-ML

[Sephus]

im sure this exact thread has been done before. my number is around $500,000. if all of a sudden i made little to no money gambling i would quit entirely and not miss it at all. if i had fun gambling i'd be doing it right now instead of this.

[BigPoppa]

Why would I quit just because I fell into some money?

I like gambling.



However, if you would like to pay me to quit...........

[vypremik]

I would not quit simply because of money. As a matter of fact I would probably play more. My style would change and playing probably would be more about fun. I also would probably take fewer chances. Any table can be fun if you don't care about winning or losing.

Now if someone was paying me to stop, then I suppose I have to put a dollar amount on it. To stop playing I would need two things: 1) More than enough money to live on. 2) Something to replace poker (and other forms of gambling, right?).

I don't think a million would do it. It is not enough money to substantially change my life. I would either have to work or budget my money and that wouldn't fulfill the requirements.

I think around 6 million would do it for me. I could start up a nice business, hire a few people to do work when I didn't feel like it, have a nice nest egg, and leave gambling in the rear view mirror for good.

But only if I was paid to.

On the other hand, I would freely give it up if I thought it was seriously hurting someone I cared about. So maybe my price is not so high after all.

Hmmm. This could use some more thought. You may be right, it could possibly change my game.

[raze]

I won't quit for any dollar amount. What will a gift of a million dollars do for you psychologically? I don't want anything just handed to me. To me, poker is both income and a long(ish) term challenge. The only way I see myself quitting this game is

a. a major occurrence in my life that pushes out poker
b. I go completely broke and end up on the street
c. I reach & conquer the highest of limits & seek a new challenge

Actually, no, I lie. If I was offered something like $10 million plus, I would quit, because I would be able to spend my time doing something very productive for the world with that kind of money.

[Aceshigh7]

I'd give up all forms of gambling, including poker, for the rest of my life, for $500,000, tax free.

[Hellmouth]

[ QUOTE ]
Sounds like a very basic question that has nothing to do on the psychology forum. However, I believe your answer greatly defines the reason you gamble in the first place. I have heard Daniel N. say that there is not a dollar amount that could make him quit playing cards. If his statement is true then it looks like making money is not Daniel's main motivation for playing poker. Agree? Disagree? So ask yourself this question and think deeply of your true answer. You may find out that you are not playing for reasons you orginally thought, which in turn could plug some leaks in your game. BTW I am not in anyway claiming to be a wealth of knowledge in this subject but, I recently thought this question over and came to see where the biggest leak in my game was. In turn I hope that making others aware of this I could possibly help someone else in making correct decisions at the table.

-ML

[/ QUOTE ]

To give up playing poker for the rest of my life I would take roughly 50% (tax free) of what I would earn over my life playing poker. Then I would invest now and have spent no effort to earn all that $$$$$.

I would then learn some other form of gambling game (eg backgammon).

Greg

[_TKO_]

[ QUOTE ]
To stop playing I would need two things: 1) Exactly enough money to live on. 2) The inability to have any more than this amount.

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP.

If you couldn't afford to lose a single dollar ever, then you wouldn't be able to play.

I would think that the more money you have, the harder it would be to quit.

[Reef]

500k sounds alright.

[_TKO_]

[ QUOTE ]
500k sounds alright.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this number depends a little bit upon your age. Personally, this only gives me about 11.5k/yr until I retire (age 65). First of all, if I played professionally, this means that I would have to find another job. Second, I don't play professionally, yet could still earn more than this per year playing recreationally, making the dollar-value of quitting less attractive than the dollar-value of playing. On top of all this, I enjoy playing, so I would enjoy life less, unless quitting poker would give rise to an even more enjoyable hobby (that costs less than 11.5k/yr).

After thinking about it, I think that it would take about 3 million (though I *might* accept as low as 2) to get me to quit poker (estimated at about 50k/yr until I die). This way, I wouldn't have to quit my job, but it's enough money to spend on other hobbies that I think I could handle not playing anymore.