my version of ray zee's "the different stages in a player's life"

[Philuva]

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I play poker when I want to play it, and when I want to play it, I enjoy it.

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This is the same for me. I have been playing for 6 years and full time for 2.5 years. I am not sure while all the bitching in this thread. For me, it's the greatest lifestyle possible. I think people need to take more vacations and time off just like any job, if you work too much and too often, you are going to get burned out.

[helpmeout]

I'm 5-6 I too have tried some no limit and havent played much poker in 2 weeks. I need a break.

Yes greed becomes a big problem, people are totally unrealistic about how much can be made at poker.

The figures that get thrown around on here are a complete joke. Poker is not a job you dont get paid a set wage you cant play x number of hours at y limit and I'll make $500k a year.

Some idiot makes $100k in a month and everyone is jealous.

Seriously for most people in this thread $200k a year is damn good. Dont let greed consume you.

Some more advice, learn to invest, become an expert. There is much more money to be made from being an investor than being a poker pro. The money comes much easier when you have the skills.

Devoting half your working time to learning about investing and half on poker is a good way to go.

If poker is really pissing you off then have a month off, if you can only play 15-20 hours a week then play only during the best times. Even just 1-2 hours every other day. It's still a lot of money.

[Kirkrrr]

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Some more advice, learn to invest, become an expert. There is much more money to be made from being an investor than being a poker pro. The money comes much easier when you have the skills.

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If poker is really pissing you off then have a month off, if you can only play 15-20 hours a week then play only during the best times.

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That is probably the best post I've seen in this whole thread. If you're miserable playing, cut down on the hours and take up a hobby - working out, martial arts, racing, list goes on and on. Do something that will get your adrenaline going. Then come back and playing shouldn't be so bad. Point is, if you make enough money so you can afford to do anything you want, then why not go ahead and do something?

The thing is, anything taken to extreme becomes destructive, from working to working out. Once you let something consume you and become obsessive about it, the balance gets disturbed and quality of life goes to [censored]. That's not just poker, that holds true for anything. It's a fairly simple case of knowing when it's time to slow down and diversify. Money is merely a means to an end, and "retirement" isn't it if it just creates a vague, hazy image of sitting down and being bored.


Learning investing can provide as much mental stimulation and challenge as poker did in the beginning... and the rewards can be even greater. I recommend Business Week magazine andRobert Kiyosaki to start.

Enough for now.

Kirk

[JohnnyHumongous]

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Seriously for most people in this thread $200k a year is damn good. Dont let greed consume you.


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This is true... I guess it goes back to how no one has "enough" money and they're always chasing more. I remember one of the very first times I came on this site and lurked, prob. late '04, reading a post (I believe it was bicyclekick) that just said how the person was happy they had achieved their goal for 2004. When someone else asked how much the goal was, the response was $125,000. I remember being astonished and prob. a little bit jealous that this person had made such a massive amount of money in one year playing friggin poker on the internet.

Now we have to tell people that hey, $200,000 is actually a good amount of money? It's kind of insane.

[shockdaworld]

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Some more advice, learn to invest, become an expert. There is much more money to be made from being an investor than being a poker pro. The money comes much easier when you have the skills.

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If poker is really pissing you off then have a month off, if you can only play 15-20 hours a week then play only during the best times.

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My goals for July and August

[sonartec]

I left high school and got a job straight away, worked hard and built up some cash, started playing poker hated my job so i quit. Three weeks later nothing in the job line interested me so i ended up playing poker for a living, no where in the relm of $100/phr but was getting buy.

Had my first real bad stretched and realised that my hourly rate was pretty crappy and probably could earn just as much money doing something else.

I went through all the stages shown here except when i played i had the added pressure of needing to make money to pay the bills.

I ended up dreading playing poker as my bankroll was low and bad sessions made me feel physical ill. I was getting added pressure from my family to not only get a real job but to "work out what i wanted to do with my life"

During this time i actually developed a pretty bad case of depression and needed medication and professional help for this.

During this time i was forced to evaluate and explore my thoughts and feelings about what i wanted and needed in life. Obvioulsy this isnt something that i could completely discover and solve, as it isnt really something that has an answer.

The one thing i managed to realise was that (as i think with most people) my problem was i was looking into the future too much, what i wanted in 5-10 years etc. But the thing is you cant live for the future, sure you have to plan for the future and also look forward to the future, but you have to live in the present. Enjoy this very moment (or dislike this very moment, not all will be good, but they are now and therefore the most important).

I had a friend of mine who probably is in the $100/hr range look me square in the eyes and say "[censored] poker i dont know why i play this game, what has it ever done for me" I was astonished that somebody could say that. For me Poker has created a completley different me. The pre poker person doesnt exist anymore.

It is easy to overlook the good things about a job or career and concentrate on the bad things, many people will only discover how good or bad things were when faced with different challenges and problems. This is very true with careers and employment. I have had many jobs and for every job i can tell you the good and bad things about that position, however at the time i would only be able to tell you the bad things whilst ignoring the good.

[Alex/Mugaaz]

I think people who are addicted to gambling have a huge advantatge if they manage not to go broke. I'd explain further but I'm lazy.

[MrBrightside]

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You guys really should really reflect on all your beliefs and thoughts and everything.

You are basically working your asses off, worrying, suffering, etc, to make as much money as possible as fast as possible with the reason: early retirement, so that you don't have to worry about money anymore. You worry about making a lot of money, because if you had a lot of money you wouldn't have to worry about it. WHEEEEEEEE!

Money has no magic intrinsic value. Money does not make you happy. That should be taught in kindergarten.

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That's just something poor people say. Kind of like "beauty is on the inside" is something ugly people say.

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you ARE being sarcastic here, right? or are you just < 25?

[*TT*]

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Looks pretty good except that I skipped stage 4.

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Justin:

Thats because you suck at poker. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

[Vehn]

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I think people who are addicted to gambling have a huge advantatge if they manage not to go broke. I'd explain further but I'm lazy.

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agree 100% and I am at a huge disadvantage to other ppl because I am not a gambler at all