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Playing over a limit that you never conquered for at least 20 buy-ins is a mistake.

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I don't think that because I am smart and make a 6 figure salary outside of poker that I should automatically be a solid winning player at poker. Remember that I have been playing now for 2 and 1/2 years. I didn't just start a couple months ago. I read books, I read 2+2, I have pokertracker, I try to improve my game, etc. I just never seem to improve. Instead, I keep putting money online in $200, $250, $300 increments and lose it over the course of a week or two playing $10NL, $25NL, $50NL, etc. When i started 2 plus years ago, I would put the same amounts on but would play much longer on those rolls. Now that I have discovered my inner tilt monkey, I seem to p*ss through it fairly quickly.

Perhaps I am just tiring of the game and am burned out. I've been playing for a few years and just not getting better. It seems a waste of time for me to screw around playing $25NL, trying to post little wins, etc., build a banrkoll up so that I can play $50NL, etc. The thought of putting $400 on and trying to grind up from $10NL to have $625 to play $25NL is mind-numbing. It seems like such a waste of time, given the amount of money that I make outside of poker.

I used to remember playing $25NL at night before going to bed and thinking "I just want to win my cab fare to work the next morning ($10-$15)." That is how I rationalized spending the time - small amounts of money, but also getting better and playing the game, etc. It was a goal to work to. It worked ok for a while. I would feel a sense of accomplishment if I won $10 or $15. Now, I can't get excited about winning $10 or $15 playing low stakes. I don't know why that is.

Plus, it seems so much harder to win now, even at these baby stakes. Much harder to win now than it was 2 years ago. You see all of these multitabling TAGs grinding at $25NL. You see good players at all of the low levels. It's not the total donkfest that it used to be, which makes it all the more depressing. YOu mean I actually have to play top notch poker to win at $25NL?!?!?

Here's something: sometimes, I just want to put sick bad beats on people at these limits. I want to punish them for actually playing good at these limits and making it that much less fun (and profitable) for me to play at the low limits. That's not right. I think my motivations for playing this game are completely out of whack. I think I need to quit for a period of time.