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shannon, i am striving to get to where you are at. i was on my way once and then stumbled HARD. i know about loss. my life has been a living hell because of this game.......but i am not going to quit.......EVER. please dont call this game stupid. you have no right in my eyes. its like a slap in my face. you dont know what its like to really suffer.


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I know you're sincere in what you posted and all that, but just because poker apparently has some mystical, semi-religious importance in your life doesn't mean that other people are required to feel the same way.

I tried to make a living at this game years ago and did so for about 18 months, with great difficulty. The final shot in the back of my head was when I lost a 32k pot on a two-outer. I was absolutely devastated and had the disgrace of admitting failure to friends and family when I had been riding high for many months.

The experience taught me a lot about life and dealing with defeat, but it didn't leave me with any overriding, mystical admiration for the game of poker itself. In fact, it seems kind of random and arbitrary that my career was torpedoed by a two-outer, though I realize now that if it hand't been that bad beat it would likely have been another down the road. OTOH, maybe if I had won that pot I would have gotten Jamie Gold-type luck at my next tournament and be a millionaire right now.

Right now, I play poker for spending money, and I follow it partly to watch guys like Shannon trying to make a go at the same life that I did. I wish them better success than I had, but I don't agree with you that poker is necessarily some great thing. It can be or it can not be depending upon the person.

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very good post because it is something i personally can relate to.

your right, it does depend on the person. it has taken me years to shrug off the bad swings. as long as i play good, thats all that counts. profits will take care of themselves, yada yada yada.

but its the burden of having to play. where else is the money going to come from? its that burden thats hard to shake off. its the ever present battle of walking the tight rope each and every session. i tilt mildy once or twice a year but is this the day i'm going to blow up? god, this guy next to me has bad breath. yada yada yada.

when you have success like shannon, you have choices. you dont "have" to play today, next week, next year.

i understand about having love for the game but lets face it, you can be trapped in a love affair that has fizzled but your trapped. you cant get away because you dont have any reasonable choices.

these are things that are more realistic about playing for a living versus shannon's undue whining. thats why his blog really erks the sh** out of me. his statements remind me of someone who is married to a billionaire, divorces, and now is complaining about living only a millionaire lifestyle now.