My 2000th post: Knowing when to hang it up

[Nez477]

Fellow MTTers,

It has been quite a while since I've been active in the MTT forum, and most of my latest posts have been made in my new hobby of Werewolf in POG. I suck at it still, but hey, it's a fun logic game that suits my tastes.

I've really appreciated tons of the posters in MTT over the past 2-3 years. UCLA, A_Plus, Kramer, evg, ZBT, MLG, Nath, and many more who really inspired and thoroughly cared about helping and bettering either myself as a friend, or just the community in general. It has truly been a great time learning the game and being a true community with you all.

Some may recall some previous posts of mine regarding my struggles with the game. My struggles haven't really been with developing my skills, as I think long term I could beat the game just based on my play/knowledge of the game.

However, I made the decision back in November that it was time for me to quit playing poker. It took a lot of struggling internally and externally. I've gone through a couple weeks of depression just dealing with getting all of my long term poker goals out of my head and out of my focus.

I hadn't realized that poker had overtaken my life to the extent it had. All of my short term and long term goals became poker related. I thought of making the WSOP more than how I was going to start and raise a family. I thought about playing next to pros in live tourneys more than thinking about my career goals.

These poker goals are perfectly fine for many people, mostly because they have lots of time and dedication to playing within a roll and keeping his/her life in line to put the dedicated time in. I, however, could not. I would play for 15 hours a week and be extremely frustrated when those 15 hours showed me in the red, leading to just foul moods around the house, and in general adversly affecting my life as a whole.

Poker should not be this way for anyone. It either needs to be a healthy hobby in which you understand the ups and downs of the game without the extreme affect on emotions or for someone who can treat it as a career or part-time job. I have found I lack the discipline for either.

In general, my life is much more full now. My wife has mentioned that I have so much less 'forced free-time'. It's true. I'd force myself to play in tournaments sometimes nightly which would force me to spend time away from my wife 3-4 nights a week. Now I have the freedom to be with her more and enjoy her and further my marriage, which is way more important than any hobby. Plus I truly enjoy my free time now, whether it be reading a good book, playing PS2, playing strat-o-matic baseball/basketball ( Nerd alert: My 2002 Strat Baseball Replay ) , and just in general I find I am just happier without the game. It's been SUPER tough because I truly love the game dearly, and really enjoy so many aspects of it, but it took me looking on the outside to see that it really was a negative thing in my life and not a positive one.

I still will play when I am in Vegas or for special events/occasions, and will still follow friends online and watch poker on TV.

Anyway, no real reason to make this post other than to say thanks to everyone, and sort of say farewell I guess. But I hope everyone finds that they are playing poker for the right reasons, and find that it truly benefits his or her life. You can have all the skill in the world, but sometimes it doesn't matter, and you have to take a step back and see how unhealthy it is for you.

Anyway, thanks MTT forum, and I hope I will maintain the friendships that I have over the past 3 years.

Brad

[kevstreet]

Congratulations Brad

[dcviperboy]

Not trying yo discount your reasons or persuade you in any direction, but have you tried playing only say...Tuesdays and Sundays? You will be sorely missed in the forum as I know I have read many of your posts and appreciate your insight in them. Good luck in whatever you proceed to do afterwards, and dont be a stranger.

Brad-

You know I always thought that you were one of the most underrated posters on these boards. Glad to see you came to peace with your demons.

Good luck to you, your wife, and future children.

Check back often (hit us with a post or 2 every few weeks), and always feel free to drop me a line on AIM.

-Rob

[AceLuby]

[ QUOTE ]
Brad-

You know I always thought that you were one of the most underrated posters on these boards.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was looking to nominate you for the most underrated poster held here a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't seen you in a while and couldn't find posts where I posted (and couldn't remember your name, sorry).

Seriously, I'm glad that you have overcome your demons, but I'm sad to see you hang it up. Even w/ a great knowledge of the game it's probably for the best since it is affecting your personal life so negatively. I think these forums have lost a great mind and I hope you still chime in once in a while as you usually have very good posts.

Later,

Ace

[Yuv]

I really hope that in a few months, if I'm still at the same point I am now, I'd make a similar post.

Good luck in the real world, sir.

[Foucault]

This is a very important 2000th post. With all the [censored] going on right now with legislation, etc., the game is only going to get more frustrating in the near future. People are going to need the discipline to accept lower hourly rates and maybe even moving down in stakes. You've got some very good perspective on the game, and hopefully others will recognize that and take something away from your post.

Congratulations on making a tough decision.

[burningyen]

Great post. Congrats and best of luck with your new direction. I've scaled back my playing time a lot since 2005 and am happier for it.

[NoahSD]

Great post, Brad. Glad you were able to quit.

[Beachman42]

Brad,

Congrats on showing the maturity to put it back into perspective. I also enjoyed our infrequent analysis/discussions, esp. regarding bankroll management [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. I wish you & your family all the best & hope you are successful in whatever you apply your time & talents to.

Take Care!

Beachman