Starting to wonder if I have an addiction

[Powder]

Seriously, I'm trying to decipher if poker is just my new hobby or if its taking over my life. I'm still a beginner, I've only been playing at live tables for about 2 months. As of late, I play at the casinos here in town about 4-5 times a week, and usually for several hours at a time. Then sometimes when I get home, I play on the internet. Then I think about it throughout the day when I'm at work, how I should have played this hand differently, or whatever. I even have dreams about playing, but this isn't as far out of the ordinary as it sounds, as I have crazy dreams all the time about my everyday life. I'm not losing, so this isn't a situation where I just keep blowing money and can't stop. I'd say that ever since I started playing, I'm up a little, but not much. I started out playing $4-8, and was up and down with it. I got frustrated with it because people were calling and playing with everything, horrible cards. About a week or so ago I started playing no limit. It seems to be working out better for me. My last few outings on the no limit tables have been +$200, -$150, +$250, +$850, and then today I took my worst loss yet at about -$300. I think my game is getting better the more I try to learn about it. I'm currently reading the NL Theory and Practice book, which only through this first few chapters has taught me a lot. I beleive poker can be a supplemental income for me, but I have make sure I can keep my hands around it. Is this normal?

[JP OSU]

Do you have a family?... social life?... Other interests?

You say that you are not losing, but are you sure? Keeping records of your play helps immensely... You may be a small loser but just lying to yourself (as most poker players do)...

Your prime concern, if you are indeed winning is simply keeping a balance with other things in life.. If you find yourself neglecting other areas such as work or family or social life, that is a problem...

Just don't play above your bankroll and continue to focus on improving your game and you should be fine...

[DeliciousBass]

If you think you might be gay, you're gay.

But seriously, it could be the start of an addiction or...it could be that you really enjoy it, it's new, and you're spending a lot of time on it.

Remember when you got that sweet dirtbike for Christmas in 1983? Remember it was all chromed out? With pegs? Remember how you rode the chit out of that bike? Were you addicted or just excited to be tooling around on a bike?

It was probably the latter and that's probably the case here. It's just something new that you are enjoying...let it be that for a while.

Start to think "addiction" when it creates problems in your life without the fun...

[dan100]

I think if you are playing and thinking about how you play, that is a positive thing, as soon as you start playing but don't care how you play then thats an obvious negative sign.

If you are enjoying it now, keep going, the novelty may wear off, or you may pursue it further.

I agree with the other points, start keeping records, play within your b/r and keep the other aspects of your life in balance.

There will be a lot of people in a very similar position to you, so I can say that it is normal. I can't however say if it's a problem, in my opinion it doesn't seem to be, but I'm not a proffesional. Just re-evaluate if you start to feel that it might be getting out of control.

[Gildwulf]

If an addiction improves your life, who cares if you are addicted?

[Quanah Parker]

[ QUOTE ]
If an addiction improves your life, who cares if you are addicted?

[/ QUOTE ]

Couldn't agree more.

Rehab's for quitters anway.

[cpk]

[ QUOTE ]
As of late, I play at the casinos here in town about 4-5 times a week, and usually for several hours at a time. Then sometimes when I get home, I play on the internet. Then I think about it throughout the day when I'm at work, how I should have played this hand differently, or whatever. I even have dreams about playing, but this isn't as far out of the ordinary as it sounds, as I have crazy dreams all the time about my everyday life. I'm not losing, so this isn't a situation where I just keep blowing money and can't stop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Even if you're not losing money, you could still be compulsively playing. The question to ask is if you're fulfilling your responsibilities. The other question to ask is if you're still enjoying it. If either question is "no," you could have a problem.

You should not let poker control you. If you're playing compulsively, you could be playing tired or doing other things that represent less than optimal playing conditions. This is not good.

[Montezuma21]

When i was at uni, i was in a fairly similar situation to yours. I would play poker constantly, both live and online, and i would always be thinking about it. As a result, i probably didn't do as well as i should've done (though there were considerable other mitigating factors, of course). It is worth mentioning that i also have a highly addictive personality, and always have. Perhaps you have one too?
I also noticed that the more i played, the worse my game became. the stresses of life prevented me from getting the patience i needed to play the game well and improve. I was playing well and winning at the party SNGs, and i feel that perhaps the ease with which i was doing so actually put me on tilt. i was constantly moving up far too soon for my BR, and always wrote off losses due to tilt as not "real" losses, without understanding that the game itself is far broader than i previously understood. Managing tilt and staying cool at the table and learning and being able top concentrate always (which is difficult if one is playing far too much) is actually part of the game itself.

There was a guy who was of course far worse off than me. He was on perma-tilt, and believed himself to always be the best player at the table, whereas in fact he was an uber-donk. he racked up debts of £5'000 (c. $10'000?) in three months.

The more your life is in order, and the less poker is interfering with your other obligations, the better your game is and the quicker you move up.

My point is this: Poker for me started off as an addiction (much like so many other things in my life, from weed to sex to drinking to riding my bike (not kidding), and then became a hobby. As of present, i'm a little bored of poker because of my bad play, and can now manage it, because i realise that the more i play, the less i will enjoy it. I think maybe the crazy initial thrill of playing poker may subside for you too at some point, so don't worry too much, but if it is interfering with your life noticeably then maybe just think about its impact on you. I'm currently grinding out at the Very SSNL tables to build a bankroll and as a kind of punishment for my tilt, and it's nice. I'm being patient, and playing maybe only 3 days a week.

The fact that you are asking the question shows probably a greater level of self-knowledge than i possess. it took my mother to point it out to me a few dozen times before i realised she was right. There are many different kinds of addiction of different severity and intensity. The worst are always those who are in denial. For this reason, i don't think you're in too much of a jam.

Cliff notes. You're playing poker loads. that's cool, and nothing to feel bad about. you'll probably play a little less often 6 months from now, just make sure it's not stopping you from living your life. Oh, and always, always, watch your bankroll. hope this makes some sort of sense, far too long for me to re-read [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[Powder]

I understand what you are saying Montezuma. I do beleive that I may just have an addictive personality. I have become addicted to other things in the past also. I used to play Madden football online all day every day, and that is no exaggeration. When I got home from work, I played till I went to sleep at night. I played from the time I got up in the morning until the end of the night. This used to drive my wife nuts. I kept playing, even though I knew she hated it. I also travelled around the country to play in tournaments, spending lots of money in the process. And that is just one other instance. I have recently been able to let go of that video game addiction though. To no suprise, it was right around the time that I started playing poker. I'm not sure what is driving me to play constantly. Its either the drive to beat the competition, just like in any sport, or the financial income that it brings in. Maybe its a combination of both.

With all that said, I just got home from another session at one of the local casinos. The good news is I made +$905, my best outing yet. The bad news is, I'll be getting in bed late again, knowing that I have to work in the morning. I didn't even plan on going today. I told myself I wasn't going to go, just to give myself a break. Then I somehow talked myself into going, only for a couple hours, three at the most. I ended up playing for six hours. Hmmmm...

[knockonwood]

I've have no doubt that poker is a definite form of escapism for a lot of players. This is true for most forms of gambling in general. Where poker gets some people is that they know it is theoretically +EV and delude themselves into thinking they are doing something constructive.