Are you content with how you are beating poker?

[aflaba]

When I was pretty new to poker I thought that if I got to stakes where I could make money, then I'd feel content with that. I'd feel like I had beat the game. That didn't happen.

Are You content with how you are beating poker? I'm talking amotionally content, not rationally. Why, why not?

[aflaba]

I think I havn't become content with how I'm beating the game because I was rationally aiming for the wrong goal. I though that I would be content when I could make more money on poker than on a job. But the feeling didn't come.

I think the reason the feeling didn't come is that emotionally my goal with poker was mot to make thirty buck and hour. My emotional oal was to really beat the game. To really understand it and be on top of it.

Does that sound resonable to you or do you think there is something else to it?

Well, in the last few months I've started to relly feel content. I still have a strong motivation to improve. But at the same time I'm at peace with where I am. I think the reason is that I've started to understand the game and that I think that I greater understanding is just withi reach. That may be an illusion though. But it's starting to feel pretty good.

[_TKO_]

I feel that I will always want to move up. In fact, I would like to move up to the point where I can make an average dollar amount per week that will provide for me while at the same time minimizing the hours required to play.

[Shysti]

I am not. Why? Because I feel I understand the fundamentals of playing tournaments (NL), and how to make it deep, and often I do.

But where I am frustrated is closing the gap from being ITM to making the final table. I don't expect it to happen all the time but I would like a little more consistenancy in my game in regards to that.

I study the game like I am trying to get my masters in it, yet applying what I've learned is another matter, also retaining bits and pieces that are key.

I look for my leaks daily, and try to understand how to surpass them but my progress is slow, so I am a bit frustrated.

I would like to find a poker mentor to help me, so I can get an outsider's view on my game.

[Gildwulf]

I don't think I will ever be content. I thought I would be content beating 10/20 but I'm not at all. I think anyone who has the personality traits to truly excel at poker will never really be satisfied with where they end up -unless it's the 4k/8k game

[_TKO_]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the reason the feeling didn't come is that emotionally my goal with poker was mot to make thirty buck and hour. My emotional oal was to really beat the game. To really understand it and be on top of it.

Does that sound resonable to you or do you think there is something else to it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I love this game. I may even have a greater desire to study it than to actually play it.

[Gildwulf]

[ QUOTE ]
I feel that I will always want to move up. In fact, I would like to move up to the point where I can make an average dollar amount per week that will provide for me while at the same time minimizing the hours required to play.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the key and I think what makes poker as addictive as any videogame.

"I make $4k a week now playing poker, but if I put even more time into learning the game I could make the same amount in half the time!"

I don't think this ever ends unless one views playing poker as a means in itself instead of a means to an end.

For example, someone might like to play chess because it's a fun and challenging game. Once the novelty wears off though, people might move on to another hobby or spend less time playing in general.

Both the blessing and curse of poker is that it is not just a mean in itself but a means to an end ($$$). The better you get, the more money you make (except for 6-max limit holdem:P). This means by the time the novelty wears off (for most people) you're making $200/hr; paradoxically, you're forced into a hobby that gives you increased opportunity to do whatever you want in life.

[Blowup Doll]

I'm doing better than 2BB/100 over my past 30k hands, so i'm content.

[popniklas]

gildwulf: very good post, but..

"This means by the time the novelty wears off (for most people) you're making $200/hr"

This is a huge exaggeration. I think the percentage of poker players making $200+/hr is quite slim.

[Jeffage]

The problem with this is following the Peter Principle. Many poker players are never satisfied - they simply play till they reach their level of incompetence and then stay there until they very slowly go broke or at the very least make little with huge financial fluctuations. Some balance is needed.

Jeff