What's the REAL reason(s) so many "top" players are busto?

[0524432]

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I should really write this as some sort of a seperate post cause its so genius but i guess i'll write it here first as my trial run sort of deal.

The short of it is that poker is a game of investing money or gambling depending on how you play. But if we assume that we are playing under the pretense to invest our money intellegently than the same principles of investing in the stock market apply, however the stock market trades at a much larger level. The reason the tops pro's are broke is because they have reached the poker ceiling, its similar to the investment ceiling which goes by some name that i don't know. if you talk to really good investment bankers, the top ones, they will tell that they can basically make the same average returns year after year with work but not to to much...however, when their portfolio reaches around 500 million dollars then it becomes much more difficult to keep there high return rate. So i would propose that this is what has occured to the current breed of poker players. Because the poker economy is much small than the us stock market the ceiling is much lower.
So i would conclude that investing your money with poker it a good choice but only until say your reach 3 or so million to give an arbitary number. After that point it becomes much better to invest your money in a the stock market.

that'll be 2 cents

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interesting perspective, the relatively small/elite field as the highest of HSNL/PLO is at too high a level of skill to beat for a large enough winrate to overcome the inevitable blinds (god forbid antes DS), variance, tilt, etc?

[Zorlac]

Take your pick:

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Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that plays a key role in regulating mood and behavior. Norepinephrine, a hormone released in response to stress, has been linked to arousal and risk-taking in compulsive gamblers. Brain cells release dopamine as part of the reward system through which you learn to seek pleasurable stimuli, such as food and sex, and dopamine plays a role in developing addiction.

[0524432]

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Take your pick:

paste--------------
Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that plays a key role in regulating mood and behavior. Norepinephrine, a hormone released in response to stress, has been linked to arousal and risk-taking in compulsive gamblers. Brain cells release dopamine as part of the reward system through which you learn to seek pleasurable stimuli, such as food and sex, and dopamine plays a role in developing addiction.

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I was recently speaking with Alan Schoonmaker, Dr. of Industrial Psychology at Harvard University (who also writes excellent articles for Cardplayer) about just this. I asked him a question to the effect of

"What is it about poker as a hobby that, unlike skiing or skydiving, that causes some people to lose all scope of "real life" and sometimes lose massive amounts of $ via tilt or destroy their marriage/family etc.?"

Dr. Schoonmaker's field is not that of a chemical nature, but he told me that he does not know of any conclusive evidence that the poker experience causes the release of chemicals in the human body that could be perceived as a "physically addictive" nature.

I would like to see an article or study you may know of that relate human hormones to poker.