Lacking Motivation

[Mad Genius1]

[ QUOTE ]
genius,

take some time away. dont read poker forums, dont load stars, dont do anything poker related. get to the gym, go drink, be a college kid like everyone else. i think sometimes people in poker get caught up in worrying about "getting ahead" when it really doens't matter.

you've made enough money now where 10k, 50k, or 100k wont change anything. who cares if you dont make any more money the rest of the month. just be a normal kid your age and forget about everything for a few weeks. when you get back home after finals, play if you want to, or dont.

you owe it to yourself to enjoy the time you have in college. as someone who just graduated from school id give massive sums of money just to go back and dick around with my roommates and make bad decisions.

send me an IM if you want to talk, but i really think your problem is just worrying too much about the future and not living your life right now. normal college kids dont have to worry about whether or not they have 500k or 1m in the bank when they graduate. you arent playing poker the rest of your life, you dont need money now because you will make tons later.

tc

[/ QUOTE ]

Taylor,

I have plenty fun with college. People seem to think I have a crappy life. I don't. I have great friends and a lot of fun in school, probably more than I should in regards to classes. The point is, I'm not that happy with poker and what it does for my life, despite what some of you seem to think is stupid because of the money involved. I think Taylor is right, you can strive to make more money, but at what point do you draw the line and say, ok money is money, but I want more out of my life. I will take your advice and take some time off, I haven't played the last few days and I don't plan on playing much over winter break, mainly because I won't have much time, but anyhow when I come back hopefully I will be fresh and ready to go.

[Kyle]

[ QUOTE ]
you're gonna look back at this post in a few years and feel like a jackass

[/ QUOTE ]

Jackass isnt a good word. Who doesnt look back at the things they did said or thought in college or in high school and say to themselves "wtf was I thinking". That is part of growing up.

To the OP, who cares if you are lacking motivation? You dont have to play poker. If it takes up a large part of your life and you are unhappy with it just quit playing for a bit.

We have all hit the lottery. Everyone who is a successful HSNL player that is in college is so far ahead of the game financially it isnt even funny. You could not play another hand of poker invest your winnings and bet set.

However, before you go donk off x amount of dollars think about other people who are less fortunate. I mean my friends get excited if they get a job that pays 8 dollars a hr while in school.

[LuckyLloyd]

OP - interesting thread. I will take you at your word that you are leading a satisfying life outside of Poker - really that is not for anyone on an internet forum to question IMO.

On your specific problem relating to your attitude towards the game, I would say that it definately seems as if you have found a way to secure your life from a financal standpoint - with the added bonus that you can work from home and set your own hours. I'm sure you realise how fortunate a position this is to be in.

Once you have conquered high stakes cash on the internet I imagine that it will be inevitable for the excitement and adrenaline to dissappear to some extent for all players - and to a very great extent for others. Money is how you keep score - if you are making large amounts then you have beat the game, can do it repeatadly - therefore I could not see how you would find the same intellectual stimulation everytime you log on.

What I would suggest is go after titles in big live MTTs. Travel to Europe for tournaments. Play events like the recent Asian open in Singapore and do some travelling after. Work hard at mastering these events and see if you find the challenge of trying to win a few satisfying. Chasing titles will surely get the blood pumping and the mind working again. Travelling and seeing some of the world is a nice bonus.

Come to the realisation that you play high stakes cash online to make money. Log on if you feel you need a few bob. If you need to play right now - find a few MTTs online.

Best of luck, have a good Christmas.

[innerpeace]

what you're feeling is perfectly normal, and is probably exacerbated by the fact that you moved down levels. one thing that helped me was to donate a percentage of whatever i won to a specific charity. i would usually tally things up every four to six weeks, and take out a percentage rounding up to whatever was convenient.

i was in a similar situation when i started playing the higher-stakes games. the games didn't happen on a regular basis and so in between i would have to move back down to whatever game was spread on a regular basis, which just seemed less interesting.

my situation was probably a little different since i played many games in addition to nlhe.

another thing to do is take a complete break from playing and try to engage in some other useful activity (getting some fresh air, working out, reading, etc).

i didn't have a chance to read through all the posts in this thread, so perhaps everything i wrote has been repeated elsewhere. either way, i think all these points bear repeating anyway.

[SlowHabit]

[ QUOTE ]
one thing that helped me was to donate a percentage of whatever i won to my retirement fund.

[/ QUOTE ]

[GameTheory]

Poker-like all forms of gambling-is a drug. It's all about the stimulation. For example, taking 1 line of cocaine never feels the same as the first time, and you always need more and more.

With poker, or anything else in life, I find myself working hard to conquer it, then moving on. I think you're the same way. You've proven you can take on some of the biggest games on PS, and that's pretty much the pinacle of competitive poker imo.

So, now you feel nothing from playing..but you do feel attatched to it because it's also an addiction, a gateway from boredum.

My advice is to delete/uninstal all your poker software, and DEFINATELY do not read 2+2.

[needbeer]

[ QUOTE ]


yeah.. im considering pulling all but like 10k out of my online accounts and investing every penny, then starting at like 1-2 nl and running it into a bajillion. thats about the only interesting thing i can think of doing. holla

[/ QUOTE ]

omg, that sounds like an absolute nightmare. i can barely even take the 10/20 nl serious anymore, much less the 1/2.. i'd probably lose interest in the first 10 minutes and start shoving every single hand.

[Chump Change]

MadGenius,

Just to clarify, I believe when jiffy said he wasn't being antagonistic he was only referring to the part about seeing a shrink/therapist. He was obviously antagonistic and hostile in the other parts.
I only bring this up because I thought the same thing as I read through the thread, before a few posters, not just jiffy, started mentioning depression. It seemed evident from the first few posts, as well as some others i've read in the past.
Now, I don't know what your feelings are about this subject, but I don't think this depression is overwhelming. I'm talking about a very subtle thing, not a shrink/meds situation. Perhaps just talking to a therapist and seeing what's what will be useful as the other suggestions, because unless it's a severe case, the prescription for depression is exercise, eat right, change your environmetn and thought process as the other posters have already noted.
Whatever you decide is best though, I wish you the best. I think just taking up a new poker variant or new game altogether is one of the easiest and best idea. Peace.