Can you live peacefully with poker?

[nickcee]

I am trying to answer the OP's question for myself. I have a double wammy though, I add manic-depression to the mix. I play so I don't have to go to a real job. I am not hugely succesful,but I am able to pay the bills. When I did go to a real job I was so unhappy. Presently, I am not high on life but happier than before poker. I suffer from huge mood swings,even when my losses are not substantial. I am realizing that my life just needs to have some balance. Those days of rolling out of bed solely to play poker are gradually fading-but only because I realized that my life had just became poker. I am making changes and seeing the larger picture. I have to play to pay the bills,but even after they are paid, I just want to play more. Why, because of the money-absolutely wrong. I would make a liitle more sometimes much more, but the thing was-I wasn't using this money to make my life any better;it was just to have it. I am going to put in my hours to live comfortably, but I am slowly moving away from those 100+ hr weeks. I don't know if all this has to do with living peacefully and playing poker, but my life is becoming more peaceful as I branch out and do other things. In conclusion: can you live peacefully with any other job/hobby?

[holyfield5]

lol @ all the people acting like money doesnt matter.

money is the motivation......the losing doesnt affect people like brian because they KNOW that losing money at times is just a part of winning the massive amounts so even when he loses money he is really winning it.

I use to worry over rent and whether my job was giving me what i deserve or recreational expenses....now i laugh at that penny anny [censored] and im so much happier for it.

I make it rain

[retleftolc]

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money is holyfield5's motivation......the losing doesnt affect people like brian because they KNOW that losing money at times is just a part of winning the massive amounts so even when he loses money he is really winning it.

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FYP

My motivation is time with my kids. Sure money gets me there, but I could make the money elswhere and not have the free time.

Ret

[DJ Sensei]

I make a quiet and peaceful living playing poker.

But I think i'd live quietly and peacefully no matter how I paid my bills. Unless I was a cheerleader or a soldier or something.


As for me, I don't need much money, I just want enough to live comfortably now and invest the rest so that I can continue to do so in the future, with or without a family to support.

[e_phemeral]

poker is an extremely silly game. i confess, i am at the point where the game has beaten me. i can't take the suckouts and tilt anymore. i derive no joy from playing. it just continually f*cks with my head. run goot, win monies, run bad, lose monies. run goot, win monies, get sucked out on repeatedly, lose monies. I don't see how any intelligent well-adjusted person can cope with that sh*t. the people who can cope with it have to be a little f*cked up to begin with.

[Choparno]

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I (and im sure many others) have become emotionally numb as a function of playing poker.

Whether this is good or bad i'm not sure. It is weird though.

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So it's not just me then. I feel like this when I play a lot. It's like nothing really matters, and there is no point being upset/happy about anything if you can't control it, because it's irrelevant. Somewhat of a scary feeling.

Presumably, emotional swings are not exacerbated for winning players as they move up in stakes. X buy-ins still feels like x buy-ins, or x % of your bankroll, no matter what stakes you are playing. If this wasn't the case, and you felt the money as real money, it would be impossible for the swings not to make you mentally unstable over time...

[Xylem]

Yes for sure poker trains your brain with zen like qualities.

You can become an objective observer of poker(and life) if you can get really good, and im not sure if this is good or bad.

Whats best; Living a life that doesnt matter and doesnt really hurt, or living a stressful ups and down subjective existence?

I think the real question is can you live peacefully with the competition of modern society?

[pfapfap]

Good thread. I'm just now starting to accept that over the past few years my life has taken drastic changes that have pointed me in the direction of attempting poker for at least a partial income, and there's a lot in this that resonates.

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My motivation is time with my kids.

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Glad to see that out there, as having time with theoretical future kids is a big motivator for me. For me, parenting is the most important role we have as people, and I want to be as much a part of that as I can.

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I look around at other people around me who are in the 19-20 age group, and I think their quality of life is significantly lower because they lack money. This goes for things like not being able to spend $5 or $10 to go out with friends because they are broke.

[/ QUOTE ]
Eh. I've been able to pare myself down to a near minimalistic level, which translates to having the means to do what I want on a daily basis. I remember being 19 and surviving on ramen. And while the 19 year old me would spooge his pants at what the mumble year old me has set up, I recall having a mighty fine time of it even when I was dirt poor. Perhaps for you, it's not something you want, but I wouldn't necessarily pity someone else based on your standards.

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Yes for sure poker trains your brain with zen like qualities. ... I think the real question is can you live peacefully with the competition of modern society?

[/ QUOTE ]
This is certainly my approach with it, and perhaps the draw. I also play the game of Go, which requires patience, long-term thinking, analysis, psychology, flexibility, controlled aggression, and the ability to step back from the immediate emotion of the situation. I think both this and poker have helped me as I veer away from the endless noise of modern life.

Or, y'know, maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's a great tragedy. Guess I'll find out some day.

[No1Special]

If you suffer from some sort of mental problem, (mania, bi-polar, etc.) I would imagine the swings take a bigger toll on your emotions, than that of a person who is "normal". Some can deal with it better than others. I guess for some No, poker cant be lived with peacefully. Some people, psychologically, lose all the time, but for them its a coping mechanism for something else in their life.

[Poker Plan]

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money is holyfield5's motivation......the losing doesnt affect people like brian because they KNOW that losing money at times is just a part of winning the massive amounts so even when he loses money he is really winning it.

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FYP

My motivation is time with my kids. Sure money gets me there, but I could make the money elswhere and not have the free time.

Ret

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Respect due. As you get older, I believe time becomes more precious than money. Especially time spent with your family.