how much do you actually enjoy poker?

[TheMetetron]

This OP wasn't very good and I'm not sure how much the thread itself has progressed, but I'll try to talk about what everyone else is at this point and not the loaded question in the OP.

I don't enjoy poker like you. I use it to make money. I use it to allow me live wherever I please. If something else just as boring as poker came along where I could make more, I'd go for it.

However, that doesn't mean I slack off and don't examine my game. I realize this is how I make a living and that I need to always be striving to do better at it. That doesn't mean I have to enjoy poker in the least. I'd just as soon rather be doing almost anything else.

I'd also consider myself one of the more successful players on 2+2 (though there are definitely a ton WAY more successful than I am) so, at least for me, I think your notion that loving poker is a requirement for making a lot from it is bunk.

[geormiet]

Given that I've spent 4000-5000 hours playing poker, the fact that I don't completely hate it shows how much I love it.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
limon,

In a recent going pro thread I asked someone if they really loved poker. Most of the guys I know who have done really well at it have a level of passion and love for the game that is very different than most normal winning players. For most people, I think it takes that kind of attitude to really do well long-term at poker and have it be an overall positive thing.

I think this statement is very true for many and somethign a lot of people don't realize about themselves: "most people think they enjoy it but they really dont."

Having said that, there are plenty of players who don't really enjoy poker that much necessarily, but sure as hell enjoy gambling. That's another thing a lot of poker players lack the self-awareness to realize.

[/ QUOTE ]


I must be pretty different I guess because I have full awareness of how boring poker is.

I also am not really in love with gambling either.
Probably got it all 'out of my system' or something.
I maybe play BJ once every 2 mths or so and that's usually just betting the $5/min to get free drinks and act a little silly.


As far as my full awareness of poker being boring:
GF calls me and asks what I'm doing, "Ummm, clicking buttons and making a little money. I'm bored. This sucks. Wanna get a drink?"

It's a constant struggle for me to try to develop any passion at all about the game.
I've taken to playing live once or twice a month now which is a bit more than I ever did before. That's helped me somewhat when it's more fun and social and features fewer annoying/smelly people.
Kind of re-energizes me to grind out a bunch of tables online.

And reading some of the threads around here or some of my poker books helps somewhat also sometimes.


Roy Cooke had a somewhat interesting article about this stuff in the most recent issue of CardPlayer (might not be up on the website yet).


Again though, just because it's boring and kind of sucks doesn't mean I'm as down on it as it might appear.
I have full awareness that it's a ton better than a lot of alternatives job-wise.

[limon]

[ QUOTE ]
This OP wasn't very good and I'm not sure how much the thread itself has progressed, but I'll try to talk about what everyone else is at this point and not the loaded question in the OP.

I don't enjoy poker like you. I use it to make money. I use it to allow me live wherever I please. If something else just as boring as poker came along where I could make more, I'd go for it.

However, that doesn't mean I slack off and don't examine my game. I realize this is how I make a living and that I need to always be striving to do better at it. That doesn't mean I have to enjoy poker in the least. I'd just as soon rather be doing almost anything else.

[/ QUOTE ]

so are you wasting time? do you have no other skills?

[ QUOTE ]
I'd also consider myself one of the more successful players on 2+2 (though there are definitely a ton WAY more successful than I am) so, at least for me, I think your notion that loving poker is a requirement for making a lot from it is bunk.

[/ QUOTE ]

thats not my notion. you just need to get lucky to make alot at poker. i think that if you dont enjoy the game you will leave poker w/ alot less than you should have, monetarily and otherwise.

[El Diablo]

Met,

I think that people like you who are doing it with a very specific reason/goal and people who just plain love money are two other types of people who can do well at poker.

[Reef]

to answer the OP question, I [censored] hate poker. I hate pokerstars.

I would take a check, not even a question

[ArturiusX]

I still enjoy it. I 4 table, never anymore.

[Taso]

i would rather play. I love playing poker. LOVE IT. but I play live, not online, maybe that has something to do with it.

I love being able to smell when people fart. That's the best part.

[grando]

[ QUOTE ]
to answer the OP question, I [censored] hate poker. I hate pokerstars.

I would take a check, not even a question

[/ QUOTE ]

see BBV for more details

I would also take the check, in a heartbeat

[Vehn]

[ QUOTE ]
Totally disagree, longtime pros like myself view poker as work because it is work. Its my job, its how I make a living and if I slack off because I don't like work then I go homeless. I may not really "enjoy" poker anymore but its a necessity just like getting up at 7 to go to work at a bank is for a banker.

[/ QUOTE ]

1) you didnt answer the "terrible" question 2)its not a necessity....for you or the banker. maybe we're stuck on the word work. im sure kobe would describe his work ethic and his job and blah blah blah but hed never trade giving up basketball for a lifetime paycheck.

soooo....would you give up poker for the check? if so why are you sticking yourself in this dead end job?

[/ QUOTE ]

as someone else said the question is terrible because only addicted gamblers would say no. Poker is not that great of a game. There are much better, more interesting, and less dependant on luck ways to do something competitive.

I am in this "dead end job" because I cannot possibly see myself having a job where I can make the amount of money I do working the hours I do. And to be honest money isn't important to me.