how much do you actually enjoy poker?

[bigbabyjesus]

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terrible original post but

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a couple of friends of mine have been on serious losing streaks recently and i asked them, if given the choice to never play poker again but just receive a check each month based on their historical win rate would they take it? both said yes. i told them both that that is the reason they are losing.

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I think 95% of casual players would answer 'yes' here, and over 75% of pros would as well.

the numbers would be similar for most jobs in the world.

I don't think it has to do with enjoyment as much as it has to do with having the 'desire to improve/move up the ranks' heavily outweigh 'laziness'. given the way you phrased the question, the former outweighing the latter would be rare.

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lol...many people play poker when they're bieng "lazy". or are viewed as lazy if they play cards instead of "working". how lazy do you have to be to enjoy cards but not have the energy to play if you could just collect the paycheck.

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maybe I misunderstoof your OP, but I'm saying that

not working and receiving X Dollars >>> working and receiving +/- X dollars

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since when is poker work? when 2,000 people check into the RIO and pay $200 a night do they really think they are going to work? it seems once you see poker as a job you're toast. becuase everyone hates work and when you employ yourself you can fire yourself/slack off. many pro poker players are "quitting" their job and dont even know it.

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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.

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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?

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Gimme a break. Stop comparing multitabling online grinders to Kobe or Tiger. They are the best in the world at sports that are highly respected, make MILLIONS of dollars, are famous, and competing for their respective championships must be a helluva lot more exciting and fulfilling then trying to weed through a 9000 person field in a $10k tournament or maintaining a 3 pt winrate.

[MicroBob]

"if so why are you sticking yourself in this dead end job?"


I think I can answer this for him if I may be so bold. And I think he already kind of has.
He's making good moolah. And it allows him to travel wherever the hell he wants pretty much while working not that many hours a week.

So his job isn't terribly fulfilling.
That's life.
But the freedom the job allows can lead to more fulfillment in all the other aspects of life.


His reason why he's doing it is pretty much the same as mine: Because it beats most other realistic alternatives by an extremely wide margin.


As far as working in a field you are passionate about:
I did that. And would love to do it again.
If I eventually get my act together and make enough from poker where I'm more financially comfortable then I may very well go back into some part-time work in the crappy-pay field I was 100% passionate about for the 10 years I did it.


I was really happy doing that even though there was some occasional stress involved and I made a really pathetic wage.

And I'm really happy now too making better money and having time to do other things with the freedom I get from online-poker.
It's just that my motivation for actually getting to the 'work' (including studying and improving my game) isn't anywhere near where I would like it to be.

[MitchL]

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a couple of friends of mine have been on serious losing streaks recently and i asked them, if given the choice to never play poker again but just receive a check each month based on their historical win rate would they take it? both said yes. i told them both that that is the reason they are losing.

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Havent read replies but you are wrong. Ask your friends when they are on a hot streak and you will get a different answer. Do you really think your friends are losing because they dont enjoy poker or that they dont enjoy poker because they are losing? Which makes more sense logically?

[Victor]

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im surprised 100% of people wouldnt take a check for their historical winrate. Assuming theyre convinced theyre winners...

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tho its proly not in the spirit of the question, after 2.5 years i still feel that my current winrate is not as it theoretically should be from running under expectation. morover i expect to improve as a player going forward.

so my primary basis for rejecting the offer would be that i feel i would be forefiting monies.

i have more to say and will proly add it later. the jist is that i still enjoy playing despite moderately above average results along with some significant downers (which most on this website enjoy ridiculing)

[Victor]

"I would have answered a resounding NO to just receiving a paycheck while I was learning the game, I really enjoyed it and found it challenging, thrilling, and interesting. I couldn't stop thinking about how fascinating the strategy was(I'm sure many here can relate)."

this is where im at. i still love improving. i recently took up nl and have had good results (while donating tons at limit.) i decided to start at 2-4 and use a separate roll. now i more than rolled for 5-10.

sports, specifically measurable endurance sports, is a great analogy. when you start jogging you cant go more than a couple miles. you keep at it and notice all the regular runners in your area; they are faster. in 6 monthes you are catching and passing them. you start going to races and notice the regulars close to your level. soon you can beat them and now you are running with a faster group. soon you beat that group and move on to a faster crew. and again? again? eventually you stop improving and its very hard to motivate.

[Victor]

" i think that if you dont enjoy the game you will leave poker w/ alot less than you should have, monetarily and otherwise. "


scary thought considering how little ive made yet i still enjoy it.

[limon]

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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.

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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?

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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.

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youre wrong about gamblers..and its not close (as ive proven through simple logic) what else are you wrong about? alot id guess...thats probably why you scrape by doing something you hate...pitiful...miserable. please dont refer to my posts as terrible again.

[limon]

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terrible original post but

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a couple of friends of mine have been on serious losing streaks recently and i asked them, if given the choice to never play poker again but just receive a check each month based on their historical win rate would they take it? both said yes. i told them both that that is the reason they are losing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think 95% of casual players would answer 'yes' here, and over 75% of pros would as well.

the numbers would be similar for most jobs in the world.

I don't think it has to do with enjoyment as much as it has to do with having the 'desire to improve/move up the ranks' heavily outweigh 'laziness'. given the way you phrased the question, the former outweighing the latter would be rare.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol...many people play poker when they're bieng "lazy". or are viewed as lazy if they play cards instead of "working". how lazy do you have to be to enjoy cards but not have the energy to play if you could just collect the paycheck.

[/ QUOTE ]

maybe I misunderstoof your OP, but I'm saying that

not working and receiving X Dollars >>> working and receiving +/- X dollars

[/ QUOTE ]

since when is poker work? when 2,000 people check into the RIO and pay $200 a night do they really think they are going to work? it seems once you see poker as a job you're toast. becuase everyone hates work and when you employ yourself you can fire yourself/slack off. many pro poker players are "quitting" their job and dont even know it.

[/ 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.

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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?

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Gimme a break. Stop comparing multitabling online grinders to Kobe or Tiger. They are the best in the world at sports that are highly respected, make MILLIONS of dollars, are famous, and competing for their respective championships must be a helluva lot more exciting and fulfilling then trying to weed through a 9000 person field in a $10k tournament or maintaining a 3 pt winrate.

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you're an idiot...sorry. i used kobe and tiger becuase everyone knows them. maybe this will help you...theres a guy in miami named ramon puig. he is like 90 and makes shirts for a living. the best guayabera shirts in the world. he makes the custom ordered ones personally by hand. including several for myself. he is not rich, works hard and would not trade his shirt business for the money EVER. he loves it...does that help? i cant beleive i wasted time typing that for one moron who doesnt understand the use of common points of reference.

[IggyWH]

I'm so happy that I actually got to the point where poker is fun for me to play. I haven't played online since the Neteller downfall last May and only played a couple times in a local game after that.

Once I moved to SD and cardrooms were now around me, I took another shot at poker. When I play now, I really enjoy it. I miss it after I leave the table, even if I had a bad session. I never missed poker when I ended an online session.

[limon]

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a couple of friends of mine have been on serious losing streaks recently and i asked them, if given the choice to never play poker again but just receive a check each month based on their historical win rate would they take it? both said yes. i told them both that that is the reason they are losing.

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Havent read replies but you are wrong. Ask your friends when they are on a hot streak and you will get a different answer. Do you really think your friends are losing because they dont enjoy poker or that they dont enjoy poker because they are losing? Which makes more sense logically?

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nah, makes no difference now, theyre in the death spiral. your wrong and you're a moron and you should read replies...if you did you would see that most everyone agrees that at LEAST 70% of winning players would take the money. are they all on losing streaks? do you think i started mentoring people last week? where do idiots come from?