Should I Quit Poker for Good? Help..

[hasanthadon]

just to clarify really quickly.. i started this thread when i was feeling really [censored] after two consecutive days of losses... yeah, my grades did go down in school, but im talking straight Bs when im used to like more As than Bs... its not the worst thing in the world. plus, going to classes or studying for exams earlier than the night before would have helped (this is a habit ive had since high school, except now i cant get away with it so easily in college)

as far as that little gambling survey goes... yeah i can say "yes" to some of em, but a majority of those questions do not describe me...

im just going to continue studying the game, play really tight with this money i have left, practice wise BR management... and consider a lot of the points you guys said in your posts... especially Tiger Kid, that was extremely helpful, thanks a lot!

and thanks to the rest of you too, it felt really good to get this off my chest

[StellarWind]

You need to quit for good and you need to do it now.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm an economics major

[/ QUOTE ]
You are CEO of a business called Your Life.

Right now you are considering whether to continue developing a minor product line called "poker". Compared to education and your career this product is insignificant. Recently it has come to your attention that poker is damaging your education, consuming large amounts of time, draining your finances, and making you generally crazy. Furthermore this product shows no signs of being truly profitable even in a small way. It's got fundamental design flaws and the prototypes don't work.

Did you learn anything about risk maangement in any of your classes?

Suppose I told you that there is a 40% chance you could become a winning low-limit player, a 50% chance you would lose another $1000-$50000 before realizing that you need to quit, and a 10% chance that you would become a classic problem-gambler who literally destroys his life.

Based on what you told me I think my odds are more than generous. You are already showing multiple signs of problem gambling. Do you think this is an acceptable risk to take with Your Life?

[saeute]

You could play short stack poker full-ring. Buy-in for the minimum and play very tight. You will make a lot of money at the lowest levels playing this style and you don't have to make big laydowns. Furthermore you can't lose a lot playing this way.

Short stack poker is perfect for a guy who likes maths, has a limitted bankroll and some tilt problems. However, make sure you quit the game for the hole day if you lose x buy-ins.
If you are running good, you have the chips in front of you and you can hopefully play your best.

[AlfilRey]

I´m 20 yrs old, have been playing poker for the last two years. I´m similar to you in that I have a pretty addictive personality, was your age when I started playing, and still these days get pretty upset / tilted by results.

Me and a group of friends play poker, and out of all of us, three have been successful in that they have won money. I´ve done well lately, and this year I´m up just under $150k. However, as I write this I´m on a 100-day break from poker.

Why?

Because even though the money is good, when you have tendencies like you seem to have described, like compulsiveness / addiction , etc poker can burn you out and piss you off a lot.

I consider myself an above average intelligence guy, like you do, yet for some reason I´m incapable of overcoming basic stuff.

e.g. If I play over the course of one week, and 5 days I´m up $5k each day, and then on the 6th day I lose $10k I´m liable to tilt off the rest of my money. That´s why I play "shallow bankrolls" online, regularly cashing out large chunks. To give me a cooling off period by the time I deposit again (usually a day or two, but even a few hours helps).

I´m no good at writing posts, I constantly go off on a tangent, but my point is that basically the type of personality that you have is similar to mine. It will result in:

---- constant frustration, depression, stress, bad emotions regarding poker that can seep into other areas of your life

---- a feeling that no amount won is good enough, and no amount lost is small enough. both the highpoints and the lowpoints destroy this type of personality you describe

Basically, the only way you can make playing poker worthwhile is if you can win enough money to compensate you for all the trauma your personality type endures when playing the game.

At the moment, you certainly dont have that. Sure, a few years down the road, and hours upon hours of effort put into it, there´s a small % chance that things will be worthwhile.

However, as of this moment, it´s certainly -EV for you to continue playing.

That said, frankly this thread was a joke to begin with, considering that if you´re like me (and you seem to be) you were never gonna quit anyway, so attempting to convince you is futile.

That said, I thought I´d warn ya anyway. Trust me when I say this, you have a bunch of sleepless nights ahead of you, plenty of days when you´ll be saying "man why do i subject myself to this?", "why is the world against me?" etc etc. Be prepared to lose your roll AT LEAST 15-20 times over the coming months, and remember it´s about 80% that you will remain a losing player, and about 97-99% that you will earn less than minimum wage in the long run with poker.

Enjoy.

[mctendo]

I think there is a general way of determining whether one is addicted to something. If your activity interferes with your normal life to a degree in which the quality of your normal life greatly suffers then you have an addiction. First determine what your main objectives and values are in life and then determine if your playing fits in with those.

[BarryLyndon]

If I were you, I'd enjoy college when you are young, work hard, develop your interests...if you find later on that you are a "poker player at heart," then start playing small stakes and play because you want to be a good player.

What problems do you have in your life that you feel like you are compensating for through poker?

[Poker Plan]

[ QUOTE ]
If I were you, I'd enjoy college when you are young, work hard, develop your interests...if you find later on that you are a "poker player at heart," then start playing small stakes and play because you want to be a good player.

[/ QUOTE ]

You definitely need a Plan B, because Plan A isn't looking too handy is it?

[Bigka79]

i would quit if i were you. i started with 25 dollars on doyles room about a year and a half ago and have only taken money off since. as cartman would say "you rack a disiprine"

[Soundwave]

Probably you should quit, but I doubt you will. Just make a committment that you'll never play anything above micro stakes and you'll be fine. There's worse ways to blow some money, people have all sorts of stupid hobbies that cost them more than $800. Just never, ever play on borrowed money or at stakes you can't afford.

Also, you just sound like you're taking poker way too seriously. It's only a card game, and who gives f*ck if you lose $50 here or there anyway, it won't kill you. Don't expect too much, chances are you're not the next phil ivey or brian townsend. Take your bad beats like a man, play well and enjoy the game, you'll be a better player and have a lot more fun.

[Hawklet]

Just [censored] stop. You don't have the discipline to play. Go get a gameboy.