Gambling Addiction

[IHaveStrong9]

What % of winning players would you guys say have gambling addictions?
Do you think it helps or hurts your progress as a better poker player?
If you do have one, how do you best deal with it when trying to focus on other aspects of life?


I know that I crave the need to play sometimes after less then a day of not playing. I have not played for 2 weeks (due to me being in italy for vacation and it being illegal to play in italy) and I miss it terribly. Sometimes this bothers me, and I am wondering if other people go through similar things such as this.

[Henry17]

How can having a weakness ever be a good thing?

[BK1248]

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How can having a weakness ever be a good thing?

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i know i luv gambling and have been playing poker for a living since 2002, but i hate playing poker. I luv cilo , hi card, sports betting, but my crave for action during the day helps me play a lot more hands during the week online. so being a borderline degenerate helps me in my poker career.

But id say if ur a losing player (like 99% of foxwoods players) then it is a really bad addiction and i see nice people lose a lot of money.

[BK1248]

[ QUOTE ]
What % of winning players would you guys say have gambling addictions?
Do you think it helps or hurts your progress as a better poker player?
If you do have one, how do you best deal with it when trying to focus on other aspects of life?


I know that I crave the need to play sometimes after less then a day of not playing. I have not played for 2 weeks (due to me being in italy for vacation and it being illegal to play in italy) and I miss it terribly. Sometimes this bothers me, and I am wondering if other people go through similar things such as this.

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also if u luv it now, eventually ull prolly get bored with it and do it less, and if u decide to do it for a job , it will become "a job". I used to play 15 hours a day and loved it so much, now i have to force myself to play 3-4 hours online a day, or 8 hours live a day.

[IHaveStrong9]

im pretty convinced that there were few responses in this thread because no one wants to admit to themselves about their gambling vices.

[Mr_Pathetic]

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im pretty convinced that there were few responses in this thread because no one wants to admit to themselves about their gambling vices.

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i didn't post cause i can't comment on in first person but while i was at school i had a friend who had a compulsive gambling problem. he would bet huge sums on sports and play online poker during the day at my apt while smoking an eighth of dank a day instead of going to class. he loss to the tune of 2500-5000 a month. when he would get low on cash he would head off to his family's c-store and steal a roll of $5 scratchoffs and we would scratch them all off so he could get the $150 out of the $300 roll of tickets. he had it bad for gambling and smoking dank and still does. funny thing is him playing poker is why i got started in online poker but yet i have grinded up a roll from $36 to $630 while he constantly runs through money.

as far as winning players having an addiction i go through periods were i play a lot of hours and then i go through periods like i am in now were i have to literally force myself to play. normally this is b/c i do not want to play a long session and i know if i start playing and get stuck its marathon time. i kind of equate it to drinking soda. sometimes i cannot get enough of it and then some days i can't stand it.

[Lucky]

There is a lot of confusion here I think. Top players almost all like to gamble. So they push hard in marginal spots and run over players who don't like to gamble. This can be considered the 'sickness' top players admit to having.

OTOH, true gambling addiction I think has to do with players wanting to lose to punish themselves for their good fortune, or to prove they can lose it and still be OK.

These two things share some similarity but are different overall.

[icheckcallu]

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What % of winning players would you guys say have gambling addictions?
Do you think it helps or hurts your progress as a better poker player?
If you do have one, how do you best deal with it when trying to focus on other aspects of life?


I know that I crave the need to play sometimes after less then a day of not playing. I have not played for 2 weeks (due to me being in italy for vacation and it being illegal to play in italy) and I miss it terribly. Sometimes this bothers me, and I am wondering if other people go through similar things such as this.

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probably 85% of poker players, even winning players are somewhat addicted to playing poker. Playing pool is also an addiction but I call it healthy addiction. Just like my addiction to get BJ. HQAHJAHAHA

[Henry17]

I really find it hard to believe that any winning player is addicted. I'd put the number at 20% tops.

[icheckcallu]

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I really find it hard to believe that any winning player is addicted. I'd put the number at 20% tops.

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