The House

[DonkBluffer]

For me, the thing is that I don't want to put in effort for a long time (it would take a while to become as good as i could be) for short term benefit (poker might not be around forever). The real problem here is that some of us just have [censored] personalities. Some people enjoy something and then just go for it 100% without any doubts at all. Personally, I'm usually full of doubts and I rarely really go for something. You probably don't have the easiest personality either, judging from your post.

For comparison, this is from Brian Townsend's blog: "I think that I am lucky that I really enjoy playing poker. Maybe it is that I am newer to the top games than some of the aforementioned player, but I wake up in the morning and it's like I'm a kid on Christmas morning going to open up all his presents."

No wonder he's become so good. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[B00T]

I'd even stake you.

[El Diablo]

Dibs,

I definitely have some shared feelings. However, I mainly agree w/ Gild. If you want to make a ton of money from poker and have the abilities to do so, there's nothing stopping you right now.

My situation is that I started playing in 2002. In 2003 I was playing 10-15 hours a week and made something in the $100k+ range. 2004 same thing. Very nice money for a hobby, but nothing that really impacted my life. Given the state of games at the time (how big they were, how often they went, how profitable they were), my expectation was that the games would stay good and get a little bigger for some time, and if I focused on it I could probably make $500k-1M per year at poker. That was not enough to really focus on continuing to play seriously and keep moving up limits.

Looking back a couple of years later, I was completely wrong. I would have guessed that by now, 25-50NL and 50-100NL would be going strong and there would be some tough 100-200NL games going. The fact that there are often big action 200-400NL and 300-600NL games going on online is something I did not even imagine. Had I thought this would happen, I would have been much more serious about continuing to improve and keep my game sharp and play the biggest limits. However, a couple of years ago I didn't really see poker as something that would present any more significant challenges to me, nor provide a way to make amounts of money that made a real life-changing impact for me. I had no idea games would be at a level where it would be possible for top players to win 500k-1M in a month online. Nor did I imagine the size of big buyin tourneys or the endorsement dollars that would be possible.

So, sure, I look back and in retrospect would have liked to have taken a shot at putting myself in a position to be vying for that kind of money in poker. But I don't really regret not doing so, as I'm very happy with what I did with building value in a couple of companies over the last few years, one of which has already made me a nice little chunk of money, and the other hopefully will end up making me more money than I could realistically have made focusing on poker.

I'm a firm believer in not worrying about things you didn't do and making the most of the choices you've made and situations you're currently in. For me this means that it's currently much smarter for me to focus on scaling some businesses. For you this might mean it still makes sense to focus on poker. Figure out what the best path is for you starting from the here and now and quit worrying about things you might have done differently in the past.

[EPiPeN11]

Poker is still pretty easy right now, sure it was easier before but there are still plenty of average/bad players.

[MaxPower]

Dids, there is something about your post that makes me believe that you have higher expectations than you are willing to admit to yourself.

Its clear that you want more out of your life than what you are getting right now. There is no shame in that. The same is true for me and many others. What would be a shame is if you didn't pursue those things that you want. Poker teaches you that your decisions matter and make the difference between success and failure. You can apply this to weight loss. You can also apply this to getting that house, but I doubt that poker is the way to reach that goal, because you clearly do not love the game or have a great desire to gamble.

I honestly think you should set your sights a little higher. You have a lot of potential and you should try to realize as much of it as you can. Congrats on the weight loss.

Sorry for the psychoanalysis. I could be wrong. Maybe I am projecting.

[ImsaKidd]

Dids:

I had a streak very similar to this from December 2006- Feb 07. Not making much $$, unhappy with my skills, etc. I was also thinking along the lines of "why didnt I start NL earlier and play party when it was so soft?".

Then in March I changed my attitude, really devoted the entire month to learning, not dwelling on what could have been. I made very little in March (def. ran below expectation, doesnt matter because I did what I set out to do: learn).

April rolled around, I had all my thoughts from March fresh in my mind, and I just grinded hardcore. Played 60k hands and made more money in the month than all my past months combined. May was similar.

You really have to believe it what you are doing, and realize there is going to be a sunk time cost for learning. For me this was countless hours in March, playing and studying. I was passionate and confident in what I was working on, and it eventually paid off.

Best of luck.

[HedonismBot]

If you're bsically starting from the bottom in mid 2007 might as well put your time/effort into something else if money is a primary concern. Agree?

[guids]

I quit online poker about a week or two before the legislation, I wanted to make sure I got all my money if worst case scenerio happened (seized funds etc), I play some 30/60 at the casinos, and some bigger home games. From what Im reading there are still good games going? what sites? is rakeback still available? what limits are still available? Last thing I played was the 10/20 6 max, and 15/30 games. Anyone want to give a lazy bastard a rundown of where to play, which gamaes on that site, and how to deposit? I wouldnt mind saving some gas money.

[Los Feliz Slim]

I quit online poker approximately a month ago. Time constraints don't really allow me to play at the clubs very often, so playing even semi-seriously isn't really an option anymore. I maintained a $10K roll while buying toys during the time that I was playing, cashed it out, spent most of it. Now I've got $2,000 sitting around for those odd weekends I'm able to get to a home game or a casino.

I will always remember poker fondly, and my watch and my wife's purse will remind me that it was cool to get some money for nothing.

I don't ever want to live the life of a pro player, so honestly I'm glad that my timing and skills weren't a little bit better. Thank God online poker didn't exist when I was in college.

[El Diablo]

LFS,

"Thank God online poker didn't exist when I was in college."

Had it been present, I could see myself potentially being far less or far more successful right now. I've contemplated that a number of times.