Shannon Shorr thinking of quitting ...

[Vavavoom]

Nice Post Shannon

[Halfpoint]

Anybody who has been on the live scene (MTTs and cash games) for an extended period and lives in Vegas knows that Mr. Schorrs story is fairly common. Its a whole different ballgame living in Vegas where there a a million places to have leaks (-ev table games, girls, tables at nightclubs, dinner at world-class restaurants, hotel suites, etc) Spending alot of money in those spots tends to snowball into your poker game and affects your play.

I remember satelliting in to $2000 PL at WSOP 2003, going home only to have a friend call that he had 4 "smokin hot" girls in his hot tub. I ended up stayin out till 4am and showed up at he tourny and donked offf my stack in about two hours. I was pissed off so I went and donked off some more money playing BJ, went home to take a nap and woke up and bought into a game where i could recoup those losses as fast as possible.

[silver book]

shannon seemed to be talking like he has enough money to not do anything for awhile, but what is he planning to do when he runs out of money

[blueodum]

Re: Grinding2Ecstasy

I don't think Barry is the example you want to point to to support your ideas about poker.

Barry Greenstein still plays poker for a living. It's just that he's made donations to charity with large portions of his winnings.

He's spent more time in physical cardrooms than almost anyone else his age. And he still plays and very full live tournament schedule. In many ways he is (as he hinted at on "the Poker Road") "Father Poker" to the young generation of internet poker whiz kids.

Not since his college days has Barry played poker for extra money/enjoyment. He's been a hardcore poker player for over 30 years. I don't see how he fits into your view of what poker should be.

[Grinding2Ecstasy]

not saying what poker 'should be' or that Barry fits into that. Was quoting him, and the basic idea that there's more to life than poker and Barry has only been at it so long because he is a) exceptionally good at it, b) a big spender who needs to support his lifestyle. Besides, he's had children, advanced education, and a serious real job.

[UncleKraut]

Shannon,

It takes a lot of balls to be completely honest about your financial situation on a public forum. Not sure what your motivation is, but you have my respect.

Of course this honesty is going to bring on the haters...but they are haters for a reason. Jealousy.

It's so easy to sound tough on these forums...real life is a different story.

[TxRedMan]

Poker can suck the life out of you. The highs and lows are like peaks and valleys or some insane topographical map. I tell people, when they ask me about poker- I tell them dont start playing, dont get into it. For me it's been a huge preoccupation at best and a 24/7 obsession at worst. I've learned and matured through poker, and I've come to a point where I'm impervious to things in life that irritate other people because of the conditioning you have to go through and the mental abilities you have to acquire in order to be succesful in the game. One of the hardest things to do is to learn how to shelter those around you from what you go through as a player. Try telling your mom you lost ten grand in five hours, or try and explain to someone who doesn't play that even though you dropped twenty five grand this month you're still a winning player. It's hard to find a balance between honesty and protection, because believe me, you need to protect the people that care about you from agonizing over how they perceive your occupation or hobby.

Most of the people who post on twoplustwo and criticize others as their main reason to post- they're either teenagers who dont have a clue, failed poker players with intense resentment and jealousy, or life-know-it-all's who have been succesful at poker over a ridiculously small sample size. The thing is, and I've said this before with this same disclaimer, you can't relate to what someone goes through who went to war unless you were there with them. I by no means am comparing the gravity of these situations, but i'm trying to lend to the idea by using an analogy- unless you've spent years in card rooms, playing hundreds of thousands of hands, and living through the trials and burdens of a full time poker player- you just cannot relate. If you play online four hours a week and go to Vegas or LA once a month for a weekend of poker, you cannot relate to those who are there everyday. If you're 19 years old and reading this from your dorm room that your parents paid for and have a gas card, meal ticket, and no car payment- you cannot relate to the guy who has none of those neccesities handed to him, the guy who makes his living from the felt each and everyday with nothing coming to fruition unless he himself makes it happen.

There's a million varieties of card players. I'm one of them, you're one of them, Shannon is one of them. I've never met him and most of you have never met me, so I can't comment with any expertise on the specifics in this thread, but I do know that there's a million arm chair quarterbacks in this world and an equal number of people who need a big [censored] slice of humble pie- especially around here. If you're not on the grind supporting yourself as a professional card player, try and STFU and listen more often than you speak, and understand that there's truth in every story and a person behind it who knows only his reality, his perception.


You know what they say, misery loves company. And poker has succeeded in making many of the posters on this board miserable, broke, and insanely jealous of someones good fortune who of course, in their eyes, was just some lucky donk who caught the cards at the right time.



-Tex

[Halfpoint]

------>tex great post

As a live player, the hardest part is dropping down when your bankroll is dwindling. Its so hard to walk into that Bellagio room and sign up for the 15-30 and all the 30-60 and 40-80 mix players all wanna ask you if youre playin today, etc....I ran great for a couple of years, then started playing too high, buying into big events with little NLH experience, leaking money... Now Ive borrowed myself into such a big hole, that I have a normal job and play poker on the side. It happens.

[Halfpoint]

and stay away from sports betting if you dont follow the sport full-time. I cant even estimate how muh money I lost betting on baseball and NFL.

If I would stick to NBA and College football Id be close to even.