Two Plus Two Newer Archives  

Go Back   Two Plus Two Newer Archives > General Gambling > Psychology

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-30-2007, 09:03 PM
darom03 darom03 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Not USA!!! \\o/
Posts: 1,314
Default A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

I am a winning poker player. I treat poker as my second source of income and has done that for two years now.

And I have always been winning, even when I started out at the lowest limits in limit poker. That means that I have always had a good excuse to play. It allowed for an extravagant lifestyle as a student.

Lately, though, i have had a hard time with poker. I think about it too much, and I devote a far too great amount of time on it. And I am winning money, which is needed now as I have not bothered finishing my education. I still lack to write my final paper in journalism. The motivation doesn't seem to be there.

That have made me think about if I might be degenerate.But how do I determine if my large obsession with poker is just good reasoning or a degenerate thought process?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-01-2007, 04:21 AM
vetiver vetiver is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 212
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

What's your interpretation of degenerate?
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-01-2007, 07:07 AM
Johnes Benjamin Johnes Benjamin is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: 3rd & Delaware
Posts: 848
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

have you considered that poker may not be the only thing keeping you from writing your paper?

If you barely have anything left to do and are not making much playing poker then you need to get your [censored] together. If you have a lot left to complete and you are making a helluva lot of money playing poker than it is totally fine to play. Weigh these factors.

Just remember, you will almost always have the greatest insight into whether it is a good decision or not. A lot of people will always view playing poker as a degenerate act. Do not let their ignorance influence you
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 12-01-2007, 09:34 AM
El_Hombre_Grande El_Hombre_Grande is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: On another hopeless bluff.
Posts: 1,091
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

But I think that the view of most people is simply premised on the fact that most people lose at poker, and most people they know lose at poker, and even a lot of players who claim to win, actual lose. So if you were going to take a prop bet on any random player, its probably degeneracy of one flavor or another. But, only you know your situation, and you need to be brutally honest with yourself.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 12-01-2007, 01:11 PM
pokervintage pokervintage is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 220
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

[ QUOTE ]
That have made me think about if I might be degenerate.But how do I determine if my large obsession with poker

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmmm....Perhaps Journalism is not your cup of tea. At least not yet. Journalists must be self aware and confident. You seem to be lost in some cloud of self doubt. If you believe that you truly have a problem then seek professional help. I'm sure that your school has counselors trained to help you.

pokervintage
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 12-01-2007, 01:16 PM
darom03 darom03 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Not USA!!! \\o/
Posts: 1,314
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

[ QUOTE ]
What's your interpretation of degenerate?

[/ QUOTE ]

That is part of the problem. I have no real knowledge to which ways degeneracy shows itself in winning players. I know some online tests and I score pretty high on degeneracy with those. But that doesn't tell me much, as I treat poker as a job and therefor answer questions like "Do you think about gambling a lot?" and "Do you feel a need for gambling?" pretty high.

To be honest with you guys, I don't really feel I am a generate gambler, but I fear that I may be on the verge of becoming one. And that scares me, as poker really is an ok source of income for me (I pull out about 1000 taxfree dollars a month from poker currently, so I am not a huge winner by ana lot of standards) and the money is sorely needed.

If I have to stop playing poker, I would be forced to get another second job, and that would probably involve me during some menial work for many more hours than by which I spend playing poker (I do, however, spend a lot more time thinking about poker than actually playing it).

I also feel that poker is one of the reasons I have trouble motivating myself to finish my education. In order to finish it, I have to spend about six months working on my final exam, which I don't feel I have the mental capacity for at this stage. So I use poker as an escape, since I am not short for money as long as I keep playing.

Finally I should stress that I have no ambition about me being a highroller. I am comfortable playing the low to mid stakes, and I have nor the nerve or the stomach to play much higher than I do now... So I can't use poker as a full time career choice. I have excellent bankroll management which contribute a lot to my immidiate success at the tables (my risk of ruin (ROR) is well below 1 %).

I don't want to consult an anti-degeneracy consultant as I am sure he would say I am a degenerate and therefor should stop playing poker, and I don't want that solution crammed down my throat.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 12-01-2007, 01:19 PM
darom03 darom03 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Not USA!!! \\o/
Posts: 1,314
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
That have made me think about if I might be degenerate.But how do I determine if my large obsession with poker

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmmm....Perhaps Journalism is not your cup of tea. At least not yet. Journalists must be self aware and confident. You seem to be lost in some cloud of self doubt. If you believe that you truly have a problem then seek professional help. I'm sure that your school has counselors trained to help you.

pokervintage

[/ QUOTE ]

My problem is that I am 32 years of age, and it is getting a little late to change career path. I have already done that once as I were a salesman by trade before I started my education to become a journalist. You are painfully right about the cloud of self-doubt though.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 12-01-2007, 01:24 PM
darom03 darom03 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Not USA!!! \\o/
Posts: 1,314
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

One final note:

I know that I may come out as someone who should be capable of answering my own questions, but that is not the case. As I were writing the stuff above, I suddenly realized that maybe I should seek some form of help. That maybe I should talk to some form of psychiatrist or therapist?

The problem is that where I am from, these guys costs a fortune and, and since I'm on the cheap side, I really don't want to fork out thousand of dollars for something that might not work. I haven't got much faith in psychiatrists or therapists.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 12-01-2007, 02:19 PM
djshawk djshawk is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 427
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

I dont think 'bankroll management' is in the vocabulary of a degen. You are fine!
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 12-01-2007, 02:56 PM
pokervintage pokervintage is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 220
Default Re: A question about degeneracy in winning poker players

[ QUOTE ]
I haven't got much faith in psychiatrists or therapists

[/ QUOTE ]

Although I don't believe that you need a psychiatrist I also believe that you are not being fair about their ability to help you. In the end you will probably find that you are indeed your own best therapist. Professional help means just that. Help in finding YOUR own way. That could be as simple as sitting with a trained social worker that is good at listening.

Most humans, I believe, experince self doubt at one time or another. Some for their entire life. Most never really know what it is that they want to do with their life and so they just continue on with what they are doing.

You chose Journalism a while back and you went to great lengths, a college education is not that easy, to accomplish that goal. In my opinion (just an opinion) it would be a waste not to see it through. Passion is a personal thing so I cannot tell you to love being a jounalist. But there is an old song that goes like this "If you can't be with the one you love then love the one you're with". I believe the same is true if you do not know what it is you really love.

Poker is a "brain dead" experience. That's right. If you learn to play poker well eventually it becomes close to a repetitive exercise with little if any room for creativity. Forget it for now and pursue your dream of being a journalist. Poker will always be there if you want to come back to it later.

pokervintage
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:09 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.