Shannon Shorr thinking of quitting ...

[Bonafone]

Wow this thread got derailed. So I'm going to share one of my awesome SS stories:

Two years ago a bunch of 2+2ers I'm friends with, went to Turning Stone for a $1k and $5k tourny. While sweating the final table of the $1k we got incredible bored and ended up flipping coins. I ended up losing $12k to Jon Little and the next day when we were out to dinner I told Shannon that I was never gonna flip again because I was obviously upset about losing money doing something so silly. His immediate response was, "what if you got odds? I'll give you 525 to 500," and pulled out his coin. He obviously won the flip.

Anyways, GL with whatever you do Shannon. You're the [censored]

[DCJ311]

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mike caro said that you can take the best tournament player and someone ranked at 150, put them on the same table of a tournament everyday and the difference between the two would take maybe 2 years to show up in the results.

i am not player hating on anyone and i never will. my beef with shannon is that he wants to call something that spoiled him early.......a stupid game.........and then when things get a little tough, he wants to quit.

now he says he has more money than he knows what to do with? gee, life is sweet, eh shannon?

i really wish i knew what that feeling is like. when my poker playing doesnt go well, my over all financial situation follows suit.

and now i got to hear it from some spoiled whiner who in my eyes, has a great life and nothing to complain about. a good portion of any of his failures in this game are his own undoing too.

shannon, i am striving to get to where you are at. i was on my way once and then stumbled HARD. i know about loss. my life has been a living hell because of this game.......but i am not going to quit.......EVER. please dont call this game stupid. you have no right in my eyes. its like a slap in my face. you dont know what its like to really suffer.

you guys who sympathize with shannon are a bunch of saps and you probably have no clue to the self accountability and burdens of "having to win".

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So in your downswing you never called the game stupid?

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A truly smart person would understand that their short term results (+1.8 million in a short period of time) is unsustainable long term, and would be somewhat cognizant of their overall EV in the game. Complaining when the going gets tough shows a pretty big lack of understanding of mathematical reality. I don't understand all the jock sniffing that goes on here.

[sqwisssssss]

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shannon, i am striving to get to where you are at. i was on my way once and then stumbled HARD. i know about loss. my life has been a living hell because of this game.......but i am not going to quit.......EVER. please dont call this game stupid. you have no right in my eyes. its like a slap in my face. you dont know what its like to really suffer.


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I know you're sincere in what you posted and all that, but just because poker apparently has some mystical, semi-religious importance in your life doesn't mean that other people are required to feel the same way.

I tried to make a living at this game years ago and did so for about 18 months, with great difficulty. The final shot in the back of my head was when I lost a 32k pot on a two-outer. I was absolutely devastated and had the disgrace of admitting failure to friends and family when I had been riding high for many months.

The experience taught me a lot about life and dealing with defeat, but it didn't leave me with any overriding, mystical admiration for the game of poker itself. In fact, it seems kind of random and arbitrary that my career was torpedoed by a two-outer, though I realize now that if it hand't been that bad beat it would likely have been another down the road. OTOH, maybe if I had won that pot I would have gotten Jamie Gold-type luck at my next tournament and be a millionaire right now.

Right now, I play poker for spending money, and I follow it partly to watch guys like Shannon trying to make a go at the same life that I did. I wish them better success than I had, but I don't agree with you that poker is necessarily some great thing. It can be or it can not be depending upon the person.

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very good post because it is something i personally can relate to.

your right, it does depend on the person. it has taken me years to shrug off the bad swings. as long as i play good, thats all that counts. profits will take care of themselves, yada yada yada.

but its the burden of having to play. where else is the money going to come from? its that burden thats hard to shake off. its the ever present battle of walking the tight rope each and every session. i tilt mildy once or twice a year but is this the day i'm going to blow up? god, this guy next to me has bad breath. yada yada yada.

when you have success like shannon, you have choices. you dont "have" to play today, next week, next year.

i understand about having love for the game but lets face it, you can be trapped in a love affair that has fizzled but your trapped. you cant get away because you dont have any reasonable choices.

these are things that are more realistic about playing for a living versus shannon's undue whining. thats why his blog really erks the sh** out of me. his statements remind me of someone who is married to a billionaire, divorces, and now is complaining about living only a millionaire lifestyle now.

[budblown]

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so, in my up swings......was i ever up over a million? nope.

i used to have a poker friend who we would secretly complain to each other about our hard luck, but i grew away from that. i never ever called this game stupid, however, i do think its a very negative game with a lot of ugliness. but once you break through like shannon did, the weight should be lifted and you should have nothing to complain about.

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So what you're saying is money solves all your problems?

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i would like to quote an old world war 2 veteran i have deep respect for........no, he's not a poker player. "money isnt everything........but it sure comes in handy".

let's face it, the bottom line in this game is money. i have no desire for balla status, just the freedom money gives. freedom to think and have choices and not be all f'd up with the burden of time and stress.

money alleviates those things.

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Money may alleviate some of those things, but it also may bring new burden's. It just seemed that you are getting mad because he vented how he felt about the game at the time. And isn't that what the WWII and all our other vets fought for?

[budblown]

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shannon, i am striving to get to where you are at. i was on my way once and then stumbled HARD. i know about loss. my life has been a living hell because of this game.......but i am not going to quit.......EVER. please dont call this game stupid. you have no right in my eyes. its like a slap in my face. you dont know what its like to really suffer.


[/ QUOTE ]

I know you're sincere in what you posted and all that, but just because poker apparently has some mystical, semi-religious importance in your life doesn't mean that other people are required to feel the same way.

I tried to make a living at this game years ago and did so for about 18 months, with great difficulty. The final shot in the back of my head was when I lost a 32k pot on a two-outer. I was absolutely devastated and had the disgrace of admitting failure to friends and family when I had been riding high for many months.

The experience taught me a lot about life and dealing with defeat, but it didn't leave me with any overriding, mystical admiration for the game of poker itself. In fact, it seems kind of random and arbitrary that my career was torpedoed by a two-outer, though I realize now that if it hand't been that bad beat it would likely have been another down the road. OTOH, maybe if I had won that pot I would have gotten Jamie Gold-type luck at my next tournament and be a millionaire right now.

Right now, I play poker for spending money, and I follow it partly to watch guys like Shannon trying to make a go at the same life that I did. I wish them better success than I had, but I don't agree with you that poker is necessarily some great thing. It can be or it can not be depending upon the person.

[/ QUOTE ]

very good post because it is something i personally can relate to.

your right, it does depend on the person. it has taken me years to shrug off the bad swings. as long as i play good, thats all that counts. profits will take care of themselves, yada yada yada.

but its the burden of having to play. where else is the money going to come from? its that burden thats hard to shake off. its the ever present battle of walking the tight rope each and every session. i tilt mildy once or twice a year but is this the day i'm going to blow up? god, this guy next to me has bad breath. yada yada yada.

when you have success like shannon, you have choices. you dont "have" to play today, next week, next year.

i understand about having love for the game but lets face it, you can be trapped in a love affair that has fizzled but your trapped. you cant get away because you dont have any reasonable choices.

these are things that are more realistic about playing for a living versus shannon's undue whining. thats why his blog really erks the sh** out of me. his statements remind me of someone who is married to a billionaire, divorces, and now is complaining about living only a millionaire lifestyle now.

[/ QUOTE ]

The burden of having to play? Are you being forced at gunpoint to play?

If his blog erks you so bad, why do you read it? For someone who says they only go on tilt once or twice a year I would say you have used up both your tilt's for this year on this thread alone.

[budblown]

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mike caro said that you can take the best tournament player and someone ranked at 150, put them on the same table of a tournament everyday and the difference between the two would take maybe 2 years to show up in the results.

i am not player hating on anyone and i never will. my beef with shannon is that he wants to call something that spoiled him early.......a stupid game.........and then when things get a little tough, he wants to quit.

now he says he has more money than he knows what to do with? gee, life is sweet, eh shannon?

i really wish i knew what that feeling is like. when my poker playing doesnt go well, my over all financial situation follows suit.

and now i got to hear it from some spoiled whiner who in my eyes, has a great life and nothing to complain about. a good portion of any of his failures in this game are his own undoing too.

shannon, i am striving to get to where you are at. i was on my way once and then stumbled HARD. i know about loss. my life has been a living hell because of this game.......but i am not going to quit.......EVER. please dont call this game stupid. you have no right in my eyes. its like a slap in my face. you dont know what its like to really suffer.

you guys who sympathize with shannon are a bunch of saps and you probably have no clue to the self accountability and burdens of "having to win".

[/ QUOTE ]

So in your downswing you never called the game stupid?

[/ QUOTE ]

A truly smart person would understand that their short term results (+1.8 million in a short period of time) is unsustainable long term, and would be somewhat cognizant of their overall EV in the game. Complaining when the going gets tough shows a pretty big lack of understanding of mathematical reality. I don't understand all the jock sniffing that goes on here.

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How does venting your frustration about how you have been running show a lack of mathematical understanding?

Poker players wear jockstraps? So that's what I've been doing wrong.

[sqwisssssss]

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so, in my up swings......was i ever up over a million? nope.

i used to have a poker friend who we would secretly complain to each other about our hard luck, but i grew away from that. i never ever called this game stupid, however, i do think its a very negative game with a lot of ugliness. but once you break through like shannon did, the weight should be lifted and you should have nothing to complain about.

[/ QUOTE ]

So what you're saying is money solves all your problems?

[/ QUOTE ]

i would like to quote an old world war 2 veteran i have deep respect for........no, he's not a poker player. "money isnt everything........but it sure comes in handy".

let's face it, the bottom line in this game is money. i have no desire for balla status, just the freedom money gives. freedom to think and have choices and not be all f'd up with the burden of time and stress.

money alleviates those things.

[/ QUOTE ]

Money may alleviate some of those things, but it also may bring new burden's. It just seemed that you are getting mad because he vented how he felt about the game at the time. And isn't that what the WWII and all our other vets fought for?

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, true that.

but may i say, "money cant buy happiness" was invented by poor people who are in denial or the ones that were born rich.

money can bring new burdens for some, maybe most, but not for me. i am not materialistic. all i want is a rocket car and a house made of gold.

peace out and thanks to those who kept it civilized in here. i got to go watch the ducks and dixon try to clobber arizona.

[budblown]

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so, in my up swings......was i ever up over a million? nope.

i used to have a poker friend who we would secretly complain to each other about our hard luck, but i grew away from that. i never ever called this game stupid, however, i do think its a very negative game with a lot of ugliness. but once you break through like shannon did, the weight should be lifted and you should have nothing to complain about.

[/ QUOTE ]

So what you're saying is money solves all your problems?

[/ QUOTE ]

i would like to quote an old world war 2 veteran i have deep respect for........no, he's not a poker player. "money isnt everything........but it sure comes in handy".

let's face it, the bottom line in this game is money. i have no desire for balla status, just the freedom money gives. freedom to think and have choices and not be all f'd up with the burden of time and stress.

money alleviates those things.

[/ QUOTE ]

Money may alleviate some of those things, but it also may bring new burden's. It just seemed that you are getting mad because he vented how he felt about the game at the time. And isn't that what the WWII and all our other vets fought for?

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, true that.

but may i say, "money cant buy happiness" was invented by poor people who are in denial or the ones that were born rich.

money can bring new burdens for some, maybe most, but not for me. i am not materialistic. all i want is a rocket car and a house made of gold.

peace out and thanks to those who kept it civilized in here. i got to go watch the ducks and dixon try to clobber arizona.

[/ QUOTE ]

I 100% agree that money can buy happiness. But being happy is only a temporary state of mind. Show me one person who's happy every second of every day and I'll ask what nuthouse you got them out of.

[LearnedfromTV]

Nice posts by Tex and Shannon

Re this

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You guys are silly if you don't think I read and study the game. My comment in my blog was just saying I should probably do it 5-7 hours a day if I really, really wanted to be at the top of my game. I'm not playing the game at this point to grind out the highest possible hourly rate. I'll be content with knocking off a tournament every now and then for six figures and getting a little better along the way.

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The post I made early in the thread probably isn't being viewed by anyone as overly critical of Shannon, but just in case and to make a legitimate point separated from the idiotic jealously-based one-liners:

All I wanted to say is that working hard to improve is necessary to doing this job well, and that someone who isn't interested in putting in the work shouldn't be surprised if he feels like he isn't as good as he could be or doing as well as he could be. Shannon could easily be more successful than a nobody grinder (like me) working half as hard, but if he's feeling like quitting because he doesn't want to put in enough hours to stay at the top of his game, then he's probably better off doing something else and/or doing poker "halfway," as long as he's cool with not making the most $ possible with his talent. As far as I can tell, Shannon is a talented poker player who may have run over expectation but generally deserves his success. The only question is how much he wants to dedicate to poker going forward, where it falls on his priority list. People attacking him for working through those issues on a blog are dumb.

In general, any people making judgments about the psychological affects of playing full time and the particular work/life balance issues that this job entails without having actually played poker full time should be very cautious with those judgments, because they probably don't know what they are talking about.

[sqwisssssss]

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shannon, i am striving to get to where you are at. i was on my way once and then stumbled HARD. i know about loss. my life has been a living hell because of this game.......but i am not going to quit.......EVER. please dont call this game stupid. you have no right in my eyes. its like a slap in my face. you dont know what its like to really suffer.


[/ QUOTE ]

I know you're sincere in what you posted and all that, but just because poker apparently has some mystical, semi-religious importance in your life doesn't mean that other people are required to feel the same way.

I tried to make a living at this game years ago and did so for about 18 months, with great difficulty. The final shot in the back of my head was when I lost a 32k pot on a two-outer. I was absolutely devastated and had the disgrace of admitting failure to friends and family when I had been riding high for many months.

The experience taught me a lot about life and dealing with defeat, but it didn't leave me with any overriding, mystical admiration for the game of poker itself. In fact, it seems kind of random and arbitrary that my career was torpedoed by a two-outer, though I realize now that if it hand't been that bad beat it would likely have been another down the road. OTOH, maybe if I had won that pot I would have gotten Jamie Gold-type luck at my next tournament and be a millionaire right now.

Right now, I play poker for spending money, and I follow it partly to watch guys like Shannon trying to make a go at the same life that I did. I wish them better success than I had, but I don't agree with you that poker is necessarily some great thing. It can be or it can not be depending upon the person.

[/ QUOTE ]

very good post because it is something i personally can relate to.

your right, it does depend on the person. it has taken me years to shrug off the bad swings. as long as i play good, thats all that counts. profits will take care of themselves, yada yada yada.

but its the burden of having to play. where else is the money going to come from? its that burden thats hard to shake off. its the ever present battle of walking the tight rope each and every session. i tilt mildy once or twice a year but is this the day i'm going to blow up? god, this guy next to me has bad breath. yada yada yada.

when you have success like shannon, you have choices. you dont "have" to play today, next week, next year.

i understand about having love for the game but lets face it, you can be trapped in a love affair that has fizzled but your trapped. you cant get away because you dont have any reasonable choices.

these are things that are more realistic about playing for a living versus shannon's undue whining. thats why his blog really erks the sh** out of me. his statements remind me of someone who is married to a billionaire, divorces, and now is complaining about living only a millionaire lifestyle now.

[/ QUOTE ]

The burden of having to play? Are you being forced at gunpoint to play?

If his blog erks you so bad, why do you read it? For someone who says they only go on tilt once or twice a year I would say you have used up both your tilt's for this year on this thread alone.

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i dont need a gun put to my head to finish something i have started. 4 years dude, and i dont have much to show from it. i put the gun to my own head.

i never read his blog personally. just from what i read here in the original post.

my first responce was about the comparisons of razor blades and a buck knife.

be a buck knife. razor blades dont last long. peace out.