Why do you play poker?

[Longy]

I apologize if this has been covered before but i can't recollect such a thread.

I have personally been thinking about why I play poker for the last couple of days and how my attitude to the game has changed, probably for the worse. I'm interested to hear others views on this.

To get the ball rolling, i started playing the game online for /10c limit over 3 years ago on the internet. The first couple of months i was addicted i played constantly every spare moment, I just got so much enjoyment from the challenge of it all. The money was just a way of keeping score. I wasn't good, in fact i was awful looking back at my play but i was good enough to beat the penny levels.

I read and read, poker books, forums the lot. I am competitive soul and if I'm going to do something, i want to be good at it and preferably win. I got better and started beating higher levels on the internet.

Well to cut a long story short about a year ago, I really wasn't enjoying my job (I was a Maths Teacher) and I was making a fair bit out of poker. So i took the plunge and took a sabbatical from teaching to chase the dream of an online pro. I'm still doing it now and to be honest teaching seem less attractive by the day.

Yet my reason for playing poker has changed i take enjoyment from winning and making money. I still love the game but its the winning that counts and all the reasons i started playing are somewhere in the background to chasing the mighty $.

I find this quite sad in a way but that is the bottom line now.

* Disclaimer I realise the poll is not scientific and you all probably could tick more than one box.

[ifm]

I have a feeling this poll can only go one way

[Rusty]

So anyways i was playing tonight, i got aces and raised....................

[vegaslover]

.......................and got called by Q 10.......

[Djinn]

I started playing for two of the listed reasons, to give my young teenage friends something to think about while drinking illicit Malibu while at the same time taking their substantial pocket monies.

Then having experienced temp work for three days in Hobbs (from which I was let go for being 'non-sales driven' i.e. crap) the internet stepped in to let me keep my head above water for the next year and a half.

Then I met blonde, and started to work for them, and poker has become all about the sheer competition.  I've been lucky enough to get a chance to play in some tournaments which are way over my little bankroll (on which I keep a vicelike grip) and that is about the most fun I've ever had while totally sober.  Now I split my time grinding the money for my car insurance online, and attempting to qualify for more of those. 

I consider it to be part masochism, part Jedi-like self-control training - far from telling other people my bad beats, I tend to consider whether, in the long run, I have played correctly, and just sit in the lotus position in front of my computer feeling the calm in the middle of other people's maths-dodging storm.

[RED-DOG]

I started playing for two of the listed reasons, to give my young teenage friends something to think about while drinking illicit Malibu while at the same time taking their substantial pocket monies.

Then having experienced temp work for three days in Hobbs (from which I was let go for being 'non-sales driven' i.e. crap) the internet stepped in to let me keep my head above water for the next year and a half.

Then I met blonde, and started to work for them, and poker has become all about the sheer competition.  I've been lucky enough to get a chance to play in some tournaments which are way over my little bankroll (on which I keep a vicelike grip) and that is about the most fun I've ever had while totally sober.  Now I split my time grinding the money for my car insurance online, and attempting to qualify for more of those. 

I consider it to be part masochism, part Jedi-like self-control training - far from telling other people my bad beats, I tend to consider whether, in the long run, I have played correctly, and just sit in the lotus position in front of my computer feeling the calm in the middle of other people's maths-dodging storm.

What a fantastic post! I lurrrrve it. I feel much the same Jen, and I am convinced that good bankroll management is the main reason I'm still in the game two years down the line. 

[Snatiramas]

Sorry to buck the trend but I really do not play because of the money............don't get me wrong I like the money but it is purely a side effect of wanting to be the best I can possibly be at a chosen hobby.
Poker became my hobby coming up to 4 years ago as I approached my fortieth birthday when somebody told me it was and I quote "ALL downhill from here". I was reading an article about the world series and immeadiately after telling the person concerned what I thought about his opinions on age. I decided as I returned to my paper that I would learn to play the game and go and play in the world series.

Last year my motivation carried me to the WSOP.............

Along the way I have made money...........
Played on a cruise
Played in the Bahamas
Played in Walsall.........not sure I knew where it ewas before I took up the game
Won numerous iddy biddy tournies
Final tabled in festival events

And best of all as regards achievements won the Blonde Bash 3.

Since I came back from the WSOP I have realised that I just love the competition but I mainly love live competition.
The great thing about being an enthusiastic amateur is I only play when I want to and not because I have to..........this suits me.

[kinboshi]

It's definitely a combination.  It's the intellectual challenge, combined with the fact I can make money at the same time.

I used to play chess when I was younger at a very high level, but got fairly bored with it (not going to make any money playing, and to reach even a slightly higher level would require a lot of time, dedication and effort).  Was intrigued by poker, and the idea of playing a game, being intellectually challenged, AND making money at the same time.

If I can reach the same level in poker as I did at chess, then I'll be very happy - and a lot wealthier than I am now. 

I just wish I was 10-years younger, and online poker had been around when I was at uni. 

[Tinsel Town]

...the flop comes Q T A rainbow......

[Tinsel Town]

Being a quite competitive person... I enjoy this aspect of the game.

I'm too fat n old to play the sports I used to play at . I could still
play fives or a bit of volleyball but where's the fun in beating other fat n old
people!!!

I started playing cards two years ago . I have no background in this. Never played
any card games at all in my 39 years. I don't like gambling and never touch horses , dogs or football
at a bookies.
Now instead of competing physically I can compete mentally. I also believe I now have a pastime
that I can play for the rest of my days.
I have no delusions as to my standard of play. I'm pretty poor but another aspect
I enjoy is attempting to get better!! I won my first MTT on UB at the new year and
my next goal is to qualify  for a major live event. This will need to be after April though
as I've used up all my holiday entitlement at work!!
I definitely do not play for money.

Regards

 

[AndrewT]

I play because I'm fundamentally lazy.

When given a task which takes 3 hours to do, I'd much rather spend 6 hours working out how to do it in 30 minutes. As a result of our totally broken 'go at the speed of the slowest' education system I was never really pushed at school and so never developed a work ethic.

Gambling had the allure of enabling me to make money by using my intelligence without having to work at it. I'd dabbled with horse racing and sports betting but quickly realised that to be successful at this actually requires huge amounts of effort (in terms of research). I then tried poker and immediately hit paydirt as an inate understanding of the fundamental principles, plus discipline, was really all I needed to make tidy sums, get free holidays, and get on TV.

Hitting the inevitable dry spell (along with the raise in standard of internet players) made me realise that maintaining the good times did require effort and research, but because I loved the game so much I didn't classify this as real work.

[Claw75]

I'm not sure there's a box for me up there.  I play poker because I enjoy the game, and it's my hobby - that's about it.  It's always nice to win, of course, but I still consider an evening playing losing poker to be a fun evening (which is just as well )

[Longy]

I'm not sure there's a box for me up there.  I play poker because I enjoy the game, and it's my hobby - that's about it.  It's always nice to win, of course, but I still consider an evening playing losing poker to be a fun evening (which is just as well )

Good point Claw i meant to put an option in that was along those lines, i will edit the poll. Poll re editted, tikay has a point lol.

[tikay]

I'm not sure there's a box for me up there.  I play poker because I enjoy the game, and it's my hobby - that's about it.  It's always nice to win, of course, but I still consider an evening playing losing poker to be a fun evening (which is just as well )

Good point Claw i meant to put an option in that was along those lines, i will edit the poll.

With respect Longy, you can't really change the Poll questions at this stage, as some have voted already, so the integrity of the Polll would be compromised.

[matt674]

BANANAS!!