Poker

losing alway feels 3 times worse than winning. Overall you get an emotional deficit even if you are winning 55% of your session and making a tidy profit. Seems that as a grinder one need to find a way past this. Is the solution getting ice cold about the variance and focusing on the overview?

Smart post, agree 100% Lot of desilusional players who throw their lives away thinking poker is the solution to their problems...

Good points, but I feel that it's still "easy" to make decent money (even though I'm breakeven the last 5 months due to being an idiot), it's just not as much free money as a few years ago.

If you play for money, why not drop stakes and crush when you are breakeven at your limit?

I understand what you are saying and even though I only play micros I actually have some of the same feelings after losing/running bad whatever. What I can say that many people don't appreciate on this site (I am an old git), especially when they post similar blogs after running in to the spiral you seem to be facing, is that working outside of poker and having a career - of whatever type - has it's own challenges. I have had many sleepless/troubled sleep nights (and other associated stress related affectations - being a miserable, grumpy, short tempered, irrational, unfair, distracted tosser) because of something going on at work - this could be:
- Fear of having not done well at work and more specifically the consequences
- Fear of the business failing
- Fear of providing for family in the event of x, y happening
- Worrying about having to make people redundant even though that seems unfair
- Getting pissed off because boss/colleague/other is being a wanker and how to deal with it
- Stress related to specific customers making life miserable
- etc, etc

Some of these are very analagous to poker - fear of failure or stress because of failure (whether due to variance or bad play in poker - the same exists elsewhere - variance is not unique to poker!). Others are not relevant to poker (co-workers etc) but obviously poker has it's own specific challenges - unsociable hours, insular lifestyle etc etc that others have blogged out here.

I guess the point I am making is that quite often people blog about how tough poker is as a profession and I am not quailified to comment (I am however sure it isn't easy) but I what i am qualified to say is that there aren't many careers that are easy and there are many stresses associated with other paths in life. I don't know many people who have a career that they love and enjoy going to work every day. What I also know is that if you are very unhappy doing something and it is affecting your life significantly and others around you then maybe it's time to do something else. That is always an option and with poker you can always play a little when you feel like it rather than grind - it may then even become enjoyable again. I stopped what I was doing that was consuming me and affecting my life and I am now a much nicer (so I am told!) and happier person. Now I just need to find the perfect vocation.....still working on that one

if you really feel that way quit.
you should take some measure of pleasure in what you do, and if all poker is doing is making you miserable, so you can have a few bucks you should really consider moving on to something that makes you happy.

I agree with most of this. There is still money to be made but not enough to just give yourself up to poker completely. If i where you i would go to school or pursue another career and just keep poker on the side as a lucrative hobby, just drop down stakes and grind a couple of hours a week for some extra dough.

I completely agree too. It's not worth it. Set yourself up some other life and use poker to support yourself on the side while you do it imo. I'm starting a business like this and it feels great to be setting myself in something real. Hope you feel better soon!

hi, let's hon on dec. 31st