Poker, Alan Wake 2, Life

AI Answer (google)

Adrenaline can make you feel happy because it stimulates the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter
known as the "happy hormone". Dopamine is associated with pleasurable sensations, learning, and memory.

Does playing poker still give you the same rush that you used to get when you were playing poker all day every day?

On April 28 2024 02:55 PuertoRican wrote: Does playing poker still give you the same rush that you used to get when you were playing poker all day every day?

That is a good question. Back in my 20s I didn't think about cortisol, adrenaline, or dopamine. I was typically drugged for most of my hands (marijuana, caffeine). I would say poker still lights me up even though I'm sober when I'm playing. I'm playing relatively low stakes so I don't know if the rush is as keyed in compared to when I used to play especially in bigger situations. Although the speed of the tables and playing big pots gets me going. It's just a matter of playing more hands and getting used to the software and the rush will die down except if I was playing higher stakes or more tables then I would probably get more of a rush.

What solver should I get?

Great poker players are autistic performance machines.

Also, I'm probably set on Pio Solver v. 3 but I don't know whether to get Pro or if Elite is worth it.

On April 29 2024 01:52 RiKD wrote: What solver should I get?

I never played with a solver, so I have no input.

Were solvers a thing pre-Black Friday? I haven't played online since then.

On April 30 2024 05:31 PuertoRican wrote: Show nested quote + On April 29 2024 01:52 RiKD wrote: What solver should I get? I never played with a solver, so I have no input. Were solvers a thing pre-Black Friday? I haven't played online since then.

No. Solvers were not a thing pre-Black Friday. In 2010 there was Pro Poker Tools and I don't even remember what the best software was called for nlhe but it was similar but had better visuals. Basically, there were equity calculators and there was a bit of voodoo involved with constructing ranges and doing math. According to a quick Google search solvers became commercially available in 2015. This means that solvers were around before 2015 and that solvers were probably not adopted until later than 2015. I was not around online poker then so I don't know. Either way going from Pro Poker Tools / other to solvers was a mahousive jump in ability to "solve" poker in the "lab." I remember casually following Stroggoz's hands and marveling at how much better at poker he was than me. Now, I have access to charts and GTO trainers pre-flop and my ranges are so much more powerful than in 2010. My hand reading is still pretty strong but now post-flop people use smaller sizing typically and also overbets which I understand to a point but I am far from "perfect" post-flop. Hell, even pre-flop will take a long time to "perfect." Even something as simple as BB v SB open is complicated to get ranges / frequencies perfect. For example, I don't understand why I 3bet K7o ~60% of the time and call 1% of the time yet 3bet K8o 5% and call 55%. It's similar in SB v BB 3bet. I don't understand why I 4bet T9s, J9s, Q9s, K9s 50% of the time and call 50% but call the A9s 100%. Call QJs 100% yet 4bet KJs ~90% and call 10%. It can be difficult to memorize all of that without actually understanding why it's doing the things it is doing.

Poker Stove is the software for nlhe I was trying to remember!

Which Poker Stove and a calculator was a mahousive jump over nothing!

The thing is back then you could just kind of play a lot and not study but it's pretty obvious now that if solver is not studied there is really no hope probably even at 100 NL or lower these days.

"A hyperactive person would have disgusted Nietzsche: the "strong soul" keeps "calm," "moves slowly," and "has an aversion to what's too lively." Thus Spoke Zarathustra declares:

All of you who are in love with hectic work and whatever is fast, new, strange - you find it hard to bear yourselves, your diligence is escape and the will to forget yourself.

If you believed more in life, you would hurl yourself less into the moment. But you do not have enough content in yourselves for waiting - not even for laziness!" (Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society)

Nietzsche would not have been a fan of multitabling online poker. I am unsure if it is possible to maintain a leisurely, contemplative, slow, lingering type of lifestyle and get a bunch of poker hands in. That lifestyle is difficult to maintain being in any late capitalist situation / employment though. Han is kind of insulated by being a college professor at an arts school and a writer and now professor emeritus. Poker player is kind of a hidden blessing and curse because it is easy to exploit oneself and most are playing to acheive pleasure and desire through capital. One does not escape the achievement-subject / auto-exploitation just because there is no boss. On the contrary, it probably increases this idea of being compelled to perform and poker players must perform or they lose money, time, attention. It's even easier to burnout in poker. Kudos to all who are still playing it for a living. It's fucking tough and treacherous out there.

I've been putting forth a lot of attention and energy towards improving at poker the last few days and I'm exhausted. Improving at poker is definitely a game for 18-19 year olds. It is still possible at 40 but where is the stamina? I am used to being inactive most days and treat everyday as if it were the Sabbath but everytime I get involved in a rat race I end up tired and burnt out.

On May 01 2024 02:39 RiKD wrote: I've been putting forth a lot of attention and energy towards improving at poker the last few days and I'm exhausted. Improving at poker is definitely a game for 18-19 year olds. It is still possible at 40 but where is the stamina? I am used to being inactive most days and treat everyday as if it were the Sabbath but everytime I get involved in a rat race I end up tired and burnt out.

This is where going to the gym comes in handy. It not also makes you look better, but it also makes you feel better in several ways.

For example, you mention you lack stamina. If you go to the gym, your stamina will improve on the poker table and in the bedroom.

At the poker table I need A LOT of work.

In the bedroom there is nothing going on there.

Gym is a no brainer I just can't find a program I'm excited about.

I think a problem for me is that I want to play hands but I'm not near as +ev as I want to be. Some work with a solver would likely fix that except it's sort of an unknown because I've never used one before.

I am having fun grinding and kind of learning on the fly but I have to ask myself: Do I really want to be sitting behind a screen grinding out all these hands as well as tedious work in the lab (solver)?

It's a lot of time, attention, energy that could probably be used elsewhere. The thing is it is mind candy for me. Like, probably better than reading a good philosophy book, or doing math, or learning how to play chess. I don't know what I'm going to do.

The thing is when I was 18-19 years old I had plenty of time and the opportunity cost was not studying as much or "building a network." Neither of those things ended up mattering whatsoever there was opportunity cost by studying or spending time with friends (I couldn't be making money at the tables (probably 50c / hand 6-8 tabling which is by no means trivial)).

Now, I am 40 and the fact I didn't study or "build a network" in university still doesn't really matter. My resume is a piece of trash that can only attract trash. I majored in history which taught me "how to think" and write papers. Most employment does not give a shit about those type of things. If I start to think too much about my employment situation I start to think about killing myself. So, I guess poker is a nice escape and there is the pipedream that I could make more money in a year doing that someday. My therapist says I should go back to school and get a PhD in philsophy. That seems like a pipedream too. I've heard the market is trash.

Didn't have any cards, didn't hit any flops, and played weak tight.

I was going to say that poker is probably a more fun intellectual activity than say reading late Heidegger (which I thoroughly enjoy) but man after a session like that just sitting and losing maybe I'll read the Heidegger next time.

Better than losing a bunch of big pots.

I didn't really want to read the Heidegger anyway.

I think that I am leaning towards GTO Wizard. I have a powerful computer so that is not an issue. GTO Wizard just seems more accessible than PIO. Am I making a fish play?