Leatherass- mass grinding is bad for your brain

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/15033-dusty-schmidt-this-is-my-brain-this-is-my-brain-on-poker

Interesting article, not for what he said just for the concept of what poker may do to you mentally. I think that its more an individual thing as are most health issues but just thought the people here would like to see it.

Thanks for posting this. It was indeed very interesting. I have thought about what the effects of 24 tabling for hours on end might be doing to my brain several times in the past. There really is no information out there on the subject. We are guinea pigs as he said. I wonder if there might be some other jobs out there though that could compare such as an air traffic controller at a busy airport, having to process huge amounts of information very quickly. And whether or not there are any long term studies on the effects.

Very interesting article - not surprising though.

when i played 20-25 tables of sng. after doing so for 2-3 hours i would start to have head spins. it felt like i was going to pass out on a few occasions. one of the main factors that forced me to stop playing.

BlackRain79 said:

Thanks for posting this. It was indeed very interesting. I have thought about what the effects of 24 tabling for hours on end might be doing to my brain several times in the past. There really is no information out there on the subject. We are guinea pigs as he said. I wonder if there might be some other jobs out there though that could compare such as an air traffic controller at a busy airport, having to process huge amounts of information very quickly. And whether or not there are any long term studies on the effects.

Click to expand...

I agree, I think a detailed study with players being monitored as they play would be fascinating. I think poker is a really different hobby/job because there are many people who grind huge amounts who also go to school full time. The added stress of lectures, homework and grades and then going home and grinding for hours must get to you. Personally I have only gone too 18 tables and that was just a few weeks of madness on my part. It does get easier to do but it did wear me out mentally.

There is also the tilt issues, I may be presuming too much but in his book Dusty admitted to some huge tilt sessions before he went to Jared Tendler and he had the heart attack very young. I know that I let myself get emotional over poker but more in a 5 seconds oh come one wtf was that way now and again.

WiZZiM said:

when i played 20-25 tables of sng. after doing so for 2-3 hours i would start to have head spins. it felt like i was going to pass out on a few occasions. one of the main factors that forced me to stop playing.

Click to expand...

So you do not play at all now online Wiz? I admire your thoughts on the game but I also know the main way people grind up is mass tabling and people tend to think they have to to make use of bonuses and promotions. Maybe less tables and taking shots at higher levels earlier could be benificial to many players and cut the head spins out.

Yes this is an interesting article - thanks. And I think it's very plausible that mass multi-tabling is harmful to the brain. But I was a bit sceptical about all the references to the "Amen Clinic" as it seems like a thinly veiled advertorial.

When I googled Amen Clinic it immediately came up as a suspected scam outfit. Whatever - even if they have suspect methods, I am not surprised to hear that playing poker online full-time can be detrimental to a person's health.

I dont understand the reason people play like 12+ tables. You do not enjoy, you dont play your best game, loose focus,stress and finally make less money than expected.
I think people do that cause they put the blame for the bad beats on ''variance'' and not on the ''programmers''. Also i think they are not sure about how good they are and think they can crash the levels below but much volume is needed so they do in excess. Excess doesnt make u play better.
Most of my friends are live players too. They are enjoying, making friends taking just a few bad beats concentrating and making a lot of money with horrible opponents. This is ONE table at a time.
2-6 tables is more than enough to close the action without getting crazy or forgetting your own name. Chill and if u get bored leave the programmers that designed many all-in situations to increase the rake and have fun at an online tournament or a cash table with grannys ready to gamble hard.

nidal55 said:

I dont understand the reason people play like 12+ tables. You do not enjoy, you dont play your best game, loose focus,stress and finally make less money than expected.
I think people do that cause they put the blame for the bad beats on ''variance'' and not on the ''programmers''. Also i think they are not sure about how good they are and think they can crash the levels below but much volume is needed so they do in excess. Excess doesnt make u play better.
Most of my friends are live players too. They are enjoying, making friends taking just a few bad beats concentrating and making a lot of money with horrible opponents. This is ONE table at a time.
2-6 tables is more than enough to close the action without getting crazy or forgetting your own name. Chill and if u get bored leave the programmers that designed many all-in situations to increase the rake and have fun at an online tournament or a cash table with grannys ready to gamble hard.

Click to expand...

Because it earns them more money. Not saying all enjoy it; but some do AND the amount of money that can be earned doing so; is worth it to some extent.

Also; you don't have to enjoy it, for the most part people who mass table for hours on end, do it for a living. Like any job, you will become sick of it.



lol, your last statement is funny and you're simply clueless on how online poker works or what it is by the sounds of it.

interesting. i max out on 12 tables. respect for leather and his general weirdness though

Nice article. Interesting from his POV. The timing of this is bad tho. There will be the moralists who come out of the wall like termites saying this is another reason to 'Outlaw' online poker. And with the US State of OLP in such flux, it will affect us in ways we can not imagine, just like Dusty says it affected him in ways he did not recognize.

that does make sense, now just think if your brain already moves fast and thinks fast.

ive noticed that since i started playing poker,im always thinking poker or chatting poker or reading poker or needing to play more poker. it does become a bit of an obsession and sometimes i feel like saying to myself; "DUDE,RELAX WITH THE DAMN GAME". but i always turn back to playing poker. it definitely influences us mentally like anything else we do. and too much of anything is definitely not good.

i dont know about multitabling though. i can fire up 2 tables easily but after the third,i start feeling like im not having fun anymore. after reading this,i dont see myself ever multitabling. lets not forget though that he mentions things such as alcohol and drugs in the text and some of the mental issues that were recognised by the brain scan might be partly related to this. anyways.was a great read and i respect him for coming out with such an issue and speak about it to others publicly. this is good information for other mass multitablers. Not to freak them out but to keep them alert and aware of any changes that they might be feeling on a psychological level.

ramdeebam said:

Because it earns them more money. Not saying all enjoy it; but some do AND the amount of money that can be earned doing so; is worth it to some extent.

Also; you don't have to enjoy it, for the most part people who mass table for hours on end, do it for a living. Like any job, you will become sick of it.



lol, your last statement is funny and you're simply clueless on how online poker works or what it is by the sounds of it.

Click to expand...

U dont have to be like this i said that if ur not focused u dont make the money u expected so people are NOT making enough when their heads are spinning. Dont be offended cause its not bad to admit ur not playing ur best 12+ and sometimes u tried playing 4 for fun u made one of your best sessions.
Im new to online poker but making a living doesnt have to be a torture and i personally im a poker pro and i LOVE playing, never hated it and sometimes i invite people at home to play even more poker. As for the last part i dont know how it works but im not a fool and when i come across situations ive never experienced before on a live table i know some weird things are going on unless u find everything normal.

bookmark

nidal55 said:

U dont have to be like this i said that if ur not focused u dont make the money u expected so people are NOT making enough when their heads are spinning. Dont be offended cause its not bad to admit ur not playing ur best 12+ and sometimes u tried playing 4 for fun u made one of your best sessions.
Im new to online poker but making a living doesnt have to be a torture and i personally im a poker pro and i LOVE playing, never hated it and sometimes i invite people at home to play even more poker. As for the last part i dont know how it works but im not a fool and when i come across situations ive never experienced before on a live table i know some weird things are going on unless u find everything normal.

Click to expand...

nidal i dont think he wanted to offend you. all he is saying is that there is a large portion of the online poker playing population that multitables regularly. they are aware that by doing so ,that they do not make the best decisions on all of the tables but manage to gain profit through volume of hands played.

I think it was a really eye opening article. I've been contemplating it for a while, not sure how it makes me feel. Hard to dispute it though... I think we should all take a step back and really think about moderation and healthiness in what we do, not just poker.

well said IM

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e9e5/

Someone needs to get this and hack it for poker lol.