Longevity Advice?

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rw11687

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Alright, so I will apologize in advance for the length of this post. I just want to give a full background of my poker experience to better equip anyone that has some advice for me. Hopefully someone can relate...

Started playing around 2004, definitely a product of the "moneymaker" boom. Started out playing home games with friends, then moved to online poker. Like most, made a few small deposits and lost them all pretty quickly. Around the same time, I went off to college. Most of my money went to booze so I couldn't really afford to keep depositing and losing. So I started playing freerolls like crazy. It was sort of a blessing in disguise, that is how I really began honing my poker skills and turned into as winning player.

After a few hits in some freerolls, I was able to begin building my roll steadily. I turned from MTT and SNG to cash games. After a few months, I was winning regularly at 1/2 and 2/4 and pulling in some nice cash for a college student. I had been playing 40+ hrs/wk, my gf (now wife) would prob say it was more :). But, without going into the boring details, school got in the way and I had to basically give up poker.

Well, ever since then I have tried to come back to poker several times. At first I was arrogant enough to think I could jump back to my old levels and win. Once I learned that wasn't going to work, I quit again. A few months later I would try again, with a lil more realistic expectations, and lose again. For whatever reason, I couldn't deal with the fact that it would take some time to build my game back up and I needed to persevere. It was just easier to give it up everytime.

So, most recently I gave it another shot. Played a lot of freerolls again, trying to replicate what got me to winning poker last time. I ran very well in a few ACR tourneys and ended up winning a package to an LSOP event. Unfortunately I had to sell the package, but it was a great way to start a new BR. I lost a lot of it early due to some poor BR management and some really bad luck. Then I tilted and my once big score was looking pretty lousy.

Well, I took a break, this time planned and with the intention of playing again soon. I have recently started up again and I am taking a very conservative approach. I am playing a lot of freerolls to try and hone my skills without the risk, but am also mixing in cash games and SNGs to keep my interest. Things have gone well, but I am making sure I stick to my game plan.

So, here is the whole point of this thread: has anyone else been down this road? Any advice on how to maintain focus and desire? I want to make sure I stick to the game, but its not as easy as forcing myself to play. If I'm not interested, I am going to lose, plain and simple. Having the interest and desire was never a problem before, but I am having a problem getting it to stick now. If I go in and out, my game is obv going to struggle. I have to believe others have gone through something similar at some point and I am wondering how they dealt with it. I know I still enjoy the game and I always will.
 
snklzona

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Have been playing poker since a few months before black friday...and every time I can remmeber losing focus I can remember losing...don'y have any advice for kepping your focus just the advice that if you do dont play poker for money...
 
LuckyBundy13

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I would suggest you join a poker training site and make sure you're reviewing your HH"s or at least your busto hand. Also, get a part time job or something. You don't want to consume yourself with poker 24/7, it's not healthy for you or your bankroll.
 
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rw11687

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I would suggest you join a poker training site and make sure you're reviewing your HH"s or at least your busto hand. Also, get a part time job or something. You don't want to consume yourself with poker 24/7, it's not healthy for you or your bankroll.

I know that I play poorly when I lose focus, so I don't think reviewing hands is going to help much. And I have a full time job, I only play poker a few hours a night when I am playing.
 
Arjonius

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I try to make sure poker remains a hobby in my mind by, among other things, avoiding playing when I'm not in the mood or unsure. As a result, it very seldom happens that I feel I'm forcing myself to play, and poker is basically always associated with enjoying myself.

As a bonus, I'm probably more resistant to steaming or being put off my game because I always start in a positive mood.
 
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rw11687

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I try to make sure poker remains a hobby in my mind by, among other things, avoiding playing when I'm not in the mood or unsure. As a result, it very seldom happens that I feel I'm forcing myself to play, and poker is basically always associated with enjoying myself.

As a bonus, I'm probably more resistant to steaming or being put off my game because I always start in a positive mood.

This is something I need to get better at. Sometimes it does feel forced, in those cases I should just pass on playing.
 
ckickenking

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Try focusing more on the fun aspect and less on the money part. If your not enjoying it no more then your just forcing yourself, in which you will see how it effect your game. When it happens to me I just switch it up. I play omaha instead holdem or tournament instead of SNG or turbo instead of regular. Try something like that, something different
 
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rw11687

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Try focusing more on the fun aspect and less on the money part. If your not enjoying it no more then your just forcing yourself, in which you will see how it effect your game. When it happens to me I just switch it up. I play omaha instead holdem or tournament instead of SNG or turbo instead of regular. Try something like that, something different

Good idea, I will try mixing it up when I am slumping or finding myself losing focus. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
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UBetcha82

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Patience, self control, and BR and time management

I've been playing poker online and live about the same time as you. I've had great wins and great loses, mostly great loses. But I've found the most helpful thing to do is play at your leisure, don't play if you have other plans later as it will "rush" you as the time gets closer to have to leave. Also, obviously as you said before, BR management is huge. i've fallen into the trap that "If I just play this one $10 tourny and cash in it, I'll be good." I will deposit $20 and stick to $1, $2, and $3 tourneys. MY ROI is not that great, but that's because I didn't manage my BR very well. Also, take a break when poker stops becoming fun. Like other people have said before, if it's not fun then you're only wasting your money and time. Badbeats, especially many over a short period of time, will push me on tilt and I am still learning to walk away for a few days and do something else if I take a few at a time. Good luck man, poker is such a fun game, you just have to learn to have the self control to not let the "Donkeys" put you on tilt.
 
Aleksei

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The game is a hell of a lot tougher than it was back when you played.

Frankly, my advice is either bumhunt, play at levels 1/10 of what you were playing before, play live, or just don't play NLHE. Small stakes NL is simply not profitable anymore.
 
masondub

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Banroll managment is definitely a very good skill to have if you would like to last in the poker world. This is something that i am trying to get the hang of myself :D
 
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rw11687

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The game is a hell of a lot tougher than it was back when you played.

Frankly, my advice is either bumhunt, play at levels 1/10 of what you were playing before, play live, or just don't play NLHE. Small stakes NL is simply not profitable anymore.

Interesting that you say that, I haven't found that to be the case for the most part. When I am actually playing well and focused, I find I am winning at a good rate. It's the tilt/lack of focus that does me in. When I lose, I look back and it's often poor play by me.

However, As noted above, I haven't been able to stay disciplined long enough to have a good enough sample size to really say for sure.
 
dj11

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Consider everything that has changed. You WERE a student, you WERE single, you HAD 40+ hours a week to play.

Now you WORK, are MARRIED, and probably have less than 2 hours per day you can devoted to poker unless you want your WIFE to become your EX-WIFE.

So find a regular game/tourney, perhaps a daily one, that you can learn to dominate.
 
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rw11687

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Consider everything that has changed. You WERE a student, you WERE single, you HAD 40+ hours a week to play.

Now you WORK, are MARRIED, and probably have less than 2 hours per day you can devoted to poker unless you want your WIFE to become your EX-WIFE.

So find a regular game/tourney, perhaps a daily one, that you can learn to dominate.

All very true. I have tried to narrow my game selection recently, perhaps I will do it even more so. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
aa88wildbill

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If you can give your full attention to the game, (don't play). Besides that, maybe you ought to think about becoming a Writer and, write a book. You seem to have some skills in that area. It just might be quite profitable.
 
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