R
rw11687
Rock Star
Silver Level
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.
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.