What to do when motivation fails

Hey people!

Just wanted to ask you what you do when you find yourself lacking motivation for playing.
Since I'm trying to grind up my BR again I find it very hard to grind the micros and the freerolls.
Possibly because the outcome is low, and the variance is high...
Anyway, you suddenly don't pay attention, you feel like the money isn't really worth your time, donks keeps busting your premium hands with rags etc.

Just want some tips! Thank you.


Cheers

It just is a hard way and a long way.A lot people experience the same way and most cant get through.If you can get through.then you will be the winner.

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BoddJonar said:

Hey people!

Just wanted to ask you what you do when you find yourself lacking motivation for playing.
Since I'm trying to grind up my BR again I find it very hard to grind the micros and the freerolls.
Possibly because the outcome is low, and the variance is high...
Anyway, you suddenly don't pay attention, you feel like the money isn't really worth your time, donks keeps busting your premium hands with rags etc.

Just want some tips! Thank you.


Cheers

Click to expand...

Nice thread and i need to follow this one.
But i still think money are the biggest motivation.

When I feel sad, without motivation to play, I simply stop playing poker for a while. Let´s say one week it´s enough. If I still not getting hands and results I stop playing again for a week until I start getting hands and some results. If you can't control yourself you can exclude yourself from the game at your poker room for one week, and then start to play. It will save you a lot of money, believe me.

I just stop playing for a while That always helps!

kmichaels said:

When I feel sad, without motivation to play, I simply stop playing poker for a while. Let´s say one week it´s enough. If I still not getting hands and results I stop playing again for a week until I start getting hands and some results. If you can't control yourself you can exclude yourself from the game at your poker room for one week, and then start to play. It will save you a lot of money, believe me.

Click to expand...

+1 stop playing for a while and motivation should come back and if it doesn't then poker probably isn't the right hobby/way of earning money for you.

Very interesting topic of conversation.
It is very difficult to motivate yourself when you play freerolls and micro.
But all in good time.
Be persistent and do not give up.
Sooner or later you will achieve your goals.

I think you will be motivated if your bankroll was hit really really hard. You want to get back some of it and in the process, you will become patient.

try to stay without playing time, between 1-2 weeks without worrying with his head in other things, that motivation will come back!

Don't play when you're not sufficiently motivated. That's pretty simple. The hard part is figuring out how to improve at motivating yourself so you can be above your threshold more often.

I think some entry-level players do themselves a disservice in this regard by not focusing enough on the big / long-term picture. If you truly intend to get to where you can make good money, the entry levels are much more about learning enough to move up than about how much you're winning right now.

Just winning at any level is ample motivation for most if not all people who reach the high echelons in any competitive endeavor. Do you think for example that the great pros in any sport didn't try as hard to win when they played in grade school or high school and were making $0?

Loss of motivation can be loss of interest,take a break to see if the motivation to play comes back.Perhaps setting some goals for your level or your bankroll build would help.......scorp

Take some time out from playing, read some books/articles on strategy etc.

When I don't feel like playing I've been watching Jason Somervilles 'Run It Up' series of videos on you tube. You can pick up a few tips (though he plays almost any two cards aggressively which isn't a good tip for most of us !). And they are very entertaining videos too. After watching a few of those videos I seem motivated to play. He makes poker seem like it's fun again.

Both of your concerns are right. According to the bankroll rules, lets say you need to play with 100 buy-ins, so to play a dollar tournament, you need 100. The outcome, other than first place will be low, but you need to remember that this is the safest way to play poker. By taking a few chances with bigger tournaments than usual can get you a better prize, but you need to be ready to deposit more in case you hit a lose streak. Play the tournaments that you like and consider a good investment. If you want to play according to your bankroll you need to accept that.

Taking the time to do your own stuffs - hobbies and such, and taking a break from poker for a day or two might help, but consider that if you dont get that problem over with, you will be taking days off every now and then. So if your goal is to play as much poker as you can you need to find your own solution.

I just stop playing for a few days. Too much of anything, no matter how exciting or profitable, will become tedious and boring. I spend some time with other poker related activities, reading books, watching videos, working with my hand histories, and trying to get to the next level. When you find some new play or discover a leak you werent aware of it motivates you to take that information to the felt again.

You have to know what you want to get out of poker. The freeroll grind can be soul destroying you can come so close for weeks and build a small roll then lose it in a day.

if its not making you happy take time away to work save some funds to make a small investment.

I cant handle the freeroll grind it would make me ill and ware me down ny time u got a roll ur playing sloppy not at your best overplayed etc...

I would much rather work full time play weekly buy in to a few tournaments in my spare time. A you enjoy it cant wait to play. B if your good adventually you will hit a big score and you now have a bankroll large enough to start your poker business

Hey guys!

Thank you for taking your time to answer me. I guess I was just a bit down and worn out, I'm feeling way refreshed today and I've played some, and run pretty hot in several tourneys, so I'm pretty much back on track.

The roll got a pretty nice boost aswell today, I'm almost at 100 now finally

Everything you have written here is great stuff tough, keep writing whenever you get an idea!


Cheers

Do something else for a while, take a rest and the motivation will be coming

"Motivations and emotion,two central concept in psychology, are closely liked. when our motives and goals are gratified,threatened,we often experience emotions."just a taught.

Right so here I find myself again!
Motivation is totally failing me as I'm writing this.
I'm considering to get a coach to help me sort my game out. Well that wont really help when you are not feeling like playing but... well if things would go better then it would be easier staying motivated.
Anyone here who wouldn't mind coaching?

Cheers

it is normal when we have no results we faced us with a lack of motivation, and you start thinking that you dont know play poker, why do you play poker, you feel it is very hard to win money and stuffs like that..

So in my opinion we should take a deep rest and stop to play poker for some days and focus on study, read books or watch some videos about motivation or just see some of the same eg. in the internet because a lot people passed by the same situation.

You are not alone.
But how is the rest of your life?
I haven't felt like poker since christmas.
Actually I haven't felt much like anything though, cold dark and depressing winter outside.
If it is just poker then you can take a break and enjoy the additional time you have.
Then just try the occasional games again until it starts to become enjoyable again.
If it is deeper motivational problems, then poor poker experiences (will also be inevitable) and will just make matters worse. In this case it would be necessary to sort the rest of your life out first.

I'm totally in your position right now. I just stop paying attention to the game, I start writing posts in forums while a tournament is going on, I make a lot of donk moves and it's all because I've stopped giving a crap about what I'm doing. Grinding the micros gets boring and aggravating when you get a bunch of fish throwing your game off too. I've had the same $50 in my account since the beginning of the year and have pretty much revved in neutral the whole time.
So, now that I'm on the verge of sacrificing my last $2 to my own carelessness, I'm going to do other stuff, read another strategy book, watch some videos, get laid, etc. The lack of bankroll is a sufficient motivator for me to step away for a while.
It's just like anything else where you get sloppy and careless… take a vacation.

I spend a lot of time to play poker until you get tired
I feel the same and I make stupid mistakes and then to say that I lost all this time haha

Well I would suggest to figure out what dragged your motivation down is it the long runs the Manny beats or even something in your life , every thing where you need to think and take time needs a clear mind and vision once you got that start playing again a small break doesn't hurt the game stays the same and won't chance for sure . so give yourself time to pay attention to your needs and than rock the poker boats again

1st, were do you want to be in you poker career? Do you play for fun? Do you play to beat a certain game? Do you play to one day become a pro?

IF your "WHY" you play poker is a strong "why" you will be driven to want to play. So figure out why you are really playing