I see that many people take poker to a dark level, they are not profitable, on the contrary, they sell all their goods to play. I see people with negative $ 18k in Micro limits. In my case, it's health, I work on my mind and I make a profit on something I love.
What is your credit with Poker? What does this cause you?
This is a FANTASTIC question and one that we should all look at honestly.
As someone who played full time for a long time Poker was a kind and cruel mistress.
On one hand she enabled me to make a very good amount of money playing a game and applying a skillset that I'd refined thru online gaming, people reading, and studying books.
On the other hand she was all consuming, I was also striving to be a better player, always watching new videos, reading threads, and reviewing
hands. I would turn down social opportunities because I didn't want to miss out on the EV of a good game (and weekend nights are the best).
I figured that in passing up on social situations to accumulate wealth it would be all good because when I got together with my friends I could 'ball out' and be the star of the party. Not so, while I could in fact do this, I'd lost my ability to connect with people on a normal human level because I was in such an amped up (and high stress) state all the time.
This is the result of being obsessive about anything (be it money, power, fame, drugs, sex, you name it) and it made me an unenjoyable person to be around. The vicious cycle goes on, I'm antisocial because I'm addicted to the game, and I'm addicted to the game because I don't have any healthy social outlets left to keep me grounded and balanced.
Fortunately after some big scores I realized that poker alone couldn't make me happy and that I needed to change my relationship with her. I realized I didn't need to always strive to be the best in the world, I just wanted to have what I felt were the 'best friends' in the world, and with this social support in place being a good player who could make a steady income was enough, I didn't need to 'find the pokerstar in me'.
Now I play once a week online in my twitch homegame and I love it because
1) the stakes are low enough that I feel zero stress when playing
2) the money for first is enough to get me excited, so I'm happy to play
3) because of the stream (
http://twitch.tv/gripsed) it's a social experience, i.e. FUN!
I also go to the casino once a month to play live cash to I can stay sharp and socialize with some different people, it's nice to mix up the scene now and then. And once every 3 months I play a live event which is where I get to make my max EV (because I'm still sharp and on my game, but I'm also more energized from living a healthy balanced life)
It should be noted that poker is meant to be a social game, and that the
online poker experience is much different than the live experience. Both have their pros and their cons, but the biggest thing is that when you have nobody around you it's easy to fall off and start giving into addictive and destructive behaviors.
At least when you play live you see people everyday who may let you know what they see. This is also why I think if you're playing online it is ESSENTIAL that you have a poker buddy who is in it with you so you can keep each other healthy and in check/balance.
I love the game and I wouldn't trade my experience over the past 15 years for anything. But I will say, that in addition to experiencing the highest highs of being a part of the Main Event Winning Team in 2012, I also experienced the absolute rock bottom of being held up at gun point by gangsters in a home game in 2011, an experience that still triggers me to this day when I think about it. I truly have lived the full rounders experience.
When it's played just as a game, these problems never arise, but when you make it your life, or when you strive to be one of the best in the world, get ready to see a whole lot more than you expected... it's crazy out there in the poker streets :icon_joke
Thank you for reading, I hope you gain some insight from my share!
