Hi guys

I was wondering how to make the game fun again. My biggest problem is that I do really well at the start, take a couple of setbacks, and then can't remotivate myself to play for a long long time afterwards.

It seems that you have a hard time dealing with loses. If that is how your personality is, maybe poker is not that great for you since you can't really change your personality and if you play poker you will inevitably encounter setbacks.

Change it up a little, if you are a tight player make a few more bluffs when you think others are weak, have some fun.

Join the League, there is enough fun going on there to re-motivate you.
I would advise all to stay out of the cash ranks unless you are prepared to accept variance without getting despondent.
Set small goals.You win $3 a day, you will have a $1,000 bank in a years time.

It's unclear what a poker game is for you. If you do not work and want to earn money in poker, you need to learn not to pay attention to the fall and do an analysis of your game and start training. In poker there is no chapel, you need to constantly improve the game. If you have a job, consider poker as a hobby. Then it's much easier to take a break at any time.

I think that having a big enough bankroll and rising to the limit of motivation, you will find yourself in the circle of friends and co-thinkers, I wish you good luck.

If you are bored with a long game, you can play Sit'n'Go or Spin'n'Go.

In poker, there is no failure. You will have to accept this. Determine for yourself what poker, hobby or work is for you. If you hobby then play on freerolls and will be calm always for your money.

I would probably take a break from the game. Focus on anything and everything else. If you come back after a week or month and still have no interest, you may need a new hobby.

Dude! Buy more alcohol and the game will again become interesting! )

To get more motivated watch some high stakes poker games on TV. When I see pros making mistakes, I feel that I can beat them and then try harder.

Originally Posted by leshausa03

Dude! Buy more alcohol and the game will again become interesting! )

Surely this will not be the best way for him to have good gains in the game. I advise you to take the time, it is probably a bad phase that you are living.

Play Shorter time periods or sit n goes. You shouldn't force yourself to play if you are not enjoying it. Dealing with defeat isn't easy and can make any situation unenjoyable. The best way to deal with tilt is to win a hand. Pick your spots tho. No need in forcing it, this can only make matters worse.

One of greatest problems for me which feeds lost of motivation is a logic absence.

From time to time you need to rest from everything. Even from poker

I think you need to take little rest, but if you can not to stop play, try to find some book and read it (poker book) it may be one week, one month, and try after it again to play.

Motiviation is down to your physical and mental well-being. Is there any dramas surrounding you which may cause you to lose focus? Is it late at night and you're starting to get sleep? Any little thing can affect the way we motivate ourselves.

Try to watch some videos, study a little bit, do a bit of hand analysis and most importantly don't play with your money until you are %100 committed to the game cause as we all know the poker fairy does come and takes it away at some point lol.

Hope you find your rhythm soon mate.

Focus on frequent meets with friends and an active and outgoing lifestyle, even a 30 min walk a day. These activities will help elevate the dopamine levels you need for that motivation. I find it helps brush bad beats off easier and come back to the tables with renewed focus and energy.

Originally Posted by okeedokalee

Join the League, there is enough fun going on there to re-motivate you.
I would advise all to stay out of the cash ranks unless you are prepared to accept variance without getting despondent.
Set small goals.You win $3 a day, you will have a $1,000 bank in a years time.

I would so join the league, it seems like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, all of the days are bad times for me.

Take a look at your poker goals and see of you can adjust them so you can shake off a bad run.

This game is all about having patience,once you start winning thinks will change

You need a short break, exercise and watch TV poker. Then drink energy drinks and coffee when playing again, watch bankroll and try not to spend 10% more in each game than what you have to build it up, then move up higher stakes. That's my idea and it works. Also don't overanalise your bads beats, you can't feel bad about going out with the best hands.

I take a week or two off and the itch comes back brand new. Once I needed a month to get the feeling back, but eventually the rush to play returns when there are decent tourneys worth playing.

You can't expect to win always. There will be times when program will set you up to lose. It happens to me. One week I win with everything, and another lose with good cards. It happens.

keep focus on your game, switch to cash games.
because cash game have much for flexible time<- you choose, everything almost.

I think it time to make a rest from poker)) try to do it for a week and come back refreshed with new energy

Take a big brake. Go Sporting or something where you're kind can rest.

Become friends with good poker players and talk with them regularly. It makes world of difference for motivation, discipline and everything else poker related.

This is a very good clip of achieving goals. It helped me a lot with lack of motivation in poker

You Tube

I refocus my enjoyment to learning the game instead of winning. Like, I'm in a tournament thinking things like , "oh cool, this is a tough spot. It will be interesting to analyze it later" and the such. It's very different from where I was agonizing over winning flips. Don't get me wrong, I still want to punch something if I bust with AA allin preflop vs an underpair, but having something to look forward to beyond the result of a hand, makes it a different experience.

Try to have fun at the table and play with more love, so leaving the rest in the background makes the ultimate goal easier.

Originally Posted by okeedokalee

Set small goals.You win $3 a day, you will have a $1,000 bank in a years time.

Awesome advice. I always say I can make a million if I have a few pennies to work with in the bankroll. If the bankroll is at zero, kinda harder to make progress towards that goal.

My advice to OP is there is a reason you lose your motivation. Sometimes we need sleep, sometimes we need to eat, sometimes we need to battle. Your motivation or lack thereof says which of these is most important at the moment.

It sounds that you might be alot like me . I consider myself a recreational player . I love the game but I know that I'm not going to invest the time and concentration needed to be an excellent player . I feel I'm successful if it doesn't cost me money . I go up and down at times but don't set my expectations higher than the time I 'm willing to invest allows . Just decide what you are trying to get out of the game , compaired to what you can put into it . Then you may be able to enjoy it more consistently . Wish you well and good luck.

It's hard to keep motivation up sometimes. As for me this site has really helped me with that. I wish I found it sooner.

When I play in the impotant tournament and broadway cards come to me. I am afraid to call all-in or play them because it is possible that I can loose and I will leave the tournament,but I can win.One day I played and my opponent always went all-in,but I did not have good hands to all him,then I got AJ and called him,he had AK and I lost.

Depends actually on whether you are playing seriously or just for hobby.Observing your brm is the key in keeping up the motivation or just wasting time.