Results = Happiness.

[Teck_72 0]

Wow man. Great post. Seriously, thanks.

[Loismustdie 0]

About a month ago I noticed that one of my former students was on an emotional rollercoaster. After having a discussion with him I realized that his primary happiness and sadness stemmed from his poker results. This is one of the biggest problems with playing poker. Whether you are playing purely recreationally or you are a high stakes pro, nobody likes to lose. I've been "lucky" in a lot of ways to have David Oppenheim as one of my mentors. David is known for having a bit of a temper at the poker table. After watching him play for a ridiculous amount of hours, I came to two conclusions. Even when he is angry at the table he still plays well. And when he leaves the table, he leaves the results there as well. I talked with him about this concept a few years ago, because I was struggling with leaving my results in the casino. He didn't give me an elaborate answer. He simply explained that when he is done playing, he doesn't think about it anymore.Fortunately for Dave he is insanely talented, has a wonderful wife and three kids. Lives in a mansion and has just about anything a person could want. So it might be easier for him to not let his losses get him down. The only way that I know for a person to be able to have success in poker, is to have a stable life outside of poker. Most of us probably don't live in mansions. But having a home that you feel comfortable in, good friends, hobbies, etc. This is what will get you through the tough times. And this is what will also enable you to leave your results at the casino. Or for most of you......online. In my opnion, in a lot of ways this is even more difficult for online players. Your computer is in your house and you can hop back into a game at any point. And without discipline and a strong base of friends/activities........your life can be consumed by poker. Even worse, your happiness will be dictated by your results. I don't have a quick fix solution to this problem. I can tell you that if you find things that you enjoy besides poker and build lasting relationships with those around you, the results won't matter as much.In the end, don't ever let your results dictate your happiness. If you do, you will have a miserable life, regardless of how successful you are.Good Luck.Steve

Might just have to apply next go round to work with you, this is really good. FWIW, I make pants and restore old bmx bikes as a hobby. Well, I don't make the pants as much as take the pants and embellish them.. that's a bad term, I don't like that. Let's say I make the pants better. Like, with skulls and leopard print and flames. Recently I have found that I handle the game much better playing at Casinos vs. Online, for the very fact that it's easier to walk away mentally. What happens at the Casino, stays at the Casino. Thanks for the great post, Steve.

[Chet Chetterson 0]

Great post Steve

[owise1 0]

Good post. I've struggled with this myself many times in my poker career and I don't even play professionally. I have a quick temper and I HATE to lose. It's very difficult not to let results effect the other parts of your life, but I think that if you can't find a way to do so, you have no business playing poker (especially not professionally). I know that I will be trying to cut back quite a bit the next several months because I don't like the person that I am when I lose at poker.

1. I feel the exact same way. 2. Great post Steve

[troyomac 0]

Nice post Steve. I think for myself, and possibly others is that a lot of the happiness can go away after playing professionally for a while. When I first started playing poker, I played for fun, and never really expected to win. So when I lost, it was standard, and when I won it was a great feeling. Either way, I was wakling away from a session happy almost every time. Nowadays, when I play, I expect to win. And when that doesn't happen it kind of hurts because that's not the way it's supposed to happen and it can dictate what my mood is going to be like. It's definately not a good thing, and something I need to work on.

[HubDub04 0]

Steve, how did Oppenheim get all of his money? Poker or business or what?

[pezeveng 207]

Many years ago when I placed my first big sports bet and lost my brother who is my gambling partner said "we always have our beds". Shut off the tv and went to sleep as tommorow is a new day.I noticed about 3 years ago while in Vegas, the guys we met in the sportsbook were all miserable. These guys living what most sports gamblers think is the dream life never cracked a smile the entire time. If you don't have a life outside of gambling (wife, friends, hobbies) than when you go on a losing streak it is 100x worse.Iam blessed with a great biz plus all the other extras in life that when gambling doesn't go my way it doesn't affect my mood. Losing at a casino no matter what game will leave you in a very dark place when you have no one to turn to or no escape outlets that dark place becomes a hell of a lot darker.No matter if your playing micro games or high stakes the losing is just the same and someone losing $1000 has the same affect on that person as a person that loses $100,000. Amount of money is always relevent to the amount the person has to lose. Don't think people you meet in the books or at the tables are your friends, most will only be there as long as the money is there. Most people go on prolonged losing streaks because they can't turn their mood around and stay mush forever. Looking at Mike the Mouths new outlook on life (not new anymore been almost 2 years) has really changed him around it seems a positive attitude and positive outlook is more important than anything else.People need to smile more when gambling as stupid as it sounds when you keep in good spirits good things happen.

[El Guapo 8]

FWIW, I make pants and restore old bmx bikes as a hobby.

I had this in white, and my brother had almost this exact bike except we both had white Mags and pegs. I gave mine to a kid who didn't have a bike when I was in High School. I really wish I had kept it now, because they are worth a lot of money.

[Loismustdie 0]

I had this in white, and my brother had almost this exact bike except we both had white Mags and pegs. I gave mine to a kid who didn't have a bike when I was in High School. I really wish I had kept it now, because they are worth a lot of money.

If I had half the shit I gave away as a kid..sigh. Right now I have a Schwinn Predator Freeform I am working on and I just bought a 97ish Dave Mirra Pro on Craigslist for next to nothing, in really great shape. I noticed the pic was from BMX Museum, I love that site. Just got a line on a decent Dyno Detour setup that may be my next project. We'll see. Now that I know you are interested I will send you pics of finished products, before and after when I get a chance.

[Biff Goods 0]

Thanks for the great post steve....any chance you are gonna post some more "I played poker with....." posts. Loved them.

[El Guapo 8]

If I had half the shit I gave away as a kid..sigh. Right now I have a Schwinn Predator Freeform I am working on and I just bought a 97ish Dave Mirra Pro on Craigslist for next to nothing, in really great shape. I noticed the pic was from BMX Museum, I love that site. Just got a line on a decent Dyno Detour setup that may be my next project. We'll see. Now that I know you are interested I will send you pics of finished products, before and after when I get a chance.

Bikes are so much different, not only from the set up, bt the brands. GT is now owned by Huffy. I did hear, however, that Hutch is making a return, and with the old ultra light redone.I got this for my kid for xmas:Almost got him this:But it was almost twice as much.

[steve7stud 0]

This was me right?Edit: I'm like 99% sure this is me. Worth saying that I've dropped 7.6k in my last 2 sessions and I'm strangely at peace with it. LOLrunningbad@5/10!

Yes it was about you, attention whore. But you are not alone in your struggle. I think that after we had the group chat things became a bit more clear to you. You have a ton of talent, and I only see good things in your future.I'm really happy that you are at peace with booking a loss. Not that losing is by any means a good thing, but remember that those guys are just borrowing your money for right now. It's gaining interest, and you will win that back and much more.

[steve7stud 0]

Steve, how did Oppenheim get all of his money? Poker or business or what?

Poker.

[I_fold08 1]

Poker.

whatever happened to your series on the pros you were doing, we got ted forrest and oppy, anything left?

[Snamuh 0]

Yes it was about you, attention whore. But you are not alone in your struggle. I think that after we had the group chat things became a bit more clear to you. You have a ton of talent, and I only see good things in your future.I'm really happy that you are at peace with booking a loss. Not that losing is by any means a good thing, but remember that those guys are just borrowing your money for right now. It's gaining interest, and you will win that back and much more.

Well some of it was to 20 Buck Spin, so I think I'm paying interest to him!

[steve7stud 0]

whatever happened to your series on the pros you were doing, we got ted forrest and oppy, anything left?

A couple of people said it seemed like I was bragging, or that I was name dropping. That was honestly never my intention. I can see how it would be viewed that way though. Perhaps it's better to let someone like DN or Barry G discuss playing with various pros. Not sure.

[bdc30 0]

Perhaps it's better to let someone like DN discuss playing with various pros.

Difference being, you post here for more than to drum up business for your poker training website or to update your playoff run in a fantasy hockey league. eff the haters, post away, imo.

[JaNnN 0]

Hey Steve thanks for posting this.Today is the first time since a long time I'm back on this forum. To be honest when I typed in the address I really paused (overly dramatic I know) and was thinking about bringing up another page in stead of the poker forum. I have not read anything poker related in a long time, I have not played online poker in a long time and don't plan to by the way. I still love poker with a passion deep inside but I came to the conclusion it isn't the game for me.I still had some other hobbies on the side but poker took up all my time. I would get up at 7 in the morning, be at work at 8 o'clock, be home at half past 5 and start playing poker until 1 or 2 in the morning and repeat everything the day after. A human body can handle much stress mentally and physically. Be it lack of sleep, being concentrated for long periods at a time and little to no workouts. I have played poker online for over 5 years now and a while ago it I had a poker breakdown. I always used to be full of energy, having a great group of friends and I was always doing positive things with my extra time after work. But I did not have any energy to enjoy these activities anymore and I felt it. But I was still winning and that gave me the energy to put in more hours. When I won I got my adrenalin flowing and it looked as if I was happy and energetic. When I lost my energy was drained and I was grumpy and short with conversation.With poker I wasn't living at all. Off course I still went out with friends but my mind wasn't there at all. I went to this forum every day, really tried to contribute to the strat forum and so on. I was obsessed with knowing everything and playing as much poker as I could. In my mind I thought I was happy because I was making some money and was playing this cool cardgame.I think it was a few months ago I had my third mega tilt in my life and blew twothousand bucks in just under an hour playing 5-10 nlh. I was properly rolled for 200nlh but ten buy ins was steep to lose in such short time. I talked to my friends and they all said poker changed my perspective in life and they could always tell if I had a few winning or losing days just looking at my demeanor.I decided to change my life.First step; getting enough sleepDuring workdays I go to bed as early as possible. If I'm at home I'll be in bed by 10, watch an episode of The Shield and go to sleep. If I have a pool night I'll try to be home no later than 12 o'clock and go to sleep immediately. This sounds absurd to go to bed that early but I have not had so much energy going into the day in a long time. I wake up before my alarm goes off and I have no trouble working concentrated the entire workday.Second step; getting enough exerciseI play rugby two nights a week and am always completely sore but I love it. A good 2 hour rugby training can give you an energy boost and make you feel alive!Third step; cash outThis was kinda hard to do because it meant definitive closure of online poker but I did it.Fourth step; Find a new hobbyLuckily I already have another passive hobby besides rugby, Pool billiards. With the money I cashed I bought a brand new Longoni Custom cue and I play cashgames, big tournaments and team competition. Aside from the cue, pool is a relatively cheap sport and you always play with friends and I try to make every day a positive day.People nearby all say I made an 180 degree turn in the positive direction. I can talk my head of again, I can drink with the best again and I am not grumpy anymore. Once in a while we play kitchen table poker and my friends were actually reluctant to play poker since I quit but now I can just have fun for a few Euro's so no harm no foul.Everybody experiences poker in a different way and it took me a few years to see it wasn't the best thing for me.I don't know if this is the right thread to post and sorry for the rant but Steve's post made me think and it can't be coincidence Stev's thread was on top of the list after my 2 month absence.Fwiw,Jan

[mtdesmoines 3]

People nearby all say I made an 180 degree turn in the positive direction. ... I can drink with the best again ...

[GreeneStreet 0]

Great post OP. It took me a long time not to let poker affect my life too much. I was on a bit of a roller coaster as I would run good and bad. Its important for all of us to have balance in our lives. I think most of us let work and things like poker affect our general happiness way too much.Thanks again.