i have lost my center

[Rokuban 0]

Its not a matter of winning or losing. Technically, I am a winning player. I say technically because, while I have more money than when I started, the amount of time I have put into playing would put my hourly income at like 5 cents an hour. The amount I made is not a function of me not being that good, but being stuck at super microlimits due to no bankroll.

Take a piece of paper, or open MS Excel. If you're a solid player, take 3BB/100 as a basis, 200 hands / hour if you're multitabling. Put what you can play a week (10 hour, 20 hour, anything). Each time you get 300BB of the next limit, you climb up. Compute where you'll be, at what stakes and with what kind of bankroll, if you play solid for 6 months. It'll help you take your current stakes more seriously. To sum up, when you play solid, you climb a stake level every 10,000 hands (should work up to 5/10 or so).10,000 hands is 5 days of smasharoo's play.

[Ron_Mexico 4,219]

You stay on here because you are waiting for the next funny thing to spring from my keyboard.Play poker because it's fun. That's what I do. Hobby

[BilliardsBoy 0]

My honest opinion is that you should do what I do and evaluate where poker rates in your life.Freshman year I got swept up in the poker craze. It was great because it was good action with lots of people to meet, and if you figured out the tricks to the game you could make some nice money on the side.Then people started looking online for advice, and rolling constantly online to the point that it cut into sleep and schoolwork. The live games I had come to know and love had suddenly become "less profitable" and therefore obsolete and no longer happened. It became about the money, trying to support a poker lifestyle in a learning environment.This last year, watching what is, in my opinion, the over-glorification of poker on television, listening to the extreme highs and lows of players I know, I began to question my commitment to the game. To be honest, I got disgusted with the idea. Let's face it, the real poker life is not glamorous, sitting at a computer all night, esentially taking money from other players. Unless your a big time player that gives back through charity work or something, your not contributing to society or giving meaning to your life (I realize this sounds almost preachy, but I'm honestly not like some born-again or anything).I had to decide what I was trying to do with myself. I discovered that I really just wanted it to go back to the way it was, enjoying poker. No more constant analyzation of every play a pro has ever made, no more worrying if I was going to make enough money that week to pay for things, no more wasting time that I could be spending with people whose company I enjoy.You really have three options, and they are based completely on what you want from poker. If you figure out you don't like the way poker has affected you life, do what I did. Walk away, play occassionally but for fun.If you want to make a little money on the side, then don't roll too high. Let's face it, if your in college and you only need a few bucks each week, they why play super high limits that are far above your bankroll and get stressed every week. IMO, poker should still be a side project to an actual job that gives you real life experience, a steady pay check every week, and something you can update the folks with. If you want to play poker on the side, then you need to step back from the game for awhile, refocus, and avoid making poker this giant part of your life that will lead to you becoming stressed.The last is to get serious, and I mean serious. If you want poker in your life so much, then make it your life. Some people claim they are able to fit poker into their lives with ease, where it doesn't interfer with the rest of their life, but I guarantee that if they would be honest or talk to the people close to them they would find this not to be true. And most of the people that have tried to fit it in have failed by either overstressing or getting into debt or simply leading dark and lonely lives.I think we get wrapped up in the glitz and glamor of this game too much. We come on here and harshly criticize others for a certain play or for what they say. We read countless books and watch hours of television all living this dilusion that this "game" is something more. It's not. It can make you feel alive, just like anything that someone has passion for, but in truth poker is just a game. I really do feel bad when I hear some friends of mine stress over paying their credit card on time or a bad beat that cost them hundreds or thousands of dollars, but you the player put yourself in that situation. And it is you, the player, that can dictate what situation you want to be in.

[RayPowers 0]

First, I'd like to say wow, a relatively flame free discussion. You guys and girls were awesome, and some of the advice was great. I slept on it some and thought some more.There is definately an issue with my personal enjoyment of the game is overridden by my intensie competitive nature and desire to do well at it. Add in the odd peer pressure of being friends with a couple of "pro players" who play at stakes I can't even fathom, and my nickel/dime poker seems like a joke. This is not to say that my friends pressure me to play higher stakes (far from it), but it's weird to have a conversation where they talk about being up 14K in the past hour and I respond with 'Oh yeah, well I just one a 90 cent pot!"Anyone who has seen the interview with Phil Ivey and his wife where they talk about their stakes differences knows what I mean.I think I am going with the general advice. I'm taking a break from playing except the weekly pub poker I do, mainly because that's an excuse to drink and hang out with friends, not real poker, and am going to dive back into World of Warcraft for a little bit, which I do truly enjoy. I'll come back in time for the blogger freeroll and the forum freeroll, and use those to kind of get me back into it.I also think I will work more on the goal setting aspect of playing, to give myself a sense of accomplishment, so thanks for the advice on that aspect as well. I used to run a spreadsheet of wins and losses. I think in this case I may steal some of dna's ideas and set a "turn x dollars into y dollars by z" goal and set up milestones for it and try to shoot for those.Anyways, thanks for all of the advice, I really aprpeciate it.And yes, I'm still going to post funny smart alec comments in general.:)Ray

[speedz99 145]

Good thread.

[renaedawn 1]

First, I'd like to say wow, a relatively flame free discussion.

Well, we can't have that can we?So, the center you lost? Creamy nouget or caramel?

[HtotheNootch 0]

Here is what I do when I get into a similar funk:Take some time away from the game to clear your thoughts (continue to read)Relax, and do something you really enjoy (golfing, fishing, hanging out with the family).Try to save up a little money to put back into a bankroll so that you can maybe step up the limits a little. One of Mike Caros rules of poker is (I am paraphrasing): To be good at poker you must understand all of the important principals of the game, but to be a great player, you must put those principals to use. Anyways good luck with the forums, try to post specific hand history’s and leave out the results of the hand until later in the thread for best results.

There's some good points here, especially the skimming idea. I've funded my poker playing with my spare change. I keep a cup/can/jar, and when it's full I add it to my bankroll. Combine that with a little bonus ho'ing, and it can add up.

[chappy3 0]

In your dreams, right?...Absolutely :shock: That would be hott :wink:

[Pokerghost2 0]

i definetly think u would enjoy poker more if u had the extra scratch to play at a meaningful level. also sounds like a mild case of book and forum burnout, i recommend a break.