Chris, why not just play for pleasure? It's always important to have goals but I think in poker terms creating goals of playing at x level in y amount of time creates a pressure that can only be detrimental to your mental game. Setbacks will be magnified if you're under that sort of pressure.

Take time off and chill and if you do decide to continue just play for fun (it's what I do) and if that leads to better results or even moving up then so be it, if it doesn't then it's no great loss. Playing for fun doesn't necessarily mean donking around though, I like the mental challenge of trying to improve and plug leaks but ultimately it's done with no real end goal in sight other than getting better.

interesting! i was gonna write a much shorter response stating about the same thing. play for fun while trying to improve. if you become good, it will be even more enjoyable. if not, who cares? good luck in any case. also, you probably realize a stress reduction right now with the time off. might make one a little hesitant to return to the tables.

Yeah as husker said, its time to pack in the bags.

I can promise you, with your own empirical study of your own work:

"You will NOT move past z10, not now, not ever"

Games are getting tougher and tougher, youre even playing z5 now. Like whats what?

Dont understand why trolls dont troll this " See how much work it takes to go pro ", i mean you havent even scratched the surface.

You are currently the 46 year old dad with a soccerball in the trunk, still waiting for Arsenal to call you up.

" Hey Chris, its Wenger, we need you "

Bro, its not gonna happen.

You cant expect to hang around the toughest format in poker, in the hardest times ever, without playing tonnes and committing to it.

Would anyone that plays a few hours a week play in the Premier League?

Seeing as z10 is alot easier than the PL, should be different game. But yet, weve moved down to z5.

You have to ask yourself:

" Should i waste my time coming years, just throwing away time that could be spent on so much better things, like building something for my kids or whatever"

You are basically just throwing your head into a wall every day. And i just couldnt stand watching it anymore.

You really seem like a nice guy, but nice guys dont win, unless their working super hard. Which you clearly are not.

So my estimation is that for every hour spent playing poker for you right now, is an hour youre literally throwing away.

I estimate you to make a whopping 3$ over the coming years.

IF THATS THE CASE, which prolly 99% of readers would agree upon.

Is it worth it?

Maybe learn DFS or something else. Maybe start tableselecting or something.

Cause nothing and i mean nothing, suggests that things will change soon.

Im saying this cause i worry for you, i worry for what your kids might think if they read this or whatever.

You want to show them anything can be done.

Not that ive worked for something for 4-5 years and ive literally come nowhere.

Bit harsch yeah, but this clearly isnt an old mans game.

At 45 one dosent try to become a professional boxer.

At 45 one dosent try to become a zoom pro. That is just not possible.
( Unless one has the mental drive, time and ambition )

So yeah, think this through hard.

Cause i know gypsies who make more money recycling soda cans, and i would bet money on them making more money this year, than you will in your entire poker career.

And by all means, if us questioning you, lits a fire and you can prove us wrong, please do. Would make me so happy.

But you have to be realistic also.

One love.

Quite probably the first time somebody made me angry with a comment. To be fair to you maybe you only ready the poker stuff in this thread.

Appreciate the long post and the advice.

Anyone else?

NB - Saying 'one love' doesn't stop you from coming across like a massive tool.

Sorry Chris if it came of wrong, i know youre a great dad. Thats not what i ment. I just ment you can be even greater if you spend these hours on something productive. Instead of banging your head on the wall.

Am i wrong?

As said, would love for you too prove us wrong.

And fwiw, i get angry seeing you banging your head against the wall and not moving forward, maybe even moving backwards.

Thats the only post on this forum that does this.

Yeah but being a giant pusseh and not calling things for what they are, is cool?

Rather be a tool than a lousy friend.

Truth hurts, but its what gets you somewhere.

Fwiw, i have tonnes of better things to do. But Chris comes off as a nice dude, and me being really profitable at the tables, winning money of people like Chris. I want to make sure he understands whats what.

Instead of alot of people on this forum who clearly only want people to lose money.

Say bad advice etc.

Lets be real.

Never said you shouldn't call it as you see it - that's great. However there is a lot of middle ground between being a tool and being a lousy friend.

Swimming in all that cash may make it difficult to see the middle ground mind you.

Youre right thou. Couldve chosen my words more carefully. And didnt mean to make you out to be one these "pussies" i was referring too. Apologize for my way of expressing myself.

Really wish Chris the best of luck.

Guess my point is.

Chris can choose to start to bumhunt, and maybe make some money via poker.

Can choose to play only for fun.

Or can play zoom and NEVER make any money at all.

What he chooses is up to him, just hope he realizes the truth in the path he chooses.

Again, sorry for my clumpsy words.

Hey GeeTeeOhh, it is fine, there is no offence taken because the facts are not always clear in a blog.

I have set a business up that is already HUGELY profitable without even having to go to or do any work (btw this is what a REAL ASSET is). By the time my kids inherit it they will probably never have to work a day in their lives.

HOWEVER...

If you asked me would I rather teach them life lessons by giving them that easy life choice...

OR

Would I like them to see this thread where I failed and failed and failed but refused to give up...

Then it is not even close.

I am extremely proud of this thread.

I am not ashamed that I am what you (and I) deem a failure.

It is the fact that I can fail, fail, fail, fail and yet stand back up again that makes me proud to be who I am.

---

I appreciate your comments, I really do. In fact I might be thanking you for lighting the fire in my belly again.

I also really appreciate Husker's comments.

There was a part of me that was ready to take it easy and sit back and play for fun.

But it is just not ME.

---

Let's go at it again. Maybe change a few things. As I said. April 1st 2018...

---

You know, even if I do quit then I will probably go into martial arts big time again and try to be the first 50 year old to win a world title or some ****!!!

And everyone will say "it can't be done".

---

I bought my first property to let out in 2003 at the start of the global financial crisis.

Every single person who cared to comment told me I am mad...

I have one thing to say to them...



---

Let's do this ****. And I repeat, no offence taken, thanks for advice.

No dramas dude, good man for the clarification - fwiw I too think he should focus on enjoying it first and then who knows what will come.

Ill end with saying, my god Chris, youve clearly got your shiet together. Never getting to upset or anything. Even though i was talking out of my ass, sort off.

Youre clearly an awesome father and ur kids will be great

Best of luck, eager to see whats to come.

No you weren't. Only valid advice left for this thread.

Disclaimer - I have followed this thread on and off for years and have talked to KP on Skype at times. I have always been supportive yet honest with KP, so while some of the things in this post may sound harsh, I believe that they're honest and fair, with no personal malice towards him.

Here is my take on things.....

- First of all, my advice to anybody who is not currently beating the games, but is expressing an interest to learn, improve and become professional/semipro, would be the following..... Don't bother. Unless you live in an underdeveloped, inexpensive country, it is simply not going to be possible (except for a select few) to make reasonable money out of online poker at some point in the immediate future (likely between 1-3 years). Nearly all of the current full-time pros that I know are already planning their exit strategy. It seems strange that at this point in time, someone from the UK who already has a solid career is attempting to make it in the poker world, especially after such a long record of failure at the lowest levels.

Poker is a dying industry, mainly for three reasons:

1) The amount of recreational money coming into the game is declining dramatically - there is nothing you can do about this, it's gonna continue to happen and potential profits will be lowered all round

2) The general trend is for sites to increase the cost of playing, leading to reduced profits all round - there is nothing you can do about this, it's gonna continue to happen and potential profits will be lowered all round

3) The standard of the games is increasing all the time, and this rise shows no sign of slowing, especially with the recent introduction of solver software - the way of trying to conquer this issue is by always working hard enough to stay ahead of the curve, which leads me onto my second point......

- You are so unbelievably behind the curve, and I believe that you don't realise just how far behind it you are. It is clear from the way you talk about strategy in this thread, and from the times I've chatted to you on Skype, that you are operating and thinking somewhere around the level of a mediocre small/micro reg from 2009. Despite repeated claims that you've improved as a player, it's quite obvious from your current situation that you haven't improved, or at least not relative to the curve. Your attempts to analyse your play and improve your strategy also seem fairly outdated/simple which doesn't bode well for future improvement (the recent ftcb fiasco demonstrates this in many ways).

- Failure is a large part of success, however knowing how to deal with failure is crucial. Failure is great in lots of cases because it gives you an opportunity to see your mistakes, learn from them then go away and improve, and come back stronger. However you seem to have not done this in the world of poker, at all. You have failed continually and have seemingly never come back stronger. Accepting that you suck at something, realising your chance of success is minimal/non-existent and consequently quitting to move on to something new is not necessarily a weak thing to do, and does not brand you as a failure. In fact, realising that you're in a bad situation, drawing a line under it and moving onto fresh pastures can often be the most successful option.

IMHO I think you have got to the point where you are wasting your time. You are ploughing so much time and effort into a venture that you have shown no aptitude for, in a field that is on the road to complete decline. The only conceivable situation in which I could see it being worth continuing is if, like Husker, you treat the game as a bit of fun and a mental exercise. If you are doing it purely for the goal of making money/turning pro/being a stubborn bastard that wants to prove something, then I would have to say the time has come to just withdraw your roll, and go find something more fulfilling/productive/fun to do (eg expand your martial arts game or something).

That said, if you do decide to continue, I wish you all the best and will still follow along. I'm not sure why you didn't take me up on it last time, but the offer to look over a sample of your hands still stands (fwiw I have ~8bb/100 over my last 3-400k hands at 100nl, fr/6m+hu on Stars, so I'm sure I can help out somewhat)

Best post on this forum, if not taken up on said suggestion, i think this thread should be closed. As to how much it might deter newcomers from trying to become "pro".

New people to poker dont wanna see this thread and be like, damn it must be alot of work, DAMN THAT MUCH WORK AND STILL NL5?

/sad

Same, no malice. But this is just nuts.

Ola amigos!

Had to get the ambulance out last night.

Had massive pains in lower chest seriously thought my number was up!!!

Been having scans and x-rays and tests all day and am n ow waiting for emergency surgery to have my gall bladder removed!

Massive relief as seriously thought I was going to meet my maker!!!

Wish me luck buddies! Morphine is seriously good ****!!!

Holy crap, hope it all goes well. Sorry I picked today to piss on your dreams

Best of luck <3

good luck! get well soon!

Get well soon bud. Enjoy that sweet sweet morphine!

Hi guys, thank you for the well wishes, it is truly appreciated!!!

----------

Mini-update...

So yeah, on Sunday in the night I seriously thought I was dying. Never had constant pain like it!

Ambulance took me in to hospital and only morphine could get me off the ceiling!

After a day of tests they decided to remove my gall bladder as it had stones and other debris inside and was very inflammed.

Had a lot of pain since the operation.

They did keyhole surgery (5 holes) but they inflate your body to make it easier to do and I think a lot of the pain is because I still have a lot of air inside me and it is putting pressure on wounds and other weird places (shoulder esp).

I came home yesterday and I have got tonnes of pain killers (including morphine).

I have got to have 2 weeks doing nothing then another 2 weeks taking it easy. Could be interesting!

Anyway, just wanted to update the faithful followers that I am quite okay even though I am immobile and in pain!

This is a good opportunity to consider my poker and blogging options too I guess! I never considered before that I might be putting people off poker as I make it look so hard!!!

It would be really interesting to hear some other views on that.

Thanks again for the well wishes amigos! I think I received over 1000 messages over the last few days which has been very very humbling.

Much love, speak soon!

Chris.

Get well soon mate

Thanks man! Great to hear from YOU!

I hope life is treating you well Sir?

Hey Chris, thought I would drop in.

Sorry to hear about you been unwell that was a bit of a shock as I read down the thread. I hope you recover well.

You might wonder why I am posting but since quitting poker whenever it is your thread has been the only reason I have logged in to 2+2 on occasion. I don't know what it is, maybe its because your a really nice guy who has achieved so much in turning your life around and probably a bit because of the train wreck that this thread has been at times.

Its been a hard read at times and I think Ron has got it spot on as ever so I just wanted to say if you do ever get bored of this give me a shout and I might have something that will fill your time and make a bit of money as well.

Hi to Husker and Ron, hope you both are giving the poker gods hell and both keeping well.

All the best Chris.