Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeestein
hey deldar,
join ASIO and maybe one day you'll know what it is to kill a man
could be a sick career move
Quote:
Originally Posted by pattye111
definatly give up poker for a while at least, and if it starts to excite you again, then go back to it.
I think the most important thing is to get ur ass off ur computer and just talk to people.
I can not stress this enough!!
ring up an old mate or a friend and organise to go to lunch with them, you would be supprised at how much happiness and satisfaction you'd get out of this
also get active, go for a run a few times a week. or invest in a bike and do some cycling. go to the gym. it will be hard and exhausting at first but you will feel much better about youself in a short period of time. Again you will be suprised at how much better you feel and how positive your thinking becomes.
and definatley go back to school, but dont just do some generic course, find sometihng that really interests you, just like scrabble and poker did.
and lastly think about the average australian whos your age, he is at uni getting Credits and Passes working part time at the local IGA or stuck in some dead end vac program. or they are learning a trade making 10$ an hour. You do not really have much to be depressed about..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lefort
It sounds like there's really no urgency to make an immediate decision, so why not just relax and take some time with it? I see a common theme among poker players (good ones) that they need to always have an ultimate goal to focus on and obsess towards. These goals are usually [be the best, make $X, move up to $X/Y, completely ditch poker and join law school, etc.]. And at any point in between these times of having a definitive goal, the person seems to be lost and often unhappy.
Try taking two weeks "off". No poker, no school, no travelling. Spend each day doing at least an hour of physical activity (working out, sports, etc..). Read a book or two. Spend lots of time with friends. Enjoy the time that poker has given you, and relax. You have the rest of your life to live.
After those two weeks, and mulling over some of the advice in this thread, I imagine you'll be in 10x the better mental state to make such a big decision.
Yeah, getting off my ass seems like a very good idea. At the moment it looks like I'm going to set a date to take a serious break (I hope) and rethink my options.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave47
Why are you fed up/dispassionate about poker? Well obviously the big downswings are a catalyst in this, but I don`t understand why you`re actually ambivalent about the game to such an extent, I mean you`re obv capable of doing well in cash and tournaments.. so my question really is why have u lost your motivation for the game?- if u could elaborate on that. Do you not still love the chance to 4 table a guy heads-up no limit or go deep in a tournament? Has the downswing had a big effect on the way you see the game? I`m guessing it does.
I think I'm fed up because I hate not being the best, or even being able to improve my game to a competitive level without hard work. Playing NL and taking idiots money still is kind of fun, but not the fun it was when I was heading towards something, for instance taking down the best in the 500/1k games. I would say that is where my career peaked and I seriously started to lose interest. This is probably why I like PLO a lot more now, I still have somewhere to go with it, and I still have something to conquer (I also like the more mechanical feel to it, it reminds me of scrabble).
I never liked heads up matches much unless I was crushing, and I never really had a big ego like some of the other players out there, which is kind of of strange, as deep down I always wished I was a great player. Unfortunately I knew I was (and am) somewhat of a hopeless button clicker despite what some say...
I did enjoy the thrill of moving up to the next limit, especially when it was 100/200+, but I no longer have that going for the game. It's just a grind. Obviously its hard to assess my true feelings when I'm on a downswing or major upswing though, so yes clearly this is skewing the way I see things- but I've had two major downswings before and this is the most serious I've been about quitting.