For those of us that just play to see some financial reward but don't enjoy the game much in itself, should we play at all.

I find many game much more interesting and mentally stimulating than poker, for example chess and backgammon.

Chess has almost no luck, almost all skill. Backgammon has luck and maybe is comprable to poker as a game of luck and skill.

In backgammon when I lose, eventhough I hate to lose, I still find I had an interesting past time, and sometimes I video record my matches, and then at home I can anaylze with the computer what moves I played wrong, and I do enjoy doing so.

I dont have this with poker, I don't enjoy playing it much, and when I win money I am happy about financial gain, but when I lose I just feel like I wasted money and time. I don't find analyzing hands that interesting.

I must say that majority of my backgammon playing is offline while majjority of my poker playing is online. But I find poker live even more boring live then online. I once played a 1k buy in tourney in Germany (qualified online) and when I sat there at the table I thought to myself 'this is the most boring day of my life'.

Strangely enough the only thing I like about poker (apart from winning money) was reading poker books. I do like learning, and found it all very interesting when I started reading books, but when you read a few, I feel like you almost read them all, not really books that go deeper than books before in my experience.

Today I sat wating for hands in an online tourney and then just lost my stack against a maniac who won with Q6 against my AQ. And I didn't see the intellectual stimulating point. I can analyze the HH of the tourney, but I can just sum it up as being unlucky at that moment, better luck next time, its not very deep intelectually personally.

Funny thing is, I am up in poker winnings this year with low stakes NLHE MTT's. so I can't complain. Eventhough lately I been on a 130 BI downswing.

So in the end, should a person like me still play poker, even if he does make a little bit of profit playing poker?

No.

Focus on making more money in your primary job (which judging by your description is not poker) and then do whatever makes you happy in your spare time.

If you're making money playing poker, then sure. It's basically a part time job and there is no rule that you have to enjoy a job.

But if you're not making money and don't enjoy it, then the answer is obvious. Unless there is some other reason you feel compelled to play.

Sounds like you answered your question in the first two sentences buddy

Much like me but with the difference that I have goals that need poker. One gets into a poker mode (not your main type) pretty soon (an hour or whatever), then it goes easier, and with better knowledge and experience, one gets into a zone also. Other than that it is called a grind if done for sake of money and goals.

Not sure why you'd do something in life you don't enjoy unless it's a job that you need to pay your bills and that your livelihood depends on, which clearly poker isn't for you. The little bit of money you're making isn't a reason to play either because I'm sure you could find something else you enjoy doing more and could make more money at as well.

Remember you can always make more money, but you can never make more time in life. Don't waste what unknown amount of time you have left doing something you don't enjoy for no reason.

you are playing MTT's right? until you get to the bubble NHLE tournaments are boring, stressful, and generally not very pleasant. I would recommend trying out other variants, specifically PLO or mixed games

many people fall in and out of love with poker. you might give it up and start to miss it. a break never hurt, though.

If you insist on an MTT career, you may try focusing on progressive knockouts exclusively (mixing 888, iPoker, Party and Stars including .es, and possibly super bounty tourneys on the MPN, and Unibet bounties). They're booming, their theory is yet in infancy, and they're much more stimulating intellectually than traditional MTTs. Besides, you win at least a small prize more often in PKOs.

Definitely no.

I did have a degen gamble phase years ago when I first got interested in TV poker and wanted to play the game myself, but nowadays I strongly feel that the game strategy is the primary aim and the money is / will be (not enough hands to know if I'm winning or not) a side effect of playing the game well. I play for fun and have no intention of ever making poker my job even if I can win consistently.

If you're doing it just for the money, it had better be reeeeeeeeeally good money, ie. you're a high level pro who has lost interest but is averaging 6 figures a year in poker winnings, and changing careers will be an unacceptable pay cut.

For lesser sums of money, if you're not enjoying the game, go to school, gain some useful skills, and get a normal job. There are so many better jobs than poker both for your sanity and for the contribution to society.

I wouldn't even get a job if i was doing it to make money. Working a Job is solving peoples problems. Employers usually pay you to do that but personal profit from the job isn't the primary focus.

Playing poker is solving problems. Figuring out how to play perfectly in the situation and making the correct play. People then pay you for your good play.

It isn't smooth sailing. people who grow apples might grow the apple perfectly then the weather turns bad and hail destroys their fruit. People playing poker perfectly lose the hand when they get it in with a 80% chance of winning.

Lots of people have jobs they don't enjoy - and which they just pursue in order to make (some extra) money. Soooo...no difference, there. If you don't need the extra cash then don't play at someting you don't enjoy. If you can use the cash to do something you enjoy immensely (which you otherwise you can't afford) then it may be worth it.

BTW, I think you can play backgammon for money. So why not give that a try?

If you don't enjoy it, you probably shouldn't focus on it However, poker is one of those games that no matter how much you love grinding, it will get extremely monotonous at times. It's good that you enjoy studying, so maybe you could transfer some of the enjoyment and concepts from that into your actual poker playing.

I don't understand why you'd ask this question. What kind of answer are you looking for?

If you don't even enjoy doing it, there's not really a good reason to play. Most players struggle to walk somewhere on either side of the breakeven line, so to add to it by not even liking it is just silly and possibly a sign of addiction.

Even if you do make money, it won't last long. Nobody is going to continue doing the studying and off-table work it takes to stay a winner if they don't even really like the game in the first place, ergo it follows that playing this game is totally pointless if you're not having a good time.