Hello,

Back in late 2020 I started to play poker full time after I graduated from University. I had been playing poker for about 8 years and it was my biggest hobby/passion, but I always dreamt of going pro one day. So I decided to give it a go.

What I loved about poker was the tension of bluffing, the complexity of the game, ways to be creative in strategy, the thrill of playing for money, talking to like minded people, exploring new ideas etc...

But after about 7 months of full time playing and studying, I totally lost everything I loved about the game. I didn't feel like playing or learning anymore and I was totally burnt out by it. And after trying a small break from poker and to keep on pushing through it with the help of self-help books, coaching, meditation etc, I decided to quit and to start looking for a job. I was not surprised that I would lose a big deal of the love that I had for the game (I am not naieve), but to be totally done and disgusted with it, after only 7 months was something I did not expect at all.

Now about, 1.5 years later I am finally starting to enjoy it a bit again, and so the dreams of playing poker profesionally pop up again... This time it needs to be different though, so I was wondering: what keeps you guys motivated? I am especially wondering how poker feels for the people who have played it full time for at least a couple of years, did you went through similair times, and what kept you going?

outside intrests and a life away from the felt.

if you work in an office cubicle 5 x8 you would most likely feel the same way without outside hobbys.

poker full time needs the same mindset.

Agree with outside interests. Poker can't be your "everything" because you will burnout. You need a good social circle, maybe some people to talk poker with, and some short and long-term goals about life and about poker. Working out has been helpful to me, and there's many studies that show it helps to increase your focus (you'll notice many of the top players nowadays are reasonably fit, #1 ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen does like 1 hour of cardio a day).

I like having carrots and sticks, ie a goal to chase, and a goal to run from. For November and December, if I make $40+ hr and play 360 total hours, I'm rewarding myself with a month in Mexico in January. As for sticks, I try to envision what my life might look like if I don't achieve these goals. Currently I live in a really nice place with a ton of amenities, and I couldn't afford this place unless I maintain the hourly I have. If I don't hit at least 300 hours between those 2 months, I would not renew my lease.

One more thing that I've found helpful this year is that I have learned a lot about how to use dopamine to improve my goals, and how to keep getting better even though I'm reasonably close to the top of the games I play.


Andrew Huberman has a lot of good videos on YouTube where he explains how to use your dopamine. Basically, you want to reward yourself for the processes surrounding poker, and not for the "wins" For example, I have studied close to 100 hours of poker this year, and I get excited when I'm studying dull things that I am certain my opponents aren't. If instead you had a goal of winning x amount of money for the year, and you hit that goal in June, your motivation will stall.

If you want to talk more about this stuff, or just chat poker sometime, shoot me a pm and I'll give you my Discord.

You don’t graduate from university, university graduates from you.

There is only one thing in this world that truly motivates me and it's a single word with a mountain of meaning behind it.

"family".

Motivation will depend on what's important to you. If I don't play poker I don't eat. That's pretty motivational!

If you want to find a stronger will to play, you will need to link poker to an important part of your life. How do you pay rent? Buy groceries? Afford entertainment? Find a way to make something depend on your poker success and motivation will follow.

I think that fear or punishment isn't a good motivator for poker in the long run. I tried this method already because I had to pay rent from my poker winnings for a brief moment, but that did not work for me, it took alot of "fun" out of poker.

I don't really agree with this. These 2 factors have an incredible amount of say in the matter:

-player skill (doesn't magically improve simply because you need poker to eat)

-variance and downswings (your ROI could be massive while you lose money over weeks/months).

In EV adjusted, I'm having my most profitable month of all time, but due to variance I'm thousands below that. Poker doesn't seem to care about my need to buy groceries or my level of motivation.