There might be an infinite number of reasons or triggers why someone would keep playing.

The irony of course is that as poker players we are kind of blind to how these people think.. some just think of poker as leisure and not something that should even be attempted at beating.

I’ve heard a millionaire once tell me that he never knew anyone that made money gambling. He didn’t think it was even a possibility and would never invest and real money in the game. He would lose 100 at 1-2 and be like this is a waste of time.

I also had someone pull me aside that saw me grinding every day and say that he and everyone else at the table made their money from other things besides poker.

We might as poker players think these people are nuts for dumping but they think we’re nuts for trying to make money “gambling”.

Of course they are wrong as poker does have a large skill element. But they kinda are right too in that you can make a lot more money doing other things than poker.

I agree that common people do things in a common way.

I disagree that they're there to lose money in exchange of fun.

If I tell him "Hello, I'm from the future. I saw what happened. If you go to play poker tonight you will lose 500$."

Then he be unlikely to go play poker. Poker's not that fun. He probably can find something more fun to do for 500$. Even truer as you rise in stakes, lose 300k guaranteed, probably can find other ways to spend 300k.

But if I tell you, I'm from the future, if you pay 10$ for Netflix today, it will only last a month; well that didn't change anything, because watching Netflix for a month is the fun you had in of itself about paying Netflix.

I think there is too much given awareness from you. People that think I'm probably gonna lose but Ill try anyway are rare. And even in that awareness, they still have a shot at winning.

If I go deeper into the word play.

We say I play the piano, not I work the piano. Because playing the piano is the reward of playing the piano. The point of dancing, is to dance.

dude... of course they don't think they'll lose

dunning kruger in high effect, best part is when someone plays terribly and you stack them and then when your set of queens takes down their A7o top pair they called my all in with they ignore their preflop ranges, ignore that top pair weak kicker isn't a very good hand, ignore that i don't bluff in big pots because these idiots don't understand how weak their hands are, etc etc - just zero self reflection and instead they get angry and yell about how lucky i am to get queens and then hit the set

if you told them you were from the future and they'd lose $500 if they played tonight they would still play but "adjust strategy" in order to change their fate - most people are really stupid and even those who aren't idiots will gladly shut off their brains for extended periods

look at what the most popular tv shows are - not "best of" lists but actual viewcounts, it's mostly shut off your brain and stop thinking garbage

i know incredibly intelligent people with advanced degrees and great careers who will gladly spend their evenings watching temptation island and real housewives because they just want to switch off

That's a very interesting take on the A7 hand. It's like, there's only so much luck in poker. It's like the guy that raised me all-in 5 times the pot with aces. Like yeah, I got lucky to call you with a set, but I wasn't calling ANYTHING that didn't have your aces beat. When I started poker, I was just pulling hair out, like, how the **** did he flopped two pairs, when I play super aggressive with ace king and flop top top. He's so lucky! It was only later with more experience I realize, well, maybe you did a bet that was only callable with a two pairs or better, and every time he folded he just folded and you didn't remember that particular hand, and every time he called you were beat because some of the time he has you beat.

You know, I'm open to talk with everyone, as long as they don't annoy me... and that gets me to talk with like, the homeless, the psychiatrist with 5 diplomas, and the 15 million dollar company owner; and I just believe, there isn't much difference between them, at least not in the raw terms of intelligence.

I think in this world, being intelligent is amazing but, it's just so much not everything, like the qualities of a human being you have, matters so much... and even if you're plain stupid, if you save some money as an habit, and put money into things that gets you more money, you're kind of bound to get rich; and if every time you have money you buy dope, well the street isn't too far from there, even if you make 100k a year.

And I was talking to this boss man. I told him. What are you doing here? Like, what are you doing here? You're 70 years old, you built this company from nothing to a stable money producing machine that could literally run without you with huge profit margin. Yep, that guy, is still on the floor. He's doing the harsh job, with annoying very loud machines nearby, and he's doing something that isn't particularly skillful. Like he could give some guy 18$ an hour, and he'd do just as good as him to do that job. And I'm telling him like, why are you here, and not sipping a margarita on the beach you know like, who cares that you're the richest man in the graveyard, live life a little. And he answered me like, yeah I'm living life already, I bought a home in Florida. IDK. I just stopped there like no point of talking to him but like, its like, that poor guy man, rich as ****, like ****ing mega rich, like processing 80k$ worth of wood, into 300k$ worth of finished product, a day. And like he's there, growing old, working 40 hours a day at a real real harsh hard job... I'm like ok you wanna work but like, can you just work at being the boss, or work at growing your company some other ways.

There's some foreigner in the US that made it, and he charges 10k an hour to help you at making more money. Some business man hired him, and he went to see him. When he went to see him, the businessman was mowing the lawn. He asked him, why are you mowing the lawn, and he said like, well I had a **** with the mowing company I hired, and they weren't doing a good job, so now I mow the lawn myself. So the foreign told him, well hire somebody else to mow the lawn, you'll make more money by keeping an eye on your business, and let some other guy mow the lawn.

But yeah

''Thinking is difficult, that's why so few do it''

There is a great bit of internet wisdom out there succinctly stated as , "You do you."



That guy has lived a long life and most people would say he has done well for himself, but you are sure you know how he should life his life better than he does? MYOB



Everyone has their own measuring stick for success and happiness. Most people would be bored to tears sitting at a poker table but most of us here think it is a fun pass time. If you are doing it for money, unless you are the creme de la creme of poker gods, as in the top 1% of the top 1%, there are almost certainly things you could be doing to make more money.

We can dig this other angle of poker together.

I'd start off with, why be a poker pro at all? After all, you ''objectively'' aren't helping anyone, aren't servicing anyone. The better you are, the more money you take from other poker players, and I don't think they appreciate it much. On the other hand, let's say you're a rice farmer, well you're giving something back in exchange of money, and the more rice you make, the more money you make, and the less costly rice becomes, and everybody wins so to speak. Because in the end, he grows rice, other guy grows tomatoes; and everybody has a varied plate filled with goodness.

Although, that POV is too grim and lacks the magnificence of life. Here, down here, you can be a pro gamer, a pro poker player, a pro musician; and make millions of dollar... and sure, none of that is ''necessary'', but life is beyond what's necessary in some way. For me, part of what's beautiful about humans, is that they do these kinds of things, and one day you're alone and in the dark, and you hear this piece of music that vibrates with your soul, and you think life isn't so bad after all.

For the 1%. Let's start with that being in the 1% does not mean you can be in the 1% always. Let's say you're the 1% poker pro, and you want to become the 1% 100 meter dash sprint runner. Well, there's gonna be that guy you know, in South Africa, that was born with amazing leg genetics and has been running since he was 5 years old. Like, you can work as hard as you want, you ain't winning the 100 meters dash against him.

That being said, I wholesomely agree that if you're in the 1% of any field, you probably can be in the top 5% of any other field. Also, when you're in the top 1%, the top 1% changes rapidly you know, when you're top 1%, there's a lot of people that wants your spot and are focusing on it, so it's very rare that someone stays in the top 1% for more than a decade, the competition is so high.

Also I think the top feels like eagles. Heard that from Dan Pena. Eagles are at the top. Eagles are alone. Let's imagine you're top 0,00001% of the top 1% of poker pro, well who's gonna teach you? Who else than yourself? The guy that wrote a poker book? That makes less money than you at playing poker, but had the diligence to write a book about it?

For the MYOB, well I guess that always applies. I've never had success giving people unsolicited advice, I just like doing it, maybe because I'm insecure I don't know, or maybe I want to help people, but it never works. People don't like advice much. If you help the fool, he's mad at you. If you help the wise, he'll be ungrateful down the line. So yeah, of course, success is your own measure of success, and if having a girl in your life and kids and a boring job makes you happy, well man, I'm right behind you, let's go! I dont know why giving people advice never works, I think humans likes suggestions more, makes them feel free, also I think that people watch more than they listen, so you can be the bloke that gives a million dollar advice, you're a bloke talking; but if you're The Rock and saying something stupid, everybody's listening to your advice. So yeah, it's like chimps man, they copy, so might as well lead with exemple. Anyway, I'm still curious as to why giving advice is so bad, I never understood the depths of it

WOW!

come on man, talk, like I wrote all this for a wow, eeeheheEAhhahahhhhh you make me wanna go back to my cave

You are either yanking my chain or serious, and if you are serious I would only engage further if you are willing to pay my hourly rate.

A good parallel…

Go to a skating rink or roller park. And watch free skate time.

People pay to do something they’re bad at all the time. They could literally improve 2 3 5x if they had some training.

But they’re there to have fun and the second they have to listen to a coach of advice or like other posters said use their brain then the fun element is gone.

—

Another example is I know a couple poker acquaintances who I became friendly with and gave some advice.

I tried to explain bb and how deep you are determined a lot of things in poker.

They both basically told me bb doesn’t matter the game is the game.

That’s literally the thought process of these players. They will get mad if you tap on the glass and try to make them better.

Maybe it’s a pride thing for people that they just simply have to do things their way.

I find the first comment quite interesting according to my position in life. Having just retired and noticing the retirement lifestyle of many, I am very, very luck in that I have something more optimal and more meaningful than I ever had before in earlier life (writing and modest publishing). So when lack of purpose or direction often kicks in, I'm experiencing just the opposite. I gotta count myself lucky.

I do think on your #3 for most of us there is an atypical passion for the game of poker. I've often said, in a psychological type of comment, "If their subconscious could speak, it would say that poker, poker chips, playing, and winning is the highlight of my week most every week." So poker is not just more of the mundane for most of us, I don't think.

As far as "if you knew you would lose you wouldn't go" (someone else's comment), true, but it is the very possibility of winning, even if you lose in the long run, that holds great allure for many.

Irony you should bring this one up my last boss went to a poker table and I believe he felt he got cheated in a game of NLHE... He was so frightened of a tiny little poker but had many millions. I don't think he's unaware there are rich poker players but would never dream of doing it to make money but went from making 18k a year to a millionaire in 20 years.

He sees poker as pure gambling...yea and he gambled to be successful in business. Cause you never know what business choices you make will really guarantee success?