Rare to see two posts--Shannon and TX Red's--that calm and cogent in one thread. As the cliche goes, would read again.

Two words:

Learn Limit.

This is the best post I've read in quite some time, and it just so happens that I could'nt agree more. VNH Tex.

Shannon- I have never met you. Thus I have never hated you. But after this post, I now like you. Take some time for yourself. The money/poker will always be there. Your sanity may not

Awesome Tex

Well said Tx, I think you could just save that and post it in about half the threads with the one name changed in it to fit whoever the thread happens to be about.

All that being said, this forum in my mind is FOR those people... the "armchair quarterbacks" of the poker world... and if you write a blog, win a tournament, do an interview, start a website called shipitholla or bring any attention to yourself you have to expect to hear from these people and not let it get to you too much.

Good post tex.

Shannon,

"It has been a losing one, but 90% of my 2007 losses are from live MTTs (all 40 of them...how do you like that sample size?)."

That's sarcasm right? 40 MTts is obviously nothing, about the equivilant to like 4000 hands of nl cash.

GL turning it around.

Btw in the spirit of honesty: I was down in poker in 2007 until Aprilish.

I dont want to derail this thread as Tex and SS made fantastic posts and anything written after would just seem nonsensical.

Best of luck in whatever u choose Shannon.

You dont know me but i felt like replying anyway...

Your ability to be honest with yourself is admirable. I think alot of ppl are so much quicker to flame than to give genuine replies so not to be perceived as weak, when in all actuality they would trade places with you in a heartbeat.

Ansky, how do you quantify this?

I kno ur a super sick player, im just wondering where u arrive at the conclusion 40mtts = 4k hands of nl cash. Are u just speaking in strictly # of hands dealt? Surely i am not thinking about this correctly..... any insight is much appreciated

This is an outstanding thread, and the timing for me personally could not be better.
I'm basically so sick of poker than I could vomit, and I'm not even a losing player. I've won a decent amount of money over the years playing low stakes, but it has become painfully obvious to me that I'm never going to move up where I can make the ZOMG TONS OF MONEY ASTON MARTIN ZOMG that so many people want you to believe EVERYONE can make at this game. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the high limit ballas, they really have an amazing talent and gift to be so successful at this game. I have nothing but love for them, no hate at all.

I've realized personally in the past few months that poker is just a drag for me now. I'd rather spend time furthering my career, going on dates, working out, etc. than spending all my spare time in some crappy casino with a bunch of degenerates, listening to lousy table talk, getting sick because none of these slobs ever wash their hands, on and on and on and on.

Even though I'm a small winner, I've basically given up poker. The small amount of money I've won pales in comparison to the other great things in life there is to do. I can totally see anybody giving up the game. If I had seen myself writing this post two years ago, I would not have believed it.

Good luck.

Yeah, he was being sarcastic...And, fwiw, I have a lot of respect for Shannon as a person and for wearing his heart on his sleeve on this issue. What SS described in his blog is a struggle that many of us endure in the (tournament especially) poker world...However, Shannon was just too dramatic/extreme in his blog, and it's no surprise that people react badly to someone who has been very successful and is now turning around and calling it a "stupid game" all in a very short time-frame and even though that's a thought that many of us have probably felt at various times.

I'm struggling with many of the same issues, but I don't have a large bankroll to show for it (cuz I suck at managing and accumulating money), and yet I recognize that being able to be part of the poker world was an enormous opportunity for me, whether it takes me another five years to get my [censored] together or even if it never happens at all, and I'm forced to quit.

Shannon, the reason your blog rubbed people the wrong way is because of the lack of perspective inherent to it--even though your struggle is real, it seems you should be able to incorporate more of the positive experiences from your journey in poker when taking a look back to assess the whole thing...Deciding you'd rather take your life in a different direction is totally reasonable, but people are going to react understandably negatively to someone who's had a ton of success and now turns around and calls poker a "stupid game."

You gotta realize the fact that you have a large bankroll to show for your poker experiences, and despite your Chines Poker donkishness, your career thus far has been a huge success and you should be accordingly proud/satisfied/not overwhelmed by the tension ingrained in this lifestyle.

Shannon, best of luck in whatever you decide. Ignore the riff raff obviously. I always admire honesty.

Tx, well done.

It's not a real quantification, just a rough rough estimate.

I agree- poker is supposed to be irreverent (we're not curing any diseases here), but I also think you can reach a critical mass of morons on this board where it simply becomes unreadable. And as for the professional players in the public eye, some of them almost invite and enjoy the harassment, like one of these "villain" characters in professional wrestling. I don't think anyone could ever rag on Matusow too much, for example. But if a nice and classy guy like Shannon Shorr is trying to make serious points, they should be treated with respect.

"I've played like a Swedish maniac "

lolol were not all maniacs. im nitty.

Understand that Shannon's "small" sample size of 40 tourneys was playing the majority of them LIVE with a buy-in of 5-$10K which is over $300k alone.It cant be compared as if he lost in the nightly $109 Stars tournament or whatever

His brutal HONESTY is not only admirable here....but has also seemed to be make him a target to shoot at,for NO [censored] reason whatsoever except from the jealous broke punk kids on this forum that get their rocks off seeing anyone"maybe" falling

Misery loves company....but Shannon is smart enough to address this now,and if its time for him to move on from poker....he will be the one laughing last with A TON of $$$$ that in some way,shape or form has trickled down from 90% of the losers on this forum in the poker economy

Stephen

I've never heard anybody around here talk about playing criss cross before. I used to play it back in the 80's.

Awesome post Tx.

geez, Id love to be busto living in a Condo in Vegas and playing major buy in tournys, and having percentages of people.

I guess someone has to explain the meaning of being broke, and poker broke

I think the big issue I get from this post is how much live poker can suck in the sense that it takes so long to get to the long run that its easy to get disheartened along the way. Thank gods for the internet. Even though someone like ansky or daryn could have been stuck 4 months into the year they will almost never have a losing year whereas in live MTTs you can be the best player in the world and go over a year as a losing player easy.

I basically love you(in a I'm married and don't mean like I wanna kiss you or anything type love). Well I actually mean I respect you, your honesty and wish I were in your shoes.

I also wish I was able to look inwards at my flaws and deal with them likke you seem to be doing.

why the quotations on small as if 40 tournaments is not a small sample??

its the same sample no matter how long it takes...just because it took a year to do 40 tournaments live and takes a week to do it online doesnt mean that the live 40 is any more of a sample

all it goes to show is how all these live superstars could be getting the better side of variance for YEARS and easily turn out to be lifetime losers in poker when its all said and done (not sayin this is Shannon btw)

some really great post in here

yeah, Shannon, Ansky,..... alot of these young guys really have it together. Maybe they don't even know it. So, here's to you guys, for your maturity, wisdom, honesty and class. I look forward to your generation ruling the world.

I think we need to define what the long run is. I think the long run is from the time poker was invented to the time poker will cease to exist. Since no one will ever be able to figure out what the long run will be you can't say that people are winners "over the long run" because they aren't. It's absolutely impossible to be a winner over the long run because nobody will play "over the long run". Maybe that makes sense or maybe I need to smoke some kush.