Second Pooh-Bah Post: Know Why You’re Playing


My first Pooh-Bah post (back on the old forums when you only had to have 1600 posts) was about having a reason for everything you do – basically, that you should always think logically and not just act without proper rationale. That was about a year ago so I figured now is a good time for an update.

This past year has probably been the best of my life, aside from maybe 8th grade because that year was straight up awesome. I went on lots of vacations, got into good shape, went out with friends four nights a week, convinced bunches of drunk girls to sleep with me (dumb sluts), I graduated, spent a couple months in Vegas, got into medical school, and now am planning on moving up to Boston for a few months to chill with some of my best friends.

Notice poker isn’t listed anywhere in there (aside from Vegas, but I didn’t explicitly throw it out there)…that’s because I’m in a 20k downswong (lol) and lost a ****ton of money being staked for donkaments.

Most people who write Pooh-Bah posts have a poker concept in mind and explain their ideas well. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I suck at poker (half-serious) so my advice isn’t going to be technical. Basically, you should decide why you’re playing poker and how it affects your life.

I have many friends who play poker professionally – not like I do where I tell people, “I’m good enough to never have had to get a job.” They dropped out of college because they’re making hundreds of thousands or millions per year. That’s something I could never do. Of course I could never make bank like that, but I meant I could never have dropped out of college. I’ve always enjoyed academia, but more importantly find that a life of poker isn’t for me. I want to do something productive for society with my skilllllllz (and bitches love Jewish doctors) even if it doesn’t entail making money with minimal effort. I am quite content, however, to have poker as my temporary job. Obviously I’m in poker for the money, but I only want the money so that I can live better - as one interviewer put it, “to get a little culture.” I eat well, drink well, and dress well now and never have to think about not getting something semi-marginal because it costs too much. That’s all I really wanted and that’s why I’m happy right now.

That’s just me though. I used poker as a means to get here and am enjoying life more because I was able to recognize this. Sure, having a breakeven year sucks (especially when I’ve spent 20k or so) but grinding a ton of hands every month and winning without enjoying it isn’t so hot either. The trick is to figure out what you want, what would work best for you and your ultimate goal. Do you want to be the next poker superstar, a decent midstakes grinder, or just make some extra coin playing some small stakes?

Essentially, you can maximize your personal poker potential and your overall satisfaction once you figure this out for yourself. When you do so, you can stop sweating the details and just concentrate on livin.

nice post.

Running good at life >>> Running good at pokers.

Well done sir

I guess a corollary to this would be that just because you're not crushing high stakes or whatever, doesn't mean you're a failure. Doing as well as you can given the effort you put in and what your goals are is what defines success at poker.

and yah kowalski, im a firm believer that it's much better to run hot at life and to run hot at poker. and did you IM me the other day?

nice post.

I definitely agree its important to have some long term goals in mind rather than just grinding away banking cash, especially for most of us on here who are still reasonably young. Its easy to be naive when you're bringing in +$100 an hour at 19 or 20 years old and think how easily you could make a living from poker. What most fail to realize at that age is how emotionally unfulfilling poker is in the long run. I'm not knocking anyone who chooses to make a career out of poker but I also feel that those who do so are in the minority of posters here. The reality is it's easy to get burnt out, exhausted, just plain sick of poker after even after a year. Think about playing full time for 20-30 or even 40 years... ughh. No thanks. Poker has been good to me as I'm sure it has for lots of you guys, but you have to be careful not to become too shortsighted.

I'm just coming back from taking 2 months off. During said 2 months I've locked up a hot little 19 year old girlfriend that I love, reenrolled in school for this spring and spent like an hour a day exercising/eating right. I'm now in a position to come back to poker with a fresh perspective. I no longer view poker as a priority in my life but rather as the means to an end as I further my education and career.

so yeah, diversify ur bonds *****

Terrific pooh-bah post ofishstix...glad you put a link to this in the brew.

Good luck in med school.

good post, i honestly see too many people quitting college to grind ssnl and i'm including a lot of people that shouldn't be. i'd never have the heart to tell them, but is this really what you want to do?

why not finish college, then play some more small stakes during college and as a regular hobby after college and make sure you actually want this to be your profession. and figure out better if you're good enough to do it for the kind of money you want.

put it in ur blog

jk <3 nice post

school is cool. nh.

you suck at poker

Great post! I took a lot away from it. Really.

love the post and I agree 100% - I don't treat poker as my life but rather a part of my life that will help me do the things I want to do, like be a fat ass and eat out at all the best places I can eat.

and hopefully in 2-3 years (when I'm done with school), poker can help pay for my trip around the world where I hope to feast on as many culturally diverse foods that I can possibly think of

You did all this b4 the 9th grade!!! my god you are my hero

excellent post. seems like you dominate life.

what limits do you play?

how long do you think you'll keep playing as your main source of income (as soon as you finish school will you go into the medical industry, or will you have a few more years of poker/fun living?)?

i play 1/2 and plan on playing regularly till school starts where i hear there wont be too much time for it, but im not sure how true that is bc school cant be that time consuming.

i also play lots of live donkaments, ie i played like 14 at the wsop this summer, for which im staked. once med school starts i can never really play those except for the wsop after my first year - no more summer breaks after that.


and boohaa, i hear the hero thing pretty often (actually never )


edit: and the post wasn't a brag post, though i know im super ****ing sweet - just using my life as an example for explaining my view of poker with regards to overall life bc i know my life best ldo

double edit: **** you guys who can't infer what im saying about THIS PAST YEAR!

your 8th grade sounds crazy

weee,
very nice post..

I played a lot of poker in the recent two years without terrific winnings and thought a lot about poker and my future with it lately.
This post actually reflects pretty much how I feel about the game and how I want to arrange my life incl. med school

I like <3

Nice post.

You are on a 100 buy in downswing?

nah, i lost 8k at 2/4 and at 1/2 over my last 100k hands im down 15k in equity

You should work on your red line.

Good stuff. Even though there's nothing technical, this could end up being the best Pooh-Bah post I could have read. I do really well for the amount of time/effort I put in, but the problem is the amount is pretty useless. A big part of that is not having any really explicit goals and instead just vague stuff. Hopefully, this post can serve as a catalyst for a big step in my poker development.

most def you gotta have goals; not to hijack but

I have a piece of paper on my wall, 18"s to right of my head cause desk is in corner.

Its says Goals:
1)new car
2)cruise with gf
3)start investing
4)buy a house
5)Resturant


I have knocked out 1 and 2....
#3 meh i put monies in 3% APY account so its semi-investing cause f the market right now.

4 and 5 are next.

But ANYTIME i tilt i look at it and realize why im playing. Not to spite another player, or earn fpps, or for fun... but to make mother ****ing money. And then i start playing better or realize the games aint that good; take the loss; and come back in a bit. It REALLY helps long term.
And really this isnt forever; the money is to open up new oppratunites so i dont have to grind 50hrs a week.

Its all about goals people. Maybe your goal is finance law school or med school; awesome, maybe its to pay off a debt (hopefully not gambling but education or wild shopping sprees)...

But you need to have a goal; hopefully a tangible one or vision of something youd like to do. That alone will improve your poker game.

My end goal is to buy a chilis or applebees.

I have the same goals.. except I got 1) done, 2) I just divorced so new GF maybe.. so I skipped right to 3)

4) is next summer (hopefully) 5) I'm not really sure about that specific business but something along those lines... involving services

nice read, ty sir


also, gotta think about this post-it thingy on the wall, sounds like I could avoid some tilting with that maybe