Does anyone else stop finding poker fun these days? It feels like the game is a constant grind where you have to nit-fold and nut-peddle. Poker feels like a complete slog these days. Maybe it's always been this way and now I'm feeling the brunt of it.

I play semi-professionally on the weekends and I swear most weekends I just don't even want to play poker, but I play anyway to keep my game sharp and give me extra cash. I want to splash it up and have a good time. I want to spike my gutterball and laugh as the ****ing nit tilts his brains out. But I know that this is burning money and is stupid.

I think I just need a break from it all.

Yeah sounds like a small break is in order at the very least maybe look at your life and lifestyle in general and strike or look for a better real life and poker balance. Maybe find a hobby or something too do just to relax or for the enjoyment of doing it. A good balance between life and poker is needed for most of us too have good healthy relationship between the two and playing our best when at the tables.

Maybe a take a weekend or two or maybe a month or 2 off try out some different things hobbies unless you have some already....if you do focus of them for awhile. You won't or shouldn't get that rusty poker's like riding a bike you never forgot and a lot just becomes habit in certain spots. Also just because you're not playing doesn't mean you can't be studying and improving although for now I'd just completely take some time completely away. When you start missing playing and miss poker then comeback to playing and studying in the mean time enjoy some time away and while away make a plan for a better life balance between life and poker. One where you're not playing all time or a majority of the time when you're not at your actual day job.

FWIW when you do something enough without a break for most of us it starts to feel like a grind, like work and like a job. We all need vacations, breaks and a better life balance from work and things that start feeling like jobs/work. Poker is no different in the end. Enjoy your vacation Hardball good luck striking that poker and life balance we all strive for.



Cheers!!!

agreed GTO and solvers and everyone playing perfectly preflop online as completely killed my passion for the game but yea what are you gonna do *shrugs*

Play something other than NLHE *shrugs*

Learn to play better postflop?

If you want to have fun, stop playing to make money; you can't have both.

Sounds like you need a break. Maybe play a few home games with friends (but for meaningless money) and have a few beers, snacks and enjoy some banter. Play the 72o game etc etc.

Or just have a complete break for a couple of weeks.

definitely want to get into PLO and PLO5 but don't know if i have the balls to stomach the variance lol. but hey at least it wouldn't be boring.

although maybe NLHE is more creative and better than we think but solvers have just killed creativity. crushers like stefan inspire me even though he does have a GTO foundation he really does play NLHE in his own unique way

my main issue is actually bluffing on the river with solver approved plays against players who reach too strong of a range on the river and don't raise their range enough on prior streets (me misperceiving them as being capped) where i'm betting with larger sizings polar in spots where their range isn't as condensed as i believe. so actually i probably just need to play more straight forward and play worse postflop, may improve my wr, as people arrive to the river with a range that is rarely call call folding as much as it properly should (in theory)

the plus is that my value range is getting paid off in those spots but i'm about ready to cut the bluffs entirely, except for when it's deep stacked, i think playing aggressively when deep on the river is still very profitable in most games

i'm not an overaggro spewtard either as i give up as well with hands that don't make good bluffs. i also vbet too thinly sometimes against abc regs although it pays off against the recs.

I learned this very early on when I started to take the game seriously and study it. I've been trying to find a compromise between the two to try and balance playing the game to destress from the workweek and playing competitively to win. It turns out that playing to win is seldom fun.

Both of these sound like good ideas. Thanks.

Well maybe of course. In this case we all need to find something new. I would say that there are a lot of good things and games to play. Like whether it best blockchain games or soemthing else, i think that everyone will be able to find something for himself, even i do some research in order to find myself some replacement for poker and i must say that a variety of them is very huge, but of course we need first to do a research and find out every detail about games

The online sites are an absolute grind these days because of all the tools available. The true poker revolution is happening on the private clubs where true fish don’t have to jump through hoops to get their money online since it is mostly driven through Venmo etc. I am in one of them and they have been growing through friends of friends and word of mouth and the games are ridiculously soft. If you, or anyone else are interested DM me and I can send you the link to join.


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You sound like Raptor. Just be grateful

This is so untrue

You can treat your poker like a business and still have fun bc you love what you do. Loving the game allows to withstand variance as well.

I did about 8 BR Challenges in since April of 2022. I achieved my goals but it was nowhere near as entertaining as Middle Stakes MTTs. Cash is grindy and if you don't have goals/long term or short term it's certainly going to get boring and you will just lose any focus. (hard to maintain focus when you're tired, bored, grinding as a beginner, a little different when you're grinding toward a New House/New Tesla/a trip to Monte Carlo((or find some more practical goals, like financial freedom))
Grinding low stakes is GRINDY go on Global Poker, at Micros you'll get community pots and punts left/right and center. Much more entertaining than Stars/ACR/GG low Limit HUD Players that are using GTO.

It also was NOWHERE near as entertaining as the Poker Boom which I was full part of which virtually no study I went on-line FTP with my first 45 Bucks from Neteller ran up 220 Bucks and felt a thrill, fun and thirst to learn more/Binked my First Micro MTT for 550 bucks. Unfortunately had to get married :/ And lose out on the rest of the Poker Boom just about as I was developing some basic skills.

One of the first pieces of advice a Professional Poker player told me if you're bored, Up YOUR Stakes... and risk it... GL

P.S. Come join us on Twitch, we got a great Poker Community and people are knowledgeable some professional, some amateur, some punters, some in the middle. Make a friend group and screw goals in poker. You'd have to be Nutz to grind a living at Poker these days. LOL Unless you're very Zen/Hardworking. Might bink an MTT here or there...

Op you need to move and change it up, perhaps.

You must be a live grinder.

When I was younger, I wanted this to be my end goal in poker. Instead of being the sweaty grinder trying hard to stack the donk spewing money and reloading, my goal was to become that donk.

You're the biggest nit in ontario what are you talking about hahaha

It happens with every game.

You play Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, Fifa, Poker etc and it's great in the beginning, but eventually it gets boring and you want to play a different game.

Yeah, if you're not making 'serious bank' poker gets incredibly boring. To make serious bank you have to be a professional and approach the game with the work ethic you would a real job. I spent 6 months punting, then punting another 6 months over 1 year now.(end realization was I lacked the health/study/discipline to win what I felt was worth it to me) I then spent 4 Months talking to Professional Poker Players and asking their advice. Emphatically, "they say it's not worth it!" I got to watch them, listen to their math, reasoning and they are very open! They know most people can't absorb the material they can easily or won't. Most will tire, get bored, or don't have the mental capabilities...

You can make **** ton more money in a regular job in The West with the same skill set applied to poker.

But if your Heart's Set on Poker, go take the BBZ course 12 hours a day for a month, learn the Matrix and devote your every waking moment. Get secretary spread, spend 8 hours a day grinding poker/educating after. You might be that guy who can bank 1k-3k a month. There are many... Or sell Volvos for 4k a month.



IF YOU LOVE POKER, play the bloody game. As Weazel says, only play the game if you enjoy it. Dude hasn't worked in a long time ... I agree with him, poker has no place for people who don't love it. Punting, Winning or just cutting even. I would say I'm even for my life in 'exchange for enjoyment, education, better habits and lessons learned'. Not bad for old man with bad eyesight and several extreme health issues!

Play Mixed games.

I make damn good money playing and I still struggle to enjoy poker. I've gone from hold 'em to plo and now occasionally mixed games (noob), just to keep it interesting. The main "thrill" now is seeing how much more money I can make, and even that excitement wears off after a while. I don't think most people can find true life fulfillment in simply taking money from other people playing cards; they need something more.

Is everything ok in your head? Do you need to talk about money in every single post of yours? I randomly see your posts every few weeks and they're all a different variation of the same thing. Guess there are some things money can't buy, like self awareness and gratification.

In before you accuse me of being a poor

The doctors have told me that no, not everything is ok in my head.