The Dark Side of Poker

Could be a interesting topic or might b garbage im not sure..

but i like this pic like the girl represents poker and it just ripped ur heart out and stares at u..

I duno if i feel that way about poker, but i feel like it broke me for sure.. to be good at it you have to be able to disregard money and let it come and go without feeling.. then back to the real world and NO one else works/thinks that way, and now your different from everyone thats not a poker player..
It makes it really hard for my friends to relate to me...

ne1 else got opinions on the subject?

i d hit it

Once you start work again (as a "regular" member of society) I'm sure you will re-adapt and understand them better.

repost the pic plz

edited

whats this thread about btw?

its about poker, i said the pic is cool cuz the girl represents poker... and i was hoping for a bit of discussion about the contradiction between how to be good at our profession we cant really respect money.. and that were like the only people on earth that go through that and stuff like that...

pretty sure stock brokers and stuff have to approach money in the same way

On September 09 2010 05:37 byrnesam wrote: pretty sure stock brokers and stuff have to approach money in the same way

yea everyone hates them..

money in poker is just a tool for keeping score.

a disregard for money isnt really true, otherwise everyone who wins money at poker would be blowing it on rims, breitlings and making it rain at the Rhino - but for a majority of the time, people are just doing work and paying for their living expenses.

If youre properly rolled and understand the variance involved it shouldnt be an issue for you.

Yes, its pretty sick for people like Durrrr/Galfond/Ziigmund who swing millions but for 99.9% of poker players it doesnt apply.

millions of people play poker as a hobby and for social activity, I dont understand how you can feel youve lost a grip on reality and can no longer function in society.

On September 09 2010 05:40 milkman wrote: Show nested quote + On September 09 2010 05:37 byrnesam wrote: pretty sure stock brokers and stuff have to approach money in the same way yea everyone hates them..

haterGonHate.jpg

I have many non poker friends as im sure most everyone on this forum does and really its not that big of an issue. With your real friends money is not a big deal so...who cares. You could relate to them before you were a poker player so why should that suddenly change?

I used to feel this way about poker, imo the way to beat it is to have as much balance in your life as possible. Exercising regularly too!

i can still relate to my friends just fine, its them relating to me thats kinda a problem.. dont get me wrong, i have plenty of friends and its not like im lonely or anything like that.. but no one really knows how poker works, what i do for a living.. anyhting involved with that.. and its just something they dont easily understand.

i duno ive talked with some other people like crown and stuff about the disregard for money i know some other people feel that way but maybe its not as normal as i thought..

On September 09 2010 05:50 BigRed0000 wrote: I used to feel this way about poker, imo the way to beat it is to have as much balance in your life as possible. Exercising regularly too!

when you say balance what do you mean really? and i agree exercising regularly is something need to be doing.

I have friends who work in finance, social work, historical research, design, music etc.

When we hang out, we usually talk about normal stuff that we share in common - music, film, TV, general bullshit. and we all have a similar sense of humor.

Work almost never comes up as a topic other than "hows work going?" and its invariably always "alright"

So i dont see why you would feel distanced from your friends just because of what you do.

On September 09 2010 05:56 milkman wrote: Show nested quote + On September 09 2010 05:50 BigRed0000 wrote: I used to feel this way about poker, imo the way to beat it is to have as much balance in your life as possible. Exercising regularly too! when you say balance what do you mean really? and i agree exercising regularly is something need to be doing.

Things like being on a normal sleep schedule, taking classes (school or just random stuff you are interested in cooking, mma, guitar whatever), having hobbies/interests outside of poker, a girlfriend, maybe a random part time job at a place that you just really enjoy being at, etc.)

All the freedom poker brings is kind of a gift and a curse. It's really easy to let yourself go, become lethargic, and only care about how much money you are up or down. This is a super depressing lifestyle and it's detrimental to your game too.

Everyone is different though, this is just what i've found to work best for me.

standard, that's the tradeoff we have to be willing to make when we become pros, or lean on poker for most of our income. yes it's hard, but in time you will become so numb by swongs that you hopefully won't care anymore if someone understands you or can relate to you or whatever.

i'm lucky to have a gf who likes poker a lot and even understands it pretty well. as for friends i've never been the type to have many friends, but the select few that i have now understand that once in a while they HAVE to listen to how much i lost yesterday. or won. or some sick hand.

yeah, a balanced lifestyle is obviously key, not just in poker either, but maybe it helps us more due to the nature of this evil, lonely mindfuck of a game.

I almost never talk about poker w/ my friends, b/c all this dumbasses starts giving me a lectures about life,gambling and all kind of shit

Also sometimes I think "fuck coffe w/ friends or fuck Y , bc that would cost me X$ given my $/hr "