poker and your brain

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/...is-my-brain-this-is-my-brain-on-poker

We're all gonna die at the age of 50!!!!!

Interesting article. What I'm interested in seeing is what happens when the current internet pro population (20s, 30s) starts turning older (50s, 60s). I think every case is different, but I do agree that playing 8 hours straight of any sort of mentally strenuous activity can't really be healthy.

pretty worthless read.

wp fagget, great title, continue to build your brand

doyle is how old? when did he start playing poker again? its been a while but i think he also played basketball and is a CPA

he's talking about online poker multitabling chris

It's the same as people that are on internet all the time and have the urge to multitask all the time, defo bad for you but that's part of the new generation, poker or not as people focus on too many things at once.

by Dusty Schmidt... that sums it up.

I like how he feel obligated to share this personal information for the overall community gain.

Such a hero!

Poker isn't very healthy for some people, I agree. Any job where you sit all day and are constantly stressed out, probably isn't that great for you(ie most jobs).

But, he probably eats like shit and rarely exercises, and now he is paying the consequences.

Its acualy a good read and makes alot of good points haters. I can relate I feel its changed my brain tremendously and not for the better, after grinding I really am fucking retarded for a few hours. I plan to play alot less its very likely its realated to my recent ill health. Its nothing like serfing the internet. Maybe a bit like high pace video games like starcraft tho.

On February 19 2013 19:03 SpasticInk wrote: I like how he feel obligated to share this personal information for the overall community gain.

Glad he's posted this but he's been encouraging people to grind their faces off for five years. It's a style that's obviously horrible for the games, bad for your social life, and being horrendous for your health as well is not surprising in the least.

On February 19 2013 18:48 Baalim wrote: by Dusty Schmidt... that sums it up.

Thank You

Don't have to waste any time reading bull shit.

Leatherass was a joke in 2008. I can't even imagine the level of joke he is in 2013.

putting that aside, it is a good read and hes the perfect example of someone whos multitabled insane amounts for years and probably has the best perspective on this subject... pretty ignorant I dont like him either

didnt read, but what if whats bad for your brain is all the bumhunting? specially if you consider karma effects on the brain

Hmm.

I've always felt that having spent the past decade of my life multitasking (Starcraft/Poker/Internets) has made me kind of scatter-brained, but I still don't really think this article says much at all... For instance, his first attempt with the GP basically reads like: "Prescribed pills, they were working OK, then suddenly didn't work so I decided to start mixing medication and alcohol and get drunk 4 times a week"....

In addition, I can't help but be reminded of how much medical propaganda there's been around things like boxing or mma and their impact on your brain, so hearing "You'll have a stroke by age 50" isn't something I'd take at face value.

It'd be an interesting study, and there's probably truths to it, but it sounds to me like he was pretty happy to take this 'out' of poker. I doubt very much that if this knowledge had been presented to him 6-7 years ago, at the start of his career, that he would have retired as a result.

Dusty in a nutshell:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_(psychology)

It is really good read and makes a lot of good points haters.i can also make a lots of points to play poker game but only fear that when i lost money. If you lost continuously two three days than its really very difficult to play next day.

Ill keep this under consideration. Ive been mass tabling for over 5 years now. So if i start having trip up moments like that in the future, ill be sure to let u guys know

The article is worth almost nothing, it's a piece of shit, especially if you've read some books on what's really going on lol.

images flashing, stressing your brain every day for 7 years like that no matter what will have same or worse results. The pills and getting drunk is just lol. Our intuition has a tendency to try and look for a pattern, and most of the time the easiest answers are the one we get stuck on.

Best doctor this, best doctor that. I've been to one of the best physiotherapists in Norway, guy helping OL gold medalists and shit, he could potentially have had me have surgery and what not. But I felt he was 100% wrong, and I sat down and read up on the problem for 2-3 days, went back to him, and he had given me totally wrong information. Appologized, then put me on the right path. This is just one example, most ppl are big noobs, the better title, it doesn't change anything.

If you read some books on the pineal gland, read the TF&S and stuff like that you'll lol a bit, roll your eyes and see how much noob shit is in that article lol.

Just the act of being "alone" causes shit in your brain, the act of always thinking thoughts causes shit to happen in our body. We produce more "negative" chemicals when we're stern, all thinky, do this over long periods of time, lots of symptoms starts to manifest. His brain scans can be loads of reasons, and you could scan someone else's brain, a guy who has hobbies outdoor, some work with ppl, likes to walk in the forest, and play poker 6-7 hours as a job, and that guy would have an amazing like brain. And add in how food changes you, how who you spend time with changes you, you can just keep listing things.

On February 19 2013 17:25 mnj wrote: pretty worthless read. wp fagget, great title, continue to build your brand

LOL, for the record: Imma release a product to stimulate better multitabling and causing less braindamage when doing so.

This is the dumbest thing I have read in a while. He went to some quack doctor who told him concentrating alot will give him a stroke. I wonder how much that Amen Clinic is paying him for this...

the solution of course is to ingest lots of harry potter and my little pony
these are sure to keep your mind young and fresh

On February 20 2013 05:07 SakiSaki wrote: This is the dumbest thing I have read in a while. He went to some quack doctor who told him concentrating alot will give him a stroke. I wonder how much that Amen Clinic is paying him for this...

haha.

I Guess whoring for herbalife didn't pan out for him (has it ever? for anyone?). Leatherass was extremely good at what he did back in the day. Call it hating if you want but I like to call it "Buyer Beware: Do not be influenced or persuaded by anything Leatherass says unless it deals with bumhunting online poker from 2006-2008.*"

*and perhaps golf but don't pay attention to any challenges as it will only be attempts to pump up his ego and/or scam you on his terms.

"...I had developed a pattern in my brain (while concentrating) that facilitated a very high functioning processing loop... The brain scans see what a regular psychiatrist can not."

Nowadays neuroimaging aka "brain scan" is used for structural (diagnosis of brain injury, diseases etc.) and functional (cognition - decision making, completing mental tasks like reading, math etc.) neural activity mapping. It's largely used clinically and in research. A lot of the neuroscientists hope that neuroimaging is the tool, which will help them to "solve" the brain. The sad thing is that right now its like a weather forecast in the field of neuropsychology. You can see which part of the patient's brain activates while certain activity, but you can't deduce how exactly the patient feels during this activity. And we still don't know if after 2k years the scientists will be able to deduce one's mental state from brain scans (by deduce I mean to be able to compare in details one's feeling of anger for example to others). In fact it could never happen at all. If you think AI / extraterrestrial consciousness could exist then you can discard the future hopes for neuroimaging right now. The reason is simple - neuroimaging won't work for robots who are in depression.

Anyway, everything you do in your life changes your brain, poker is no exception. In fact in order to adapt, your brain needs to rewire itself. The things you adapt to are your choice and represent your wish and will. So, as some say - be careful what you wish for.

Perhaps, by pure speculation his developed brain pattern that facilitated a very high function processing loop which scanned for fishes, has created a similar automatic relay that dogs have to squirrels. Now, mr bum hunter, as the fish times have collapsed his brain is constantly trying to scan for his predetermined idea of a fish. While unable to find as many fish Mr bum hunter's brain is stuck in what might be considered a perpetual 'pre-sneeze' like mind state. This mental state is hyper-driving a massive electro-chemical pre-charge that never fires which inevitably will result in a massive inter-cranial novae (subtype NA) explosion, rendering his brain to that of canned tuna.

lol, lots of love her for dusty schmidt

This doesn't really prove anything at all. When someone experiences is a mental health issue you can't just retroactively look back into their past and pick a random thing you figure might have caused it.

Also, a 100mg prescription for Zoloft immediately, right off the bat. That's insane, what kind of doctors is he seeing?

Can someone plz explain why there is so much hate for Leatherass? And i mean serious arguments, cause i feel like i missed something.

On February 21 2013 05:33 MadeInPolanD wrote: Can someone plz explain why there is so much hate for Leatherass? And i mean serious arguments, cause i feel like i missed something.

Because he's considered a ''bumhunter'' and also promotes this kind of playstyle in his books.

hes fat and ugly

bumhunting is the norm nowadays.. i always thought people dislike leatherass because of his abrasive, arrogant and condescending attitude in some of his interactions with other poker players

he's a fat and ugly bumhunter who's abrasive, arrogant and condescending.

On February 21 2013 05:33 MadeInPolanD wrote: Can someone plz explain why there is so much hate for Leatherass? And i mean serious arguments, cause i feel like i missed something.

It would be quite lengthy to go into serious detail especially if you have no perspective of his behavior dating back to 2006. I don't want to spend too much time on this and you will never fully grasp the situation if you did not deal with him on a daily basis in a business setting but if you want arguments go through his 2p2 posts and blog posts with the knowledge that he would likely be a losing player hu to any mid-stakes (sh to full ring) professional, has no regard for ethics/etiquette whatsoever, and at every point in his gambling career shamelessly attempts to negotiate entirely on his terms while attempting to market it in a way that is not truthful and often times appalling.

I can relate to him in some degree. I remember when I 30-40 tabled, it took me few minutes to cool off because my brain couldn't handle having nothing to do when it was zoned to thinking so quick and solving multiple problems. If whatever he is saying is true I'd imagine SC1 progamers to be suffering far worse then poker players.

On February 21 2013 05:33 MadeInPolanD wrote: Can someone plz explain why there is so much hate for Leatherass? And i mean serious arguments, cause i feel like i missed something.

The further away something is from truth and justice, THE HARDER WE STRIKE!! *Grrowwll*

good article, worth reading. thanks

On February 19 2013 20:25 RiKD wrote: Show nested quote + On February 19 2013 18:48 Baalim wrote: by Dusty Schmidt... that sums it up. Thank You Don't have to waste any time reading bull shit. Leatherass was a joke in 2008. I can't even imagine the level of joke he is in 2013.

+1. His stupid fucking challenges

There has been a ton of talk about my open challenge to anyone in the world that I can make more money in one month at 5/10 and 10/20. So far no one has accepted which came as no surprise as me.

Seriously a huge piece of shit, that one

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54/...e/100k-31-days-prop-bet-2-4nl-233780/

@marius - what's TF&S?

YOLO.

lol, nice video

which asshole revived this worthless thread

great article

Ridiculous article.

Poker has been amazing for my brain. Sitting at a computer for 80+ hours a week playing an online game, I had nothing better to do than improve myself. I was able to track the data from my EEG over many months of play and show a direct and high correlation with my concentration levels and winrate. With real-time neurofeedback I trained myself to keep higher levels of sustained concentration for longer periods of time. I had greater or equal quantities of REM over less hours of sleep. These are things I would never had the patience to do if I hadn't been engaging in an activity where my focus so directly and immediately affected my success. I also found renewed interest in higher level mathematics.
I'd say the most damaging thing to my brain was the amount of stress incurred from the swings and most of that was my own fault for risking financial loss to the degree that could so negatively impact my mental state.

What's really astounding to me is how many of the traits and learned skills I picked up from playing poker that have carried over to my life after poker all across the board.