Is there more to Life than Poker?

[Dr Fill Good]

I've seen a common theme arise in threads. Is playing poker for a living fulfilling? Does it lead to one living a good life?

Is just having money enough to combat all the other stresses that come with it?

Is the fact that we don't contribute to society's well being a negative mark on our lives?

Is playing poker for a living conducive to living a happy life? Or will we all be having captain zeebo like meltdowns in the near future?

Or are we just degenerate gamblers who have no care in the world?

[lolnoobaments]

wow vn topic

I've seen a common theme arise in threads. Is playing poker for a living fulfilling? Does it lead to one living a good life?

Is just having money enough to combat all the other stresses that come with it?

Is the fact that we don't contribute to society's well being a negative mark on our lives?

Is playing poker for a living conducive to living a happy life? Or will we all be having captain zeebo like meltdowns in the near future?

Or are we just degenerate gamblers who have no care in the world?

1- well life quality goes down the drain, we all know that. even or sleeping time is a mess.

2-yes

3- no, a good basketball player contributes zero and has no negative mark.

4-dunno, but the part of us that is gonna fail is going to have a hard time adapting/having a normal job.

[otbdave]

I've seen a common theme arise in threads. Is playing poker for a living fulfilling? Does it lead to one living a good life?

Is just having money enough to combat all the other stresses that come with it?

Is the fact that we don't contribute to society's well being a negative mark on our lives?

Is playing poker for a living conducive to living a happy life? Or will we all be having captain zeebo like meltdowns in the near future?

Or are we just degenerate gamblers who have no care in the world?

Interesting post...

Is playing poker for a living fulfilling and does it lead to one living a good life?

I think the answer to this question is pretty obvious... All through school I was always told that the most important thing when decided one's career is to not the income but rather how enjoyable and engaging the job is day in and day out. I think the exact same rationale applies to playing poker for a living. If you enjoy it, why not?

Is the fact that a poker player does not contribute to society a negative mark? I don't think so... I can't really think of a good reason off the top of my head but most people that I have met that play poker seriously or for a living are far above the average citizen as far as overall morals go. Certainly I have found many more shitty human beings that are non players.

The last question is the most interesting to me. Obviously I do not play poker for a living, and I almost certainly do not have the ability to successfully play poker for a living. I think there will always be enough people playing less than optimal strategy to make it possible for one to consistently beat the game. This is proven by a lot of people who's graphs of winnings are a rock steady vertical slope. But modern poker is still very young, especially online poker, and I don't really know how the "career outlook" looks per say. It is hard to beat the game year in and year out, and some of the players I know personally that have had massive success often find themselves at plateaus. Even the top 0.01% of poker players I know are barely making more money playing poker than a different job that I think they could easily thrive at. Honestly I think anyone that has the intelligence, ambition, and fortitude required to beat poker for years could really find success at any path they chose in life. If poker is what you enjoy doing, then why not, how much you like you job is all that matters when it all comes down to it. I know I could never do it for a living though...

[SparX]

Good post. Certainly something that I have been struggling with recently. Will have to post some thoughts later.

[absinthe father]

I've been thinking about the same things myself, and I guess my conclusion is:

- Whether or not you're contributing to society doesn't mean anything as long as you're passionate about what you do, and constantly challenge yourself to get better at it.

- In order to be happy you need to find some kind of balance between poker and other things in life, so that it doesn't consume you completely (and you end up having a meltdown like zeebo...)

[Vestvik7]

Nice thread.

All I know is I hope I never ever become a professional poker player. Having said that I think it is going to happen during the next couppel of years.

[wreaks]

If you're happy with what you're doing, that's all that matters (as long as you're not hurting anyone in the process). If you can deal with the stress that comes with playing full time, go for it.

Playing poker for a living is a lot like investing for a living. Only instead of investing money in other companies, you're investing in yourself. I like to use this analogy when people talk about the fact that you're putting your income on the line every day. Taking a bad beat in poker is similar to losing money in the stock market. In both situations, you're playing percentages and going with the smart bet. Sometimes, it doesn't work out. In the long run, if you keep getting your money in good, you'll win.

As far as contributing to society... if you're worried about not doing anything, volunteer, or donate money to a charity. This is how a lot of professional athletes give back to the communities that support their way of life.

[Chipless Wonder]

Great thread Doc.

As far as contributing to society... if you're worried about not doing anything, volunteer, or donate money to a charity. This is how a lot of professional athletes give back to the communities that support their way of life.

I run a couple of small businesses, so poker is still primarily a hobby to me. But I still spend the majority of my time thinking about ways to improve my poker game. If and when I do make my first monster score, my plan is to make a large donation to a worthwhile charity. This will help me to feel like I'm making a contribution to our society, rather than just pulling money out of the poker world for my own personal benefit.

[De_Bo]

I think playing poker for the bills would be horrible. As the primary bread winner in my family, I could not even imagine going through a downswing and wondering if I will have a bankroll in three months. Of course I have a wife and three daughters who I love to spoil. I could see myself being grumpy or not paying attention to my family when variance kicks my butt. I love my normal job: interacting with patients and co-workers, a nice paycheck every two weeks (not concerned with my ROI and ITM numbers).

In my fantasy world, the thought of playing poker for a living sounds great. Making your own hours, traveling, lots of time off, not leaving the house to go to work, not shaving, etc. all sound nice. But the type of person I am, I would just put in maximum volume and not enjoy the benefits of playing for a living.

In a different life, if I was single....I would be a complete poker degenerate and probably be broke living at Circus Circus eating 99 cent hot dogs from day to day.

My hat goes off to you guys playing for a living. I admire the discipline, effort, and skill you put into your profession. Its not for me though. I love poker as a hobby and the money I make is used to pay for vacations and fun stuff. No matter how bad Im playing or running, I sleep well every night. I know that wouldn't be the case if I played for a living.

Just my two cents...


Denny

[ThrillCory90]

Proffesional athletes DO contribute to society because they have a product that they sell. Society wants to be entertained, there is a market for it, so they sell it. If people want to watch basketball enough that they are willing to pay for it, then society would be worse off if the NBA decided to stop selling it's product (we would all be unhappy about that) so they are contributing to society. If NBA players aren't contributing to society, then toy companys, video game companys, theme parks, the music industry, luxury car companys, casinos... basically everything except people who create essential products like a farmer, and maybe a social worker aren't contributing to society... and this just isn't true.

I believe the same argument may apply to being a proffesional poker player since you aren't stealing money from anybody. People are paying to play with you in the same way they pay to buy a lottery ticket.