Posted Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:27 pm GMT by Hungry4Knowledge
Here im gonna be open
Im a norwegian boy who just turned 16 years old. I played poker in the form of 5 card draw for small stakes in my home game for the last 5 years. About 15 months ago I discovered the wonderful game of Texas hold'em and I, like many others fell inlove! I played for playmoney for 9 months and added the game to my homegame. I felt i had enough knowledge to try for real money online. I went to my older brother and asked if he could help me, and convinced him to insert 100$ to a real money acount for me. It didnt go to well and after 6 months online i had used about 500$. I dont have much regrets because i felt i had become alot better. Atleast after reading Supersystem and some other books from cloutier and harrington and other great poker authors....
Now to the problem. I decided to take a break from online poker, atleast for real money (I play freerolls) But i just cant be happy about it. I can sit up at night and think about what i could do if i had real money in my account now. I dream about scenarios. What moves i have done the last months and what i did wrong. ¨
Now to my question: Is it possible to take a break from poker? If there is please tell me how. I am married with the thing i love, help me separate, atlest for some months...
If i cant, anyone know how to feel comfortable playing freerolls.
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Posted Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:52 pm GMT by greathuskie
do what i did: just stop playing
dont think about palying, find other shit to do, alcohol, something
just stop playing
ive done it ebfore and im doing it now
Posted Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:17 pm GMT by Skribbles
Bud, you are 16! GO GET LAID OR SOMETHING! You have plenty of time for poker when you are LEGAL. Don't waste your time trying to make a buck or two.
If you are having this much trouble now taking a break, you are going to be in SERIOUS trouble in the future.
Posted Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:22 pm GMT by Johny
I don't know if "getting laid" is a better alternative, but you should find something else to do. I'm sure you have other important things in your life, like school. Basically, don't let what should be a recreational game become an uneeded problem.
I started playing Hold 'Em at 16 too and I let control my life, espicially last semester. I would usually have very good results at school but last semester I failed the first course of my life and had poor results overall. This made me realise that poker isn't important, it's just a game.
Posted Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:41 pm GMT by Hungry4Knowledge
| Skribbles wrote: | Bud, you are 16! GO GET LAID OR SOMETHING! You have plenty of time for poker when you are LEGAL. Don't waste your time trying to make a buck or two.
If you are having this much trouble now taking a break, you are going to be in SERIOUS trouble in the future. |
Im not trying to make a buck or two, im trying to become a complete player! Dropping the game until im 18 is unacceptable... My plan is too play live in a home game 1-2 times a week. after playing live i have a tendency to be able to think about other things, especially since my home game is so weak that i can earn like 200x BB in 2 hours play and after a good session i can relax....
Im often sosial in the weekends, but drinking and getting laid isnt always too easy on a Thursday afternoon.... And i would rather have a poker "problem" then a drinking problem :D After about 20 hours of thinking i think i got a plan.... I know many people are using lots of time, maybe to much of their time to play. I dont think my age is relevant really....
Posted Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:58 pm GMT by supafrey
| Quote: | especially since my home game is so weak that i can earn like 200x BB in 2 hours play and after a good session i can relax
|
Posted Sun Apr 02, 2006 2:48 am GMT by Ryan231
| Hungry4Knowledge wrote: | Here im gonna be open
|
| Hungry4Knowledge wrote: |
It didnt go to well and after 6 months online i had used about 500$. |
| Hungry4Knowledge wrote: |
especially since my home game is so weak that i can earn like 200x BB in 2 hours play and after a good session i can relax
|
I'm not gonna cut you up man but if you want to become better, and I say this from personal experience you should realize that your a losing player (online) and step back, lower your stakes, and work on your game. Online play is much different than live play, I started playing online specifically to improve my live game, I quickly found out they are 2 very different animals. I've played online for maybe a year or so, and only since the last 2 or 3 months I actually started to break even and turn a small profit.
My advice is to just play low stakes, and play only when you get the drive to play. For me that is how I win, I get the feeling I really want to play, I play, I usually win because I'm wanting to play well and then when the feeling goes away I stop (usually an hour a day tops). When I lose its usually because I just force myself to play and then I'm not really feeling it, forcing plays, and overall not playing to my potential.
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:08 am GMT by Hungry4Knowledge
Hi.... Thx for good answers! I decided to drop all online poker for a while. I dont feel online poker is "Real Poker" or maybe i just dont have the psychologic tools to handle it. Too technical..... Im gonna keep playing live and instead of online poker i dedicate my time to working out, sportsbetting and also go get wasted and get laid in the weekends + Keeping attention to the norwegian soccer league :D Im looking forward to "Robbing" my friends in my homegame  Guess i have to start saving money for the WSOP main event 2011 8)
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:45 pm GMT by UrAteUp
| Hungry4Knowledge wrote: | | Hi.... Thx for good answers! I decided to drop all online poker for a while. I dont feel online poker is "Real Poker" or maybe i just dont have the psychologic tools to handle it. Too technical..... Im gonna keep playing live and instead of online poker i dedicate my time to working out, sportsbetting and also go get wasted and get laid in the weekends + Keeping attention to the norwegian soccer league :D Im looking forward to "Robbing" my friends in my homegame Guess i have to start saving money for the WSOP main event 2011 8) |
Online poker is real poker. If you have any doubts then think back to your $500 and wonder where it is now.
I think it is a good thing that your stepping away from online poker for awhile. Not even considering your age, your play is not as good as you think it is. If your dropping $500 online in a manner of a couple months then it's time to look at what and where the real problem is.
It is easy to blame online poker and say the site was against you, its rigged or some other lame crap like that (we see it all the time around here) but the truth is your game just is not as good as you think it is. If your doing good in your home game then great but for the future I would recommend getting hold of a few more books and studying the game much more. Involve yourself there then when you think you have a handle on things step back online and give it a try.
One thing you should never forget, if poker gets to be nerve racking, work or addictive then it isn't fun anymore and you should step away from it.... 
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:50 pm GMT by Hungry4Knowledge
I never blamed the site. I blamed my psychological unability to deal with the number of games and the higher stakes. I went up in limits to fast. I Played about 15 3+.40$ Sngs at pokerstars and doubled my bankroll from 50$ to 100$ and then i got over-excited and tried to play 10+1$ sngs... With only 9x the buy-in and lack of expirience for those naturally i couldnt afford running bad... And i did. I got some bad beats, and then i was down to 0$ I blame myself. Im sure i could make a winning player in lower limits i just couldnt refuse the temptation to go up in limits.
When I said online poker isnt "Real poker" I simply ment that without being able to get any psychological advantages its not real poker to me. Online poker is all about seing patterns and playing your hands corretly. It doesnt give me what i love the most about poker. Stearing down my opponent, picking up on tells and sit with a stoneface hour after hour raking in chips. The money I lost was real, the game was the same. It just didnt give me what im looking for in a game. Im sure I'll be back in online poker and I respect good online pokerplayers but there is no substitute for a real-life game.
Posted Tue Apr 04, 2006 11:51 am GMT by BeerWench13
| Quote: | | Stearing down my opponent, picking up on tells and sit with a stoneface hour after hour raking in chips. The money I lost was real, the game was the same. It just didnt give me what im looking for in a game. Im sure I'll be back in online poker and I respect good online pokerplayers but there is no substitute for a real-life game. |
I understand your thinking in this completely. I feel the same. Online poker is more of a hobby or passtime to me. It's not something that I would do all day, every day if I had other options. Personally, there's no comparison to playing live poker; being able to get players to lay down monsters because they're afraid of your table image, getting the perfect read on a player, or knowing that they have no clue what you're holding. I love these aspects of the game just as much as the game itself.
As for your "problem", I would think that you would have other things to do at your age. When I was 16, I was playing ball 3-5 nights a week, partying with friends or dating on the weekends and doing things associated with my education, such as studying and trying to maintain my 4.0 average. I think you'd be better off to focus on the things in life that will profit you in the long run. Poker may be one of those things, but there are numerous others. There is no substitute for a good education.
My suggestion would be to find a site (ESPN poker is one) that you can play for free but have something to show for it if you do well. I will warn you that it's nowhere near what you've played in the past. It's a veritable donkfest 24-7. However, it will help you to practice and get that bug out of your bonnet. It worked for me when I swore off online play for a while.
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