I was thinking about why the heck are we fascinated by, addicted to, love playing poker. I came up with several theories.
1. Psychological. This has many forms. The competitive ego driven need to win and the addictive nature of gambling come to mind.
2. The social aspect. We enjoy hanging out with friends and acquaintances. It is fun to b.s. at the poker table while enjoying an adult beverage.
3. Financial. Some people are strictly about the money. These would include the professionals, the grinders (semi-pros), and people desperate to augment their incomes.
4. Mathematical driven challenge. I think some people really enjoy the challenge of figuring odds and playing a math driven game.
5. Boredom. Sometimes it is just a way to relax and forget about other problems.
6. "Fun". This may encompass other factors mentioned above. If I am at a table and not having "fun" it can be for many reasons, the people playing, the volatility of the game (I prefer a low variance one), how I feel (playing tired is a deal killer for me), losing a boatload of money, etc.
When you sit down to play, sometimes several of these are at work. Personally, I am very competitive and enjoy that challenge. That said, I also have a very addictive personality and find I must choose my addictions wisely. I do get a charge out of winning money but after keeping close tabs on my win/loss numbers over several years find that it is pretty much a zero sum game for me. Am finding the social aspect more important as I age and pretty much am miserable if at a table with a bunch, or sometimes even one jerk. I think it is important to assess the other players and decide why they are there as well as trying to understand your own motivations.
Last night I had a tough drive from Seattle to the beach, almost 6 hours. Traffic was bad and still suffering from my dental surgery on Monday. The Legion game beckoned of course and despite my weariness went to see friends and play. The first table was fine, enjoyable players, friend dealing, no maniacs and pretty predictable play. I got moved fairly soon in a table balancing to a nightmare. Horrible dealer, clueless maniac, aggressive smart player, aggressive lucky maniac, very savvy player, clueless calling stations. I lost over 1/2 my chips to a calling station who had limped with A/K 2 UTG. I was on the button with AJ suited. Flop was A/2/3. He bet $200 and I flat called. Turn paired the 3 PLUS bring in a flush. He bet $300, I raised to $900. Naturally, he calls being a calling station and not a thinking player. The river is queen, he checks, I check behind. Wow. I cannot believe he has me out kicked and chose to call my big turn raise. Later, short stacked, blinds 80/160, I have $610, I shove UTG with AJ suited (you saw what happened with my AJ earlier, right?), the aggressive and lucky player 3 UTG calls with Q/9 suited. What is he thinking here? He lost a huge pot earlier with his 9/5 vs. A/9 on a 9/5/A flop, then regained them on aggressive player vs. the donk I lost chips to earlier. Anyway, I hit a J on the flop but he hit two of his suit, then a 9, then his flush. In reality I was so tired that I considered getting up earlier and leaving my chips to blind out, and definitely did not want to hit break with no chips so I was all in no matter what with any reasonable holding. Turbo tournaments are so tough.
1. Psychological. This has many forms. The competitive ego driven need to win and the addictive nature of gambling come to mind.
2. The social aspect. We enjoy hanging out with friends and acquaintances. It is fun to b.s. at the poker table while enjoying an adult beverage.
3. Financial. Some people are strictly about the money. These would include the professionals, the grinders (semi-pros), and people desperate to augment their incomes.
4. Mathematical driven challenge. I think some people really enjoy the challenge of figuring odds and playing a math driven game.
5. Boredom. Sometimes it is just a way to relax and forget about other problems.
6. "Fun". This may encompass other factors mentioned above. If I am at a table and not having "fun" it can be for many reasons, the people playing, the volatility of the game (I prefer a low variance one), how I feel (playing tired is a deal killer for me), losing a boatload of money, etc.
When you sit down to play, sometimes several of these are at work. Personally, I am very competitive and enjoy that challenge. That said, I also have a very addictive personality and find I must choose my addictions wisely. I do get a charge out of winning money but after keeping close tabs on my win/loss numbers over several years find that it is pretty much a zero sum game for me. Am finding the social aspect more important as I age and pretty much am miserable if at a table with a bunch, or sometimes even one jerk. I think it is important to assess the other players and decide why they are there as well as trying to understand your own motivations.
Last night I had a tough drive from Seattle to the beach, almost 6 hours. Traffic was bad and still suffering from my dental surgery on Monday. The Legion game beckoned of course and despite my weariness went to see friends and play. The first table was fine, enjoyable players, friend dealing, no maniacs and pretty predictable play. I got moved fairly soon in a table balancing to a nightmare. Horrible dealer, clueless maniac, aggressive smart player, aggressive lucky maniac, very savvy player, clueless calling stations. I lost over 1/2 my chips to a calling station who had limped with A/K 2 UTG. I was on the button with AJ suited. Flop was A/2/3. He bet $200 and I flat called. Turn paired the 3 PLUS bring in a flush. He bet $300, I raised to $900. Naturally, he calls being a calling station and not a thinking player. The river is queen, he checks, I check behind. Wow. I cannot believe he has me out kicked and chose to call my big turn raise. Later, short stacked, blinds 80/160, I have $610, I shove UTG with AJ suited (you saw what happened with my AJ earlier, right?), the aggressive and lucky player 3 UTG calls with Q/9 suited. What is he thinking here? He lost a huge pot earlier with his 9/5 vs. A/9 on a 9/5/A flop, then regained them on aggressive player vs. the donk I lost chips to earlier. Anyway, I hit a J on the flop but he hit two of his suit, then a 9, then his flush. In reality I was so tired that I considered getting up earlier and leaving my chips to blind out, and definitely did not want to hit break with no chips so I was all in no matter what with any reasonable holding. Turbo tournaments are so tough.
2 comments:
Personally I never realized how competitive I was until I started playing poker. I also think it's just about the best game in the world that I can actually play. (I love baseball, but don't ask me to play it LOL.) It is so much fun. It's never boring, at least not to me. And even if I lose, I still find that I've enjoyed myself in the long run. For example, last weekend I played a tournament at the Moose and one at Jokers and only got my money back in both. But hey, I enjoyed the heck out of myself for 2-4 hours and it didn't cost me a dime. How cool is that?
For me, money has very little to do with it. Sure, it's fun to win money but I think the social aspect and the competitiveness is what draws me in and keeps me playing.
I play because of all of your points and I enjoy seeing you when you show up. The social aspect is the biggest factor for me.
The pick
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