Gambling Degenerate, do I need help?

phantom_lord

All my life I've gone to the races and bookies, and was a reasonably successful punter, I had two big catchs in my time, one was a hefty e/w bet on hedgehunter to win the national at 25/1, another was media puzzle at 33/1 for the melbourne cup.

I started playing poker in college about a year and a half ago, just the €5 tournament every tuesday. Nothing major. When I turned 18 I played my first tournament in a casino, just a little freeroll, I came 5th for a ticket to a tournament the week after.

I kept up an interest in the game over the summer. I also had a summer job, working for min wage putting in close to 40 hours a week. Around this time I discovered a local casino, where €1/€2 cash games were played.

Most people bought in for around 200-400euros, so it's a reasonably sized game, for the first week or two I crushed this game. Making more in a night than in a week of my job, I soon quit my job and played full time, 9pm to 7am, sleeping through most of the day. I was a very respected and feared player at this casino.

I through away some of this cash, a good bit playing blackjack and roulette, my typical night started off with losing 50-100 on the house games knowing I'd make it back easily, then blew lots on going out etc. and all the other things that happens when u give a kid lots of money.

One time one of the regulars came in drunk one night and offered me a bet, we would draw two random hands, whoever won got a hundred off the other. Of course I accepted readily.

I then went on a bit of losing streak, the other guys copped onto my game and started giving me less action.

When I moved back to college in dublin I started playing in the fitz card club, I started of with a borrowed 400, I ran this up to 7k over the space of 5-6weeks playing most nights a week, college work went completely out the window, i dind't turn if for lecture. I was making 50+ an hour and having loads of fun. I had nights where I won 1k+. A guy used to slap me on the back everytime he saw me and say that I never lose.

Before I played poker I used to play some blackjack and in between hands on the poker table I'd run over to the roullette table if for example black was on a good run.

I then played two big tournaments, this cost about 600ish, I finished one place outside the money in one and was no where in the other. I went to play cash gmaes and just gambled about 600-700 away on tilt.

I went through a phase where money was completely worthless, on a bus one day talking to some guys in college, one guy mentioned his parents were giving him less money, and how he was 60 euro in debt(!), i nonchalantly told him I'd lost 1200 that weekend, but it was ok cause I'd make 1800 during the week.

I went on a trip to a casino around that time and stayed in a hotel with a guy I met off the internet. A couple of nights in the casino and I was up a couple of thousand. I came back won night and put the cash in my suitcase, when I woke up, the cash and my roomate were gone

When I went to go back to play in the fitz I went on a horrific run of cards, I lost 1k a night a couple of times, I kept getting extemely unlucky, like all-in with a straight in a €800 pot against two guys with two pair and one of the hitting a house etc.

One night I sat down with my last four hundrd of back roll, I was down to fifty but ended up even for the night. The poker ends at seven in the morning, so I headed over for some roullette and picked up a few quid.

Then the punto table beckoned, I employed a simple strategy, you either bet on the bank or punto, it's close to 50/50, I martingaled my bets, I bet 10 if I lost I bet 20, then forty etc. Pretty quickly i turned my 400 into close to 1k.

Then it happened, I lost my 10, then 20, then 40, then 80, then 160, I can't lost the next one I thought, and moved all in for my last 320. boom, busto.

I used my last bit of change to catch the bus home. This was in dec.

I then borrowed 500 to play on the internet, I started of at the lowest levels of .10/.20 before building up to a 6k bankroll within two months to play 1/2nl.

But since feb I've just been losing.

I busted my bankroll on one site doing flips, where everyone just sat at a table goinf all-in every hand regardless of cards, I built up a huge stack but lost it all. I got such a buzz out of the gambooling it didn't matter.

Below is a link to a graph of my winnings, excluded is 2k in tournament winnings, and another 2k in rakeback and bonus'.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c215/phantom_lord1983/boring2.jpg

this is a graph from last night

I also have a ticket for the irish open on friday, worth 3.5k, I don't know if I'm good enough to cash, it might just be a waste of money.

I'm beginning to doubt I can make money at poker, I'm also beginning to suspect the site I play on is rigged to induce more action and generate rake.
I sometimes wonder if I should just quit and get a job like "normal" people.

I'm well known among some of my friends for my hefty gambling habits, one of them handed me a pamphlet from gamblers anonymous, you know the one saying if you can tick 7 out of these 30 boxes you have a problem? I could tick nearly all the boxes. A blog containing the whole jouney is linked in my sig.

do I need help?


cliff notes: I've just turned 19 and I've won and lost vast quanties of cash. am i a sick degenerate?

kmick

Depends I would say.
1) Do you owe lots of money to people?
2) Do you you will lose the 3.5k in that tournament?
3) Is your bad streak down to chasing losses, increasing bets, playing loose like all poker losers - instead of playing tighter and geing down a couple of levels like pros?
4) Do you hate your life?
5) Do you see yourself living like this for the rest of your life?
6) Do you have anything to show for the last year? House, Car, girlfriend?

If 1-4 is yes and 5 and 6 are no then you need to reassess.

Nevyn

http://www.gamblersanonymous.ie/

Most compulsive gamblers will answer 'yes' to at least seven of these questions...
1 Do you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?
2 Is gambling ever made your home life unhappy?
3 Is gambling affecting your reputation?
4 Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?
5 Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
6 Does gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
7 After losing do you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
8 After a win do you have a strong urge to return and win more?
9 Do you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?
10 Have you ever borrowed to finance your gambling?
11 Have you ever sold any real or personal property to finance gambling?
12 Are you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures?
13 Does gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
14 Have you ever gamble longer than you had planned?
15 Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble?
16 Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?
17 Does gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
18 Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?
19 Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?
20 Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?

I do think you should consider getting help.
It had to be your decision for your own reasons and to make your life better for you.

PeakOutput

dude iv talked to you very briefly in the past about making money from poker and then you even sounded a bit burnt out...................

you say you don tthink you can make money from poker any more but to me it looks like your just losing it playing other mug games.............

maybe it is time to chill out on the gambling and play low limit cash games ONLY, if you cant do that then i dont think poker pro is the profession for you.

i have seen interviews with pros who go on how they are natural born gamblers and they blow a million on the golf course here and there etc etc but you can be guaranteed they dont play a 50-50 game with their last 400 dollars

it sounds to me like your on the cusp of being a very succesful player but you need to sort out your habit of wasting your winnings on other gambling. waste it on other things like normal 19 year olds jesus you could walk into lillies one night a wekks and play the high roller for the night to let off steam but gambling it is not the way to do it

maybe im talking crap these are just the things that came into my head as i read

ps for the purpose of the above gambling is everything besides poker

phantom_lord

Most compulsive gamblers will answer 'yes' to at least seven of these questions...
1 Do you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling? tick
2 Is gambling ever made your home life unhappy?
3 Is gambling affecting your reputation? in a way I guess
4 Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?only when that donkey calling my pf, and called me down to the river sucking out hitting his gutshot
5 Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
6 Does gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?tick
7 After losing do you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
8 After a win do you have a strong urge to return and win more? i guess so
9 Do you often gamble until your last dollar was gone?tick
10 Have you ever borrowed to finance your gambling?tick
11 Have you ever sold any real or personal property to finance gambling?
12 Are you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures?tick
13 Does gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
14 Have you ever gamble longer than you had planned? tick
15 Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble?
16 Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling?
17 Does gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?used to, till I got used to the swings
18 Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?
19 Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling? no, but I did celebrate after a few hours of good gambling!
20 Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?

.

DeadParrot

I went on a trip to a casino around that time and stayed in a hotel with a guy I met off the internet. A couple of nights in the casino and I was up a couple of thousand. I came back won night and put the cash in my suitcase, when I woke up, the cash and my roomate were gone

mother of god.....that and that alone would put be on killer tilt.

Iago

phantom_lord wrote:

All my life I've gone to the races and bookies, and was a reasonably successful punter, I had two big catchs in my time, one was a hefty e/w bet on hedgehunter to win the national at 25/1, another was media puzzle at 33/1 for the melbourne cup.

I started playing poker in college about a year and a half ago, just the €5 tournament every tuesday. Nothing major. When I turned 18 I played my first tournament in a casino, just a little freeroll, I came 5th for a ticket to a tournament the week after.

I kept up an interest in the game over the summer. I also had a summer job, working for min wage putting in close to 40 hours a week. Around this time I discovered a local casino, where €1/€2 cash games were played.

Most people bought in for around 200-400euros, so it's a reasonably sized game, for the first week or two I crushed this game. Making more in a night than in a week of my job, I soon quit my job and played full time, 9pm to 7am, sleeping through most of the day. I was a very respected and feared player at this casino.

I through away some of this cash, a good bit playing blackjack and roulette, my typical night started off with losing 50-100 on the house games knowing I'd make it back easily, then blew lots on going out etc. and all the other things that happens when u give a kid lots of money.

One time one of the regulars came in drunk one night and offered me a bet, we would draw two random hands, whoever won got a hundred off the other. Of course I accepted readily.

I then went on a bit of losing streak, the other guys copped onto my game and started giving me less action.

When I moved back to college in dublin I started playing in the fitz card club, I started of with a borrowed 400, I ran this up to 7k over the space of 5-6weeks playing most nights a week, college work went completely out the window, i dind't turn if for lecture. I was making 50+ an hour and having loads of fun. I had nights where I won 1k+. A guy used to slap me on the back everytime he saw me and say that I never lose.

Before I played poker I used to play some blackjack and in between hands on the poker table I'd run over to the roullette table if for example black was on a good run.

I then played two big tournaments, this cost about 600ish, I finished one place outside the money in one and was no where in the other. I went to play cash gmaes and just gambled about 600-700 away on tilt.

I went through a phase where money was completely worthless, on a bus one day talking to some guys in college, one guy mentioned his parents were giving him less money, and how he was 60 euro in debt(!), i nonchalantly told him I'd lost 1200 that weekend, but it was ok cause I'd make 1800 during the week.

I went on a trip to a casino around that time and stayed in a hotel with a guy I met off the internet. A couple of nights in the casino and I was up a couple of thousand. I came back won night and put the cash in my suitcase, when I woke up, the cash and my roomate were gone

When I went to go back to play in the fitz I went on a horrific run of cards, I lost 1k a night a couple of times, I kept getting extemely unlucky, like all-in with a straight in a €800 pot against two guys with two pair and one of the hitting a house etc.

One night I sat down with my last four hundrd of back roll, I was down to fifty but ended up even for the night. The poker ends at seven in the morning, so I headed over for some roullette and picked up a few quid.

Then the punto table beckoned, I employed a simple strategy, you either bet on the bank or punto, it's close to 50/50, I martingaled my bets, I bet 10 if I lost I bet 20, then forty etc. Pretty quickly i turned my 400 into close to 1k.

Then it happened, I lost my 10, then 20, then 40, then 80, then 160, I can't lost the next one I thought, and moved all in for my last 320. boom, busto.

I used my last bit of change to catch the bus home. This was in dec.

I then borrowed 500 to play on the internet, I started of at the lowest levels of .10/.20 before building up to a 6k bankroll within two months to play 1/2nl.

But since feb I've just been losing.

I busted my bankroll on one site doing flips, where everyone just sat at a table goinf all-in every hand regardless of cards, I built up a huge stack but lost it all. I got such a buzz out of the gambooling it didn't matter.

Below is a link to a graph of my winnings, excluded is 2k in tournament winnings, and another 2k in rakeback and bonus'.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c215/phantom_lord1983/boring2.jpg

this is a graph from last night

I also have a ticket for the irish open on friday, worth 3.5k, I don't know if I'm good enough to cash, it might just be a waste of money.

I'm beginning to doubt I can make money at poker, I'm also beginning to suspect the site I play on is rigged to induce more action and generate rake.
I sometimes wonder if I should just quit and get a job like "normal" people.

I'm well known among some of my friends for my hefty gambling habits, one of them handed me a pamphlet from gamblers anonymous, you know the one saying if you can tick 7 out of these 30 boxes you have a problem? I could tick nearly all the boxes. A blog containing the whole jouney is linked in my sig.

do I need help?


cliff notes: I've just turned 19 and I've won and lost vast quanties of cash. am i a sick degenerate?

MOVE UP LEVELS

PeakOutput

i know i sound like im trying to talk you into keep wasting your money but it sounds like your just in need of strict financial planning if your earning 50an hour on average then 20 goes to your bankroll and 30 into your pocket or something along those lines................treat it as work and work to live dont live to work and youll be fine


if you keep up the levels of other gambling then you will keep coming back to this place time and time again

ot; that hotel room story is amazing...........its like out of a film lol.............even leaving aside the fact you had enough money to put in a suitcase

Dragan

PeakOutput wrote:

it sounds to me like your on the cusp of being a very succesful player but you need to sort out your habit of wasting your winnings on other gambling.

Exactly. People make the mistake of thinking that poker is gambling. It's not. Poker is too things, statistics and pshychology. If you good then your good.

But you need to realise that you have to play for profit, not for the thrill of it. That way lies the gutter.

So all you need to do is decide if your a gambler or a poker player.

LegacyUser

you should really try to read this book its called "lol Donkaments" and is written by a poker player in America called Bartholomew Greenstein, he is a very successful player and i used this to get my poker playing back on track. i think its on amazon although i got it cheap on Ebay...

LuckyLloyd

Is this a joke? Either way:

Move up Levels.

El Stuntman

sounds like your confidence is shot to bits and you have no chance in the Irish Open

I'll do you a favour and buy that ticket off you for 500 quid

Nevyn

Unhelpful and off-topic posting will get you banned from this forum.
Do take time to read the charter which contains the rules and abide by them.
Have a nice day.
Thaedydal

kincsem

You need to sort out the basics - skill/qualification, job, house, partner

Goodluck2me

i hope your reported your robbery to the police too. IT seems like so logn as you still enjoy it and your makign money (or not losing it you should move up levels)

PeakOutput

kincsem wrote:

You need to sort out the basics - skill/qualification, job, house, partner

i agree to an extent i dont see any reason why you cannt make a very good living(for a student) from poker and still do well in college but you really need to sort out the rest of your gambling

Chucky the tree

Most compulsive gamblers will answer 'yes' to at least seven of these questions...
1 Do you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling? Yes
2 Is gambling ever made your home life unhappy? No
3 Is gambling affecting your reputation? Never had a good one to start with.
4 Have you ever felt remorse after gambling? not remorse, just pissed off.
5 Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties? it would be rude not too.
6 Does gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency? No
7 After losing do you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses? Yes
8 After a win do you have a strong urge to return and win more? Nope
9 Do you often gamble until your last dollar was gone? Yes
10 Have you ever borrowed to finance your gambling? Not yet, i am on the phone to ocean finance now though.
11 Have you ever sold any real or personal property to finance gambling? No
12 Are you reluctant to use "gambling money" for normal expenditures? No
13 Does gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family? Huh?
14 Have you ever gamble longer than you had planned? Yes
15 Have you ever gambled to escape worry or trouble? Only money trouble.
16 Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance gambling? Not yet, but now that oyu mention it..
17 Does gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping? It hardly to sleep during a game of poker at 4am so yes.
18 Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble? No
19 Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling? Yes
20 Have you ever considered self destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling? No

What do i win?

Pokerstars is rigged. Never using it again. Give up the mickey mouse roullete and blackjack. Its a mugs game.

Next time you go to a casino just have 50 in your pocket and leave all bank stuff at home. Then just use the 50 for poker.

Boston

From the sounds of things you've little/ nothing in your life bar gamling. Where do you see yourself a year from now, a college drop out, where the only people you call friends are those sitting across a poker table from you or the guys down the bookies aways lookign for a tip?

MrPillowTalk

Most people really shouldnt play poker, decide yourself wheither you are most people or not. I would imagie from your post that continuing with poker is a very bad idea for you. Start going to college and chalk the last year up to experience. My last year in college I made 50k playing poker but I still qualified with a 2:1 and held down a part time job to keep some sense of reality. You seem consumed quit now and get your life back on track.

phantom_lord

Boston wrote:

From the sounds of things you've little/ nothing in your life bar gamling. Where do you see yourself a year from now, a college drop out, where the only people you call friends are those sitting across a poker table from you or the guys down the bookies aways lookign for a tip?

Well since the post is exclusively about my gambling it's not surprising that it gives that impression, I can assure you that is not the case.

A year from now i see myself, in second year in college, and playing higher levels and making more money than at present.

I have many friends outside poker tyvm

I also happen to have met a lot of people through poker, it's a very social game.

phantom_lord

MrPillowTalk wrote:

Most people really shouldnt play poker, decide yourself wheither you are most people or not. I would imagie from your post that continuing with poker is a very bad idea for you. Start going to college and chalk the last year up to experience. My last year in college I made 50k playing poker but I still qualified with a 2:1 and held down a part time job to keep some sense of reality. You seem consumed quit now and get your life back on track.

Well I have gotten back on top of college, top of the class in my last exam (ship it!)

I am a fairly burnt out and frustrated atm, hopefully I'll cash this weekend and I'll end up taking a decent break.

PeakOutput

phantom_lord wrote:

Well since the post is exclusively about my gambling it's not surprising that it gives that impression, I can assure you that is not the case.

A year from now i see myself, in second year in college, and playing higher levels and making more money than at present.

I have many friends outside poker tyvm

I also happen to have met a lot of people through poker, it's a very social game.

ok so that part of your life is great............

now sort out the mugs game gambling you do on top of that and you are laughing

MrPillowTalk

phantom_lord wrote:

Well I have gotten back on top of college, top of the class in my last exam (ship it!)

I am a fairly burnt out and frustrated atm, hopefully I'll cash this weekend and I'll end up taking a decent break.

Just be careful, the one thing that really struck me about the poker circuit and particularly Vegas is that there are so many players who kill poker but lose there bollox on house games. I know of at least 5 players with career winnings of over a million who havent a pot to piss in.

phantom_lord

after I busted in that punto game :rolleyes: , I pretty much swore never to play a house game again, that was last year. other than 2 redbirds when black was on a run I've stayed away...

Boston

You say you're making alot of money, what's your gross revenue like at say the end of the month? If you're wining 7 grand one week only to loose 8k the next, you're not exactly onto a winner.

phantom_lord

Boston wrote:

You say you're making alot of money, what's your gross revenue like at say the end of the month? If you're wining 7 grand one week only to loose 8k the next, you're not exactly onto a winner.

well obviously.


It fluctuates wildly tho, and I don't really have enough results to give an good approximation of it.

for about a month in the summer it was about 1k a week I think, in the fitz it was comfortably over 1200 a week on avg over about 6weeks.

the last couple of months before the downswing something like $500 a week I think.

that's off the top of my head tho, but it wouldn't be too far off.

kincsem

My comments on the opening post:

• You won on the horses, but did not say what you knew that others did not know. I suspect it was luck.
• You play blackjack, roulette, and house card games. These have a fixed percentage edge for the house. The more you play, the more you lose.
• You accepted a 50/50 bet from a drunk. What was your edge? Or did he have an edge?
• When you returned to college you played poker every night, and didn't turn up to lectures. Your poker is costing you more than cash. It is costing you future cash.
• You rush over to the roulette table and bet on black if black was on a good run. Previous results do not affect the present bet in house games.
• Your simple Punto strategy of doubling your bets if you lose does not change the fact that the odds are against you. There are no systems to beat the house (or in horseracing).
• Many people who lose on online poker suspect the sites are rigged. That is a bit like betting shop punters who shout at the jockeys on the TV.

I think you can make money on horseracing, but you need to do a lot of research. I have spent 13 years researching horse pedigrees (few do). This gives me a small edge in about 1% of races. I never bet on the other 99%.

I am playing in the Irish Open. I paid €3,500 cash as I failed to win a ticket in a satellite. Most players in Dublin will think this is a crazy gamble for a player with my skill level, and I have won many tournaments in the Dublin clubs. If I get knocked out early I won't play in cash games. I'll go home and watch the US Masters golf on the TV. It is not easy to finish in the top 10% in this tournament. You are playing against the best in the world.

I'm 56, retired with a pension, house with no mortgage, no borrowings, car, and about €35k in the bank. I wouldn't borrow to play.

See if you can restrict you poker to your summer holidays, and perhaps one night on the weekend (Friday or Saturday) after you complete your study.

What I fear is you will get to 22 or 23 years old with debts, and without a skill or qualification.

Boston

phantom_lord wrote:

well obviously.


It fluctuates wildly tho, and I don't really have enough results to give an good approximation of it.

for about a month in the summer it was about 1k a week I think, in the fitz it was comfortably over 1200 a week on avg over about 6weeks.

the last couple of months before the downswing something like $500 a week I think.

that's off the top of my head tho, but it wouldn't be too far off.

So you recon you're coming out with 500 a week, how many hours you putting in each week, how much stress and strain is it putting on you? Is it worth that?

PeakOutput

most students live off 100 a week plus accomadation.........i will make a wild guess and say your accomadion is either paid for or you live with yourparents......if that is the case can you not cut back your gambling to 0 and you poker to only enough to let you earn 200 a week......make your sole aim of poker between now and summer holidays to earn 200 a week not to build your bankroll. this will take more discipline than sitting down until your minted or broke i reckon

phantom_lord

Boston wrote:

So you recon you're coming out with 500 a week, how many hours you putting in each week, how much stress and strain is it putting on you? Is it worth that?

poker is usually pretty fun, I dunno how many hours, 25 maybe? depends. haven;t been playing a t all recently.

not really putting much stress on me, it's fun most the time tbh.

except when this happens...


Full Tilt Poker Game #2132320497: Table Corsaire (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:18:39 ET - 2007/04/03
Seat 1: xxLuckyStrike ($81.55)
Seat 2: RunyonAve ($109.90)
Seat 3: JODY718 ($196.80)
Seat 4: USMC_MRJD ($55), is sitting out
Seat 5: La Jolla Shores ($94.50)
Seat 6: poor_people_lol ($100.30)
La Jolla Shores posts the small blind of $0.50
poor_people_lol posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to poor_people_lol [Tc Qh]
xxLuckyStrike adds $6
xxLuckyStrike folds
RunyonAve folds
JODY718 folds
La Jolla Shores raises to $3
USMC_MRJD has returned
poor_people_lol has 15 seconds left to act
poor_people_lol calls $2
*** FLOP *** [7c Td Qs]
La Jolla Shores bets $6
poor_people_lol raises to $18
La Jolla Shores raises to $60
poor_people_lol raises to $97.30, and is all in
La Jolla Shores calls $31.50, and is all in
poor_people_lol shows [Tc Qh]
La Jolla Shores shows [Qc As]
Uncalled bet of $5.80 returned to poor_people_lol
*** TURN *** [7c Td Qs] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [7c Td Qs 8s] [Ah]
poor_people_lol shows two pair, Queens and Tens
La Jolla Shores shows two pair, Aces and Queens
La Jolla Shores wins the pot ($186) with two pair, Aces and Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $189 | Rake $3
Board: [7c Td Qs 8s Ah]
Seat 1: xxLuckyStrike didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: RunyonAve didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: JODY718 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: USMC_MRJD is sitting out
Seat 5: La Jolla Shores (small blind) showed [Qc As] and won ($186) with two pair, Aces and Queens
Seat 6: poor_people_lol (big blind) showed [Tc Qh] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens


although that's balanced when this happens...


Holdem No Limit - $2 BB

Button ($278.25) [Shane]
SB ($105.46)
BB ($172.27)
UTG ($230.25)
MP ($277)
CO ($200)

Shane is Button with Ac, As
Preflop: (6 players, $3)
2 folds, CO raises $2, Shane calls $4, SB calls $3 and raises $101.46 and is All-In, BB folds, CO calls $101.46, Shane calls $101.46 and raises $172.79 and is All-In, CO calls $94.54 and is All-In

Flop: 2s, 4h, Ah ($583.71)

Turn: 7d ($583.71)

River: 2c ($583.71)

Results: Shane has Ac, As
SB has Th, Kh
CO has 9c, 9h
Shane wins $583.71 with Full House : Aces full of 2s

latenia

Hand histories on Personal Issues :eek: Now I've seen it all.

Seriously though, you have to give up all table games immediately-it's been said already but worth repeating-you cannot win at these. Start to keep detailed, honest financial records and give yourself 3 months to show a profit. If that's not happening then quit.

phantom_lord

latenia wrote:

Hand histories on Personal Issues :eek: Now I've seen it all.

Seriously though, you have to give up all table games immediately-it's been said already but worth repeating-you cannot win at these. Start to keep detailed, honest financial records and give yourself 3 months to show a profit. If that's not happening then quit.

lol!

yeah, I've always kept records of my results.

Boston

phantom_lord wrote:

lol!

yeah, I've always kept records of my results.

but not what you win or loose?

Tbh you don't seem to think you have a problem, and there's nothing much that can be said in that regard if that's how you feel. However you have been given some pretty good advice on avoiding Gambling becoming a problem if it isn't already.

HiCloy

phantom_lord wrote:

Dealt to poor_people_lol [Tc Qh]

Such a screenname won't get you much respect in PI!

Yes agree with previous posters concentrate on college, but on education and enjoying it, it's best time of your life for many people.

Any stay away from roulette blackjack, coinflips, 2 flies going up the wall etc

LuckyLloyd

Shane,

-- You have an undoubted talent and aptitude for the game (you know this)

-- Wagering on other forms of gambling and gaming is negative EV. The house has an unassailable edge in house games (unless you card count to a genius level while playing blackjack); and betting on sports and horses requires a massive amount of research to be put in before you can consider yourself to have an edge over the trader (you know this)

-- A solid, mistake free poker player with extraordinary discipline and tenacity to grind will be a much more bankable prospect as a poker pro than a Stu Ungar type genius who pisses money away like a loon when not at the table (you know this)

-- The prospect of gambling as a sole means of income (much like setting up your own business) brings with it high levels of risk and possible stress. There is nothing to stop you playing too long; playing on tilt; playing while tired. There is nothing to stop you becoming overinvolved; in bad health; distant from friends and family; cut off (you know this)

-- The economy is booming in this country at the moment and there are plenty of jobs and ways of making money out there - both part - time and full - time. At the moment, qualifications are not essential to pull in a decent weekly wage. But economies go in cycles, and the value of a third level qualification should be clear. It is not the be all and end all, but it opens doors and provides options (you know this)

-- College is a wonderful opportunity to booze like there is no tomorrow; meet different people; get involved in various hobbies and interests; develop and deepen the way you think about things; fcuk off to various parts of the world (I think you know this too)


I myself am not the most disciplined and self - motivated person you will ever meet. To be quite honest, I am glad that I only discovered poker right at the very end of my time in college as it could have completely consumed my time there. But I doubt whether I would have the mental fortitude (or the game) to grind poker on the inter - web for a living. You laugh at my chosen focus on tourneys, but I think that you forget that I play the game as a hobby, and enjoy the rollercoaster gambit and finallity of the tournament format. I would probably be unable to sit online four tabling 20k hands a week. It is not something that appeals to me as, if poker became my job - it would lose it's allure to me quite quickly.

What is my point with all of this? My point is that you are fully aware of what you are doing, and what you have chosen to do since last August. You know what your mistakes were. As such, I think that your immediate problem is that you are bored with the game. You killed the Fitz for a couple of months, it became a grind and you didn't find the second wind within neccesary to see out a cold run of cards. You escaped online. It was a new and different experience of poker. You killed it moving up the levels in double quick time. You hit 1 / 2 maybe a bit fast, hit some bad variance - and now you are struggling to find the inner strength to drop down and grind your way back up again.

But maybe your ultimate problem is that you pick things up quite fast - throw yourself into them, but are never really there for the long haul. From a poker perspective, the difficulty of the long haul can manifest itself in 1500 BB downswings or 35k breakeven stretches. I am playing 18 months. I am currently on the worst run of cards I have experienced in that time. But I have absolutely no comprehension whatsoever of how bad I can actually run.

My advice is to have a little think about what type of personallity you have. If you come to the conclusion that you pick up and drop things regularly and constantly need new challenges, then quit after this weekend; withdraw all of your online monies; uninstall all of your poker clients from your laptop. Get your exams, go job hunting or look into work overseas and a bit of travelling for the Summer. You will either move onto something else by chance, or poker will reel you back in. It seems that abillity is not something that would prevent you progressing in the poker world, but your general personallity might.

In any case, I will see you on Friday. Go and give it a fcuking lash and run well. If I can get a big result, you are more than capable.

Good luck.

5starpool

Nice post Lloyd.

phantom_lord

thanks Lloyd, as usual, a well written, well thought out, reply.

I'll prob reply in more depth to your post in a while.

but this paragraph from a pm I sent to someone talking about this post seemed relevent to what u said.

I truly am burnt out, I used to yearn to play, I used to play sessions nearly every day of the week. I kinda have an addictive personality, I find a new interest and throw myself into it 110% to the exclusion of all else.

Now, I hardly play at all anymore, and i'm losing interest in the game, which is probably impacting heavily on my results. I'd love to cash this weekend and then have enough cash to take a break for a good month or two.

I've played over 100k hands this year, kinda feeling it now.


all the gamboooling house game stuff is in the past and I just threw it in to add a healthy bit of degeneracy to the story btw!

I don;t laugh at tournaments really, it's just a way to rub u up a bit, lol.

phantom_lord

Boston wrote:

but not what you win or loose?

umm, did u read what I said?

Boston

phantom_lord wrote:

umm, did u read what I said?

Yes

Chucky the tree

Boston wrote:

Yes

So which part of "i have always kept records of my results" went over your head?

Boston

Chucky the tree wrote:

So which part of "i have always kept records of my results" went over your head?

As I understand it, its pretty standard in games like poker to keep a record of previous games in order to improve your skills at the game. However an earlier post would indicate that he doesn't keep track of profit in the same manner, resorting to an estimate of his winnings. The records he has of earning appear to be incidental and not out of deliberate intent, is my point. This suggests what his priorities are.

phantom_lord

em, well, no, my records are an account of my profit ands loss for each session that I played. I just didn't bother checking up my excel speadsheet to tell you exactly how much I made.

eoghan104

Hey Shane,

From all of your posts in this thread it is clear to me that you do not think you have a detremental gambling problem. I agree and i don't think you should worry to much about ticking questions from a form for GA. The important questions on that questionairre for me were about affecting your family's well being and breaking the law to pay for gambling. You answered no to these questions and if you didnt then i would say yes you need to get help.

Your a young guy and have the world at your feet. You say you are still doing well in college so obviousley you can balance gambling and education very well. When i was in college i spent most days in the bookies and studied rarely. I got a 2:1 and was delighted with that. If you enjoy gambling and playing poker and are not hurting anyone in the process then why not? Im sure some of your college friends spend all week getting drunk. Can they look down on you for gambling?

Your story about busting your bankroll on Punto should only be a worry for you if it happens again. A mistake is only a mistake if you dont learn from it. I spent months building up a 3k bankroll on PP only to bust it on roulllete using the exact same "formula" of doubling your bets. It took about ten mins to lose the lot and i did it sitting in work. That was scary. I take it as a learning experience and its something i'll never do again.

Basically I think that as long as your having fun and not hurting anyone then i say do as you please. Gambling is a horrible addiction that can ruin your life but so is drinking and drug abuse. All of these things done in moderation are fun and part of life.

Im rambling now so ill stop! Best of luck in the IO.......

Eoghan.

cardshark202

I failed college because of poker. It has kind consumed me at times, but it has paid for my current round the world trip and I like the freedom that playing poker can give you. I don't really regret screwing up in college because of poker, but I am annoyed with myself about it because I spent 4 years in college and have ended up with nothing to show for it bar the experience. I will still advise anyone to try and finish college anyway, you never know when a degree will come in handy. The best part about no college is that I get to bum about(more than before) and go anywhere I want in the world, the worst part is the shame that I sometimes feel because my course was easy and it took a spectacularly retarded lack of effort to fail it.

Shane, you will always be a loser if you continue to haemorrhage off money on table games, -EV bets and other degenerate gambling. Cut all that out and just play within your bankroll and see how you go. Playing poker full time may not be for you if you can't get any discipline. I had similar discipline problems before I started playing poker more seriously, apart from the fact that I have always hated table games and stuff so I have focussed all my gambling energies into poker.

Bleh

LuckyLloyd

Interesting Post Reggie. And travelling around the world FTW!!