How would you define being a "Successful Poker Player" - for yourself? (2 Viewers)

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Different take on @Rhodeman77 's thread last month, which dealt with skills/abilities/knowledge for success..... and also inspired by the recent bankroll thread.....

How would you (personally) define being a successful poker player - in terms of results over the mid to long run. Are you happy just breaking even, or feel you need to consistently grow your bankroll at a certain rate? Or are you just happy not lose $X amount of dough each year? Maybe $$ results don't matter as much as your perceived level of play? I'm super curious on how folks see things and what they consider important.

Personally for me, while I've always been a pretty casual player, I can be a ridiculously competitive person, and earlier in my poker career I always equated $$ to success. I think I've loosened up some over the years, and poker has become much more of a social activity. So while I still have that inner competitive drive to crush it at the tables, I'd honestly be pretty happy just to break even (plus a little ;)) over the long run. If I can hang out, have a few drinks, play a few hours of cards and come out even, I consider that +EV in life. Everything else above that is gravy. And if I were to be a mildly loosing player (which thankfully hasn't been the case..... yet), I don't think that would ultimately chase me away from playing.
 
In general, a good player loses the minimum and wins the maximum when the situation call for it, and is able to realize when they are in those spots. Being able to adapt to the players at the table and being able to pick up on their playing styles and adjusting accordingly also is a big part of being able to do the first thing.
 
I have never been good at keeping track of an hourly win rate. That isn’t important to me. I love to play so winning anything is a bonus. That being said I need to play for enough to make it interesting for me as well. A $20 tournament or a 5/10c game usually won’t.

I don’t worry about the dollars won or lost in any session. They will come as I play often. I focus much more on what I did well, and what I could have done better. There have been some games I played great poker and was lucky to break even. Other games I was a donkey and called with a naked gut shot and won big.

Though I am not completely immune to caring about results.

I play online several nights per week with my local group. I had helped start the game but was playing on Windy Crest and Club 875 most nights because the games were bigger.

But one of my friends kept telling me how bad some of the players were playing in the game so I decided to play. I proceded to drop $700 that night. Not a big deal to me in the grand scheme of poker, but that friend was keeping records of everyone totals for a while and that loss put me near the bottom of the list, which annoyed me. So after a few weeks of him sending me updated I decided to jump back into the game and play it much more seriously. Well after 2 weeks I was at the other end of the list and my friend has stopped keeping track of people’s results as he has dropped way down the list lol.

What I learned from that was that those players he was talking about weren’t nearly as bad as he was saying (but still bad in my estimation) but they were playing him well knowing what he typically has. Once I quickly was able to figure that out the results changed just as quickly.
 
Putting oneself into a position where you can play good poker against good players 3-4 times a week is the most successful part of playing.

The money doesn’t matter if you can play good poker regularly - you will then have the chance to be as “successful” as a player, no matter what measure you try to use.
 
Every professional poker player aspires to be a successful business person and leave poker, and many successful business people can’t wait to do the opposite.

I never want poker to be anything other than a hobby I love. If I can run well enough in life that I can run bad in poker and it doesn’t matter, well that seems like a win.

In the meantime I’ll just play stakes that are fun with people that are awesome. I’ll try to play good, but if that doesn’t work my fallback plan is to be lucky. Hopefully one day I can be too rich to fold.
 
I haven’t played poker “regularly” in years. I was a winning player back in the day and had a real passion for playing.

Today, I would define myself as being a “successful” poker player when I can plug the leaks in my game. Some of them are so obvious to me now, most of which I never would have made before. Feels great to be playing a little more now, recognizing it, and getting the edge back!
 
I haven't played much at all since covid, and would generally consider myself an average player. However, my barometer is simple for defining success - making smart decisions. If I'm making smart decisions, I'm extracting maximum value from my equity and minimizing loss when I'm going through a shitty run.
 
Happy as hell to come out even! But anyone that knows me also knows I suck as a poker player... far too kind. It is 100% social for me, just enjoy hanging with amazing friends and shooting the shit!

Hell even if I loose $100 - $200 per night, after a while it gets annoying but overall I usually don't, no idea if I am up or down on poker in my life and frankly I don't care! I work for my Bill money, poker is entertainment and I don't mind paying for that!

Again I suck!!
 
Happy as hell to come out even! But anyone that knows me also knows I suck as a poker player... far too kind. It is 100% social for me, just enjoy hanging with amazing friends and shooting the shit!

Hell even if I loose $100 - $200 per night, after a while it gets annoying but overall I usually don't, no idea if I am up or down on poker in my life and frankly I don't care! I work for my Bill money, poker is entertainment and I don't mind paying for that!

Again I suck!!
Ben you’re a solid player with excellent instincts and hand reading. The thing is, you just hate to take em’ to value town. We must teach you….to kill!
 
How would you (personally) define being a successful poker player - in terms of results over the mid to long run. Are you happy just breaking even, or feel you need to consistently grow your bankroll at a certain rate? Or are you just happy not lose $X amount of dough each year? Maybe $$ results don't matter as much as your perceived level of play?

I define being a successful poker player as consistently making money over the long run. How much money is a matter of personal consideration; a successful professional must be supporting himself from his winnings, whereas a successful hobbyist just has to be covering his costs, whatever costs there might be.

I have no desire to be a successful poker player.

I desire to be a good poker player, but I wish to play against my friends, and I want them to be good poker players as well. A successful poker player does not do this, because game selection is a crucial part of a successful poker player's modus operandi. I want to get better at poker, and I want the people I play with to get better as well, because I am playing for the joy of the game and not the money. Money is part of the joy. The unique thing about poker is that it stings when you lose and thrills when you win, and that's because money is how we keep score. But I'm in it for the challenge and the fun, and it'll be more challenging and more fun if my friends are good at the game too.
 
I desire to be a good poker player, but I wish to play against my friends, and I want them to be good poker players as well. A successful poker player does not do this, because game selection is a crucial part of a successful poker player's modus operandi. I want to get better at poker, and I want the people I play with to get better as well, because I am playing for the joy of the game and not the money. Money is part of the joy. The unique thing about poker is that it stings when you lose and thrills when you win, and that's because money is how we keep score. But I'm in it for the challenge and the fun, and it'll be more challenging and more fun if my friends are good at the game too.
^^^This!
 
Recently I met @ChaosRock, @Ben8257, @Lil Tuna, @Anthony Martino, @inca911, @FordPickup92 and so many more at the table. I feel like finding these people was a huge success. It gave me direction and helped me define what is success for me.

Most of the time win or lose getting it in good is important to me but finding people you enjoy at the table and playing with them over time is significantly higher on the success chain than money.
 
Recently I met @ChaosRock, @Ben8257, @Lil Tuna, @Anthony Martino, @inca911, @FordPickup92 and so many more at the table. I feel like finding these people was a huge success. It gave me direction and helped me define what is success for me.

Most of the time win or lose getting it in good is important to me but finding people you enjoy at the table and playing with them over time is significantly higher on the success chain than money.
Getting it in good is overrated.

Catching your out is much more important.
 
Getting it in good is overrated.

Catching your out is much more important.
Ohh man that stud hand is one I will remember for a long time... you being stuck in an awful middle position looking at my low, me playing Jedi Mind Tricks counting out chips. While just a hand of poker for you... that was a big bluff for me! Lol you call and there is no way I could! I knew you had my low beat!

Glad the rest of the meet up went your way, but seriously that was a big one for me! Think I won like $5 on that hand! Lmao but felt like I beat the Master at his own game!

** kidding we all hand like $40 in there on the turn... it was not an easy lay down.
 
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Depends on your desired outcome. If money, anything in the black over a long enough sample = successful at that level of play. If looking to host or play in fun games with friends, just not majorly punting constantly is success.

To me it's like golf - a 6 handicapper seems immensly talented to weekend warriors who can't break a hundred. But they know they can barely keep up occasionally with a scratch golfer, who knows how very far they are from a professional.
 
For me, a good player is the one who can get the most out of an initially bad situation
 
Poker is all social for me. I love the act of shuffling chips and cards. I really enjoy the mental exercise of trying to put myself into the best position I can, then seeing how it sorts out. Most of all, if I can be around fun people, drink a little more than I probably should and have a couple really great laughs, I consider that a successful poker night. If I can find the group where I can continually do that (which I have) I consider myself a successful poker player.
 
With the PCF guys it’s more social. In the end I simply keep track whether I made or lost money in a year. Even if I only made net $1 over a year playing poker I’ll take it as a successful year since I likely had hours of entertainment from playing. I know some guys calculate their “hourly” but I’m not doing that.
 

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