Lost Interest in All Things Poker - What Happened? (1 Viewer)

[Meddler2]

This is NOT a thread to dis the AS/ES GB so please don't.

Since 2000, I've been either hosting or playing in a regular weekly home game almost without exception. Too express the gravity of my depravity, I didn't even seriously consider not hosting a game despite braking both my arms earlier the same day. Most of my waking hours evolved around chips, designing chips, buying/selling thousands of chips, and eagerly awaiting and/or setting up our next game. Then about 2 months ago, my interest in anything poker ceased to practically nil.
I've been on a bit of a bad run the previous few sessions but I've always been able to adjust and climb my way back. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say the fallout of the AS/ES GB hasn't been a factor but I'm also wondering if the steady rise in the clay chip market has been equally as impactful. Anyways just curious if anybody else has gone through something similar?

 

[BGinGA]

Still running strong here, chip-wise and poker-wise.

We started our 16th season of the monthly NLHE league this month, and I'm also playing in another one (@Mr Tree 's Iron Donkey Poker League). Just finished running a PCF group buy for Sun-Fly hybrids for @p5woody , and have another chip project (maybe two) in the works already. Chip on.

 

[MacGrad]

You're not alone, and I think it's natural -- not just limited to poker, but to other aspects as well. Personally, I've gone through various stages of collecting playable sets, then selling them because I realize I have no personal investment in them (exceptions being my two custom sets); I've also "retired" from baseball twice -- I played at a highly competitive level, but I realized it was time to walk away when I realized that I was dreading going to the diamond instead of being excited.

The good news is that you may come back around again and rediscover your "love of the game". It could be something as simple as playing in a charity tournament, or catching an episode of the WPT on tv; if the passion doesn't come back as strong, or at all, then there's nothing wrong with that either -- you've got years of good memories from it already.

 

[Rhodeman77]

I have been into many games in the past, chess, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer all before poker. And with everyone of them I had the same experience as you describe. I have since sold off all of my Magic cards, but still have most of my Warhammer armies since I painted them myself and hope my kids may want to play in the future.

I have stepped back/slowed down from Poker too on occasion. I was barely playing for a few years after I became a parent.

Maybe you just need to take a break for a while for a while to recharge your batteries.

 

[Lemonzest]

Stop for a while if its not fun. Spend time with friends and family. Pursue other hobbies and interests.

Then all of a sudden the burn will be back.

Poker and chips are not going anywhere.

PS. I have been there too. I just took a long break and now I love it again.

PPS Maybe its the stakes? Sometimes I cool off when I am simply losing more than I am comfortable with...

 

[glom]

I have taken extended time off as well. I have been playing for 20 years, and 2007-2010, barely played at all. Right now I'm playing 3 nights per week, and planning on attending Solve For Why Academy in October. Despite my 2.5-3 year lull, poker has been my most enduring hobby next to playing music. And I am taking poker much more serious now than I am music. That's for sure.

 

[FDLmold]

Ebb and flow, nadir and zenith, crest and trough, 'tis the cycle of most things, including poker and chips. I disappeared for at least 3 years probably more, now I am back spending stupid money. Don't tell my wife.

 

[Mojo1312]

I've been on a bit of a bad run the previous few sessions but I've always been able to adjust and climb my way back. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say the fallout of the AS/ES GB hasn't been a factor but I'm also wondering if the steady rise in the clay chip market has been equally as impactful.

The chip market has no influence over my desire to play poker. To me, chip collecting and playing poker are two separate, but related pastimes. I began playing poker on a weekly basis in the fall of 06 in a friends basement. I started seeking out other games in the spring of 2010. Soon thereafter, I was playing two or three times a week. I became a fixture at the casino for five to six months after they opened their poker room in 2012. Then I started hosting my own weekly cash game in Feb. of 2013 in conjunction with a bi-monthly tournament and a bi-monthly mixed cash game, which lasted until May of 2014. During that interim, I played in a weekly cash game across town and in two monthly MTT's held at non-profit organizations.

I stepped away from the game twice between 2010 and 2014. The first time came after my six month stretch at the casino. (I felt I needed a break.) The second time was in October of 2013 when I suffered some particularly bad beats. Including losing to four of a kind and a straight flush in hold-em with a full house (both times) against the same player during a single session. I felt a little burned out and cut my poker playing time in half for approximately three weeks.

In each of those cases, I could identify the source behind my mind/body wanting to take a break/respite from the game.

I went without playing for a few months after I moved in 2014. Got involved once again for a four month stretch before taking on a very demanding job that eliminated my time for poker for 28 months. (Not that I was counting.)

I was happy to return to the game last summer after my prolonged absence, However, a definite change began to take shape at the end of the year and into the new year. I lost all interest in low stake home games. I dropped them completely in April. I have been invited a number of times, but I have politely declined. (I stopped getting invitations last month.)

I play in a weekly two table $50 tournament and $1/$3 at the casino when I am in my old neighborhood. That's it.

I haven't lost the urge to play. I just have no desire to play in your run of the mill $20 or $40 home games. Period.

So yes, having experienced the downswings of the game and the burn-out from having played too much, and now the boredom behind playing for too little, I can relate.

But it sounds like you are having trouble understanding why you are experiencing this sudden loss of passion for the game. (Although, you have identified some reasons for why you have lost your interest in chip collecting.)

??????

 

[Steamtrain]

Take a break.

 

[colter ripton]

Yeah take a break. If you regain interest come on back. If not then dont. Lol

I have lost interest for long stretches before too. My level of interest in chipping seems to change often with what else I have going on.

 

[CraigT78]

Have you found yourself with reduced interest in other areas of your life? Do other things that previously brought you joy and happiness now fill you with the same feeling?

 

[Schmendr1ck]

I've taken multiple short breaks from poker over the years when I was running bad or just not having fun with the game. After a few weeks off, the itch comes back and I start playing again. Had I not listened when I was telling myself to stop, though, I'd've probably burned out and quit the game entirely.

During one of these times, I also took a very long break from PCF and 2+2. I was busy with life, and it just wasn't a priority for me. A little over a year after I left, @ni9n3r and @k9dr reminded me how much I was missing out on by dragging my butt to SQM II. Now ya jerks can't get rid of me.

Take a break. Some time away may help rekindle your interest, especially after being so hardcore for so long. If not, I'll be glad to take some chips off your hands.

 

[Poker Zombie]

In the past I have been serious into gaming conventions, and the games involved with them. My involvement was to the level that I worked in some form with 2 different companies, and even had materials published. My game collection is over 400 cataloged games. Today, I barely touch most of them, and would need to re-read rules to games I once knew by heart.

Later I was huge into NASCAR. I knew every driver, travelled to 8-12 races per year, and spent... well, let's say I spent too much on collectables. Today I can't seem to unload the collectables, so they sit in a box in some dark corner of the attic.

Now it's poker and chips. Maybe this too shall pass. But what I do know...

Gaming has given me some great experiences. My whole concept of vacationing has forever changed by experiencing cities that I would never have thought about going to. Gaming is also how I met Mrs Zombie.

NASCAR isn't even remotely in my life anymore, but because of it I discovered Tennessee, and set down roots here.

Poker has given me a bunch of new friends. Some very close and will be lifelong friends. Others are just great additions to my life experiences. I look forward to meet-ups, because I can combine vacations to poker and again go someplace I would never have dreamed of before (Iceland, Denver in the summer, Anna Maria Island), and reconnect with some great people.

If your hobby isn't expanding your life, you are doing it wrong.

 

[Nimrodscall]

Like any sport, there is often and "off season," and it's good. It let's things settle, rebuild and allows the excitement of a new season to build. A local poker league I discovered takes summers off. I think it's good thing.

 

[Schmendr1ck]

If your hobby isn't expanding your life, you are doing it wrong.

100% spot on. I've got plenty of other hobbies that have enriched my life, but that I've since moved on from. I loved my time as an avid amateur astronomer, but I haven't put eye to glass in quite a while in spite of having a lot of expensive equipment gathering dust in a corner of my garage. I don't regret a dollar or hour spent on it, though.

I look forward to meet-ups, because I can combine vacations to poker and again go someplace I would never have dreamed of before (Iceland, Denver in the summer, Anna Maria Island), and reconnect with some great people.

FTFY

 

[Poker Zombie]

100% spot on. I've got plenty of other hobbies that have enriched my life, but that I've since moved on from. I loved my time as an avid amateur astronomer, but I haven't put eye to glass in quite a while in spite of having a lot of expensive equipment gathering dust in a corner of my garage. I don't regret a dollar or hour spent on it, though.



FTFY

Can't keep me out. I have my AARP card. By law, I have to move to Bradenton now.

 

[abby99]

Hobbies seem to come and go. My average interest is about ten years except for poker, which I've enjoyed since I was around 12. Although my chip collection activities have become less intense in recent years, the flame still burns.

I think that losing interest in something is normal but not necessarily permanent. Embrace the break but don't write off poker quite yet.

 

[links_slayer]

The good news is that poker will be here when the fire that is your interest is re-kindled.

 

[navels]

...planning on attending Solve For Why Academy in October.

JEALOUS! please report back on your solve for why experience!

 

[BukNaked36]

Then about 2 months ago, my interest in anything poker ceased to practically nil.
I've been on a bit of a bad run the previous few sessions but I've always been able to adjust and climb my way back. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say the fallout of the AS/ES GB hasn't been a factor but I'm also wondering if the steady rise in the clay chip market has been equally as impactful. Anyways just curious if anybody else has gone through something similar?

I'm wondering how old you are.

Our attitudes definitely change, but there are also physical changes, chemical changes (hormones) that we go through that can affect our drive at different points in our lives.

My old vice was video games and I just feel like I've outgrown and lost interest in them.

 

[glom]

JEALOUS! please report back on your solve for why experience!

Booked air travel and a week at the Venetian last night. Looking forward to getting real Kobe steaks and upping my game.

 

[Meddler2]

Thanks for the responses everybody. I'll be 51 in Sept. There's a poker room less than 10mi from my house that I used to play at very regularly too but don't really have a desire to return anytime soon. I think a combination of a horrible streak of river suckouts and piss poor play on my part is a contribution.
Physically I'm ok I think. I just won my 4th consecutive Austin Disc Golf Championship for my age bracket (50-59yr olds) so some of my focus has been diverted there. There's some family dynamics that I don't wanna dive into in too much detail but that's also part of it too. My grandmother who was basically my mother and very close both geographically and emotionally passed away in 2013, my daughter graduated moth HS and college and moved out, and my dad unexpectedly passed away in 2016. All those things have also taken a toll and I'm sure are also factors.

Anyways, thanks again for the replies and allowing me to vent.

 

[glom]

I’ll be 50 this year and I’m still loving poker. I don’t think it’s your age.

Part of the joy is the social aspect, has the player pool changed?

 

[BukNaked36]

I'm 50 also.

Just sounds like 3 things -
1) You've had a lot of life changes recently
2) You were extremely active in poker and chipping for a long time
3) You're in a lousy ass down swing

All sounds pretty natural to me to slow down a little.

You'll come back around to the wisdom of WC Fields - I spent half my money on gambling, booze and wild women. The other half I wasted.

 

[Lemonzest]

Thanks for the responses everybody. I'll be 51 in Sept. There's a poker room less than 10mi from my house that I used to play at very regularly too but don't really have a desire to return anytime soon. I think a combination of a horrible streak of river suckouts and piss poor play on my part is a contribution.
Physically I'm ok I think. I just won my 4th consecutive Austin Disc Golf Championship for my age bracket (50-59yr olds) so some of my focus has been diverted there. There's some family dynamics that I don't wanna dive into in too much detail but that's also part of it too. My grandmother who was basically my mother and very close both geographically and emotionally passed away in 2013, my daughter graduated moth HS and college and moved out, and my dad unexpectedly passed away in 2016. All those things have also taken a toll and I'm sure are also factors.

Anyways, thanks again for the replies and allowing me to vent.

take care man. With time hopefully thinks start looking up!