Putting everything into perspective......

CDsNuts

I was just doing some thinking about why bother to collect and how collecting relates to my life, and I tried to logically put everything into perspective. As a professional poker player (yes, that is how I make my living), I'm forced to put thousands of dollars on the line several times a day, and I can do it without blinking- this is what allows me to play fearlessly, a trait that is necessary if one wishes to become a profitable player. The way I do this is by simply blocking the idea that it is actual money that can be exchanged for goods and services, and just focus on the little round chips I'm using as weapons to get the other guy's little round chips. It's kind of hard at first, but once you desensitize yourself the butterflies go away and you're able to play freely without restraint.

Now, the fact that I am able to do this is completely contradictory to the way I collect. For example, I just sent 6 cards to PSA and got very favorable grades. Four of the cards were on the fence, and I was nervous about the grades they'd receive. These are all cards I plan on selling, and I would say their value went from about $500 based on the grades I thought they would receive, to about $1500 based on the grades they did receive. This made my day; I couldn't think about anything else, and I proudly posted my results in this forum. Now, if I were to use the time spent on finding the cards, sending them to get graded, continuously checking the website for the results, posting the results on this forum, listing them on ebay, and shipping them to the high bidders on playing poker, I probably could've made triple what I made on the cards, and I could've bought the cards I want for my collection with the money. Yet somehow it gives me pleasure to go through all this trouble to make a few bucks to spend on more cards. This is completely illogical according to the way I make my living, but I guess it gives me the feeling that I'm playing with the houses money since I don't have to invest anything out of pocket, technically speaking, even though in my mind it's clear that I lost money because it kept me away from a poker game. Yet I continue to do it, and it pleases me. I guess that's the true definition of a hobby- I just can't help myself. Not sure why I'm sharing this, but I just found it interesting.


Lee

bjork73

Your ponderings bring up a good definition of a hobby, but I might have to disagree a bit with your economic analysis, if only for the sake of what I think might be a good healthy arguement Say you did spend all of the time you spent on cards at the poker table; would you be as effective a player during those extra hours? Would the extra time spent at the table make you tire of playing? Would allocating your mental energies from an activity meant purely for enjoyment (your collecting) to the activity that, although a game, is also your current job, drain you to a point where you either become less effective of a player or tire of poker to the point of wanting to do something else (and therefore have to spend time deciding what that is, possibly spend time and money getting properly educated, and then just finding a proper employement situation, whether it be for yourself in form of a business or for somebody else)? In short, while some might be perfectly happy working all the time, others need alternative interests to stay sane and fresh for work, be it at the office or the poker table

CDsNuts

Phil Jackson couldn't have put it any better. Good points.

Lee

bjork73

At least it makes the friends & family think a little bit before still deciding to ride my behind for collecting LOL

ajmoeller81

Wow, a professional poker player. That must have taken some balls to choose that as your profession.

Where do you live/play at mostly? Does any significant percentage of your income result from online play?

I was pretty addicted to the game myself but am just too unlucky to take it seriously anymore. I grew tired of a game where you can routinely be punished, and lose your shirt, for making the right decisions. That and I think I'm developing ADD and can't handle having to remind people to post their blinds 100 times a night. I always thought it would be fun to choose a card set on the registry and only build it with poker winnings... Call it the set that poker built.

larryallen73

CD-
I agree with you totally. I can get a new client that may pay me $5,000 but if I get a card back from PSA that's a 9 or 10 and worth $100 I get much MORE excited and that becomes my the center of my happiness for the day! Funny how things work.

CDsNuts

aj,
It's kind of wierd how it started. I began playing as a hobby because I fell in love with the game the first time I played in a casino in New Orleans. I read as many books as I could and spent almost all my free time playing. I was pretty bad at first but I new I had good instincts about reading what the other guys were holding, although I couldn't do much about it because I had no discipline and played almost every hand. Needless to say I wasn't a winning player. But slowly over time as I continued to play both live and online, I felt myself getting better and better, then about three years after I started playing I saw myself slowly turning a profit. This opened the floodgates fvor me, and I increased my playing time from about 3-5 hours a day to 8-10 at $5/10 stakes. Then the online boom happened and everybody and their brother was gicing it a shot. I guess you couold say I got good at the right time. My problem though, was I woulod jump up in stakes too quickly and lose my bankroll. Finally, after I had taken a break from the action after losing it all once again, I was offered $100 from a site as an incentive to start playing there again and I went on a complete tear, making about $5000 in a few weeks which is pretty damn good at 5/10. After that I never looked back, quit my job waiting tables and bartending a year later, and continued to move up in stakes. I wouldn't say I chose it as a profession because it started out as something fun, but if I make 4 times what I made at my job doing something that was fun, I might as well do that instead. Although not nearly as fun for me as it once was, it's a steady source of revenue, and I am my own boss. The problem I see myself running into is that the novelty of poker in general will wear off and there won't be nearly as many fish playing as there are now. Then I will have to be truly great to continue making what I am now, and will ahve to start winning some big tourneys. Right now I don't play many tourneys because the short-term luck factor makes it not nearly as profitable as ring games for me, but I'll play one every now and then. About 85% of my income comes from online play, and I live in Maryland so the closest live agme is 2 1/2 hours away in Atlantic City. I think I may have ADD too which is why I prefer online- it moves faster and you can jump in and out of games as you please.

Lee

Mac53

Lee:
Interesting story. I wouldn't worry about interest falling off. Gambling's been around for 100,000 years and is still going strong. Poker's the same for a few hundred years at least. People can't seem to get enough.