{"id":1212,"date":"2017-06-08T13:18:33","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T17:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.advancedpokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2017-06-08T13:18:33","modified_gmt":"2017-06-08T17:18:33","slug":"5-solutions-play-game-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/5-solutions-play-game-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Solutions For “Why Do I Play this Game?” Syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I have rediscovered my inner tilt. After years of trying not to let\u00a0this crazy, volatile game get to me, I seem to be asking myself\u00a0“Why Do I Play this Game?” too often for comfort.<\/p>\n

The major source of\u00a0my decline in poker morale is the result of a once a month, 10 session tournament vying\u00a0for a seat at the WSOP Main Event (plus a couple grand for expenses). \u00a0The winner gets 55% if they make it to the money, and the other 9 players get a 5% share. \u00a0After\u00a0session 8 of 10, I was in a tight battle for first with one other player and\u00a0no one else in sight.<\/p>\n

In session 9, my dream scenario unfolded not once, but twice. \u00a0With a full 10 players left, I had cut my rival’s chip stack in half. \u00a0He went all-in with QQ against another player who showed AA. \u00a0Sure enough, Q came on the flop, and he was back to starting stack. \u00a0An hour later we’re still 9 handed when he got\u00a0deep into a hand, calling every street\u00a0against the most solid player at the table with a 9 high board. She pushed all-in after the turn against his now very small stack and he felt forced to call even though he knew he was well behind. My rival showed JJ to her KK. \u00a0One card remaining, two outs. I was already picking out my outfit\u00a0for Day 1 in Vegas.<\/p>\n

Of course, given the theme of this post, you already know the river card.<\/p>\n

It was all downhill from there, he ended up outlasting me in Session 9, and I needed a miracle in Session 10 to get to Vegas. Let’s just say my play in the final session was not the stuff of miracles.<\/p>\n

My results elsewhere have also been modest in the last 2-3 months. Perhaps this is merely due to the swings of tournament poker. Although I can recognize some tentativeness in my play and a persistent failure to trust my own reads.\u00a0I keep asking myself:<\/p>\n

“Why do I play this game?”<\/p>\n

Well the answers, of course, are: I love playing, I would desperately miss poker if I did not play, and I would probably find myself bingeing on crappy series on Netflix instead. \u00a0If history is any indication, my\u00a0vow to abstain from the tables would not last past Father’s Day anyway.<\/p>\n

Clearly I\u00a0need to shake things up a bit to try to bring my mojo out of cardiac arrest. \u00a0Here’s the plan:<\/p>\n