The whys of online poker

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, Full Tilt’s licence was suspended last week. Luckily I cashed out of there two or three weeks ago, but will the cheque ($1400 and change) even arrive? And will it bounce when I try to cash it? There are players with scarily large amounts tied up on that site – five years’ average salary kind of amounts – who can’t cash out and fear the money might be gone for ever.

Assuming I do get my money I’ll finally be able to forget about my poker “career”. So why do people dabble (or a lot more) in this online poker lark in the first place?

1. To make money, obviously. But just as obviously most people don’t. I’m guessing 20% of players finish in the black in any given year. For me that was part of the motivation but deep down I knew I lacked the balls to play at high enough stakes to make serious dosh.

2. To have fun, get a buzz, all that stuff.

3. To give one’s brain a workout. The scenery constantly changes; having to react quickly to situations gave me a lot of mental stimulation. This was a pretty big motivator for me.

4. To boost one’s ego by outdoing certain other players, trash-talking in chat, and getting recognition for winning this or that tournament. I never ceased to be amazed at the egos that some players have. That part of the online poker scene left me cold to be honest. In the draw games that I played, people tended to me more civil than is the case at your average hold ’em table, and if they weren’t I’d just switch off chat.

5. To get involved in the poker community, socialise with other players on forums, or joke about how a certain hand played out.

6. To escape from real life, as an alternative to recreational drugs. That was my biggest motivator of all. The realisation of this (and my new situation of trying to pursue a business idea while holding down a full-time job) made me give up.
Finally, I loved this article about Black Friday that Andrew Brokos posted on Twoplustwo, particularly the bit about the meaninglessness of other (non-poker) jobs. I entirely agreed with him.