How Much Have You Changed From Playing Poker?

Agreed

I'm 50 years old and for most of my life I have been impatient and easily prone to losing my temper.
I've been playing online poker now for about 4 years and since I started taking it seriously about 12 months ago, it has literally changed my personality.
I am now a much more patient and even tempered person.
Who would have thought Pokerstrategys' articles and videos would have had such a profound effect on my life outside poker.
Thank You PS and indeed the whole PS community.

Wow this is deep! Had not thought about poker effecting my personality and my view of 'The World' until now. Got to agree that I am more focused in everything else I do and suprisingly not as competative over trivial things with my friends!

Also I now tend to look at everything from a probabilty perspective. I used to actually believe I was quite 'unlucky' and so would be more direct and 'almost' agressive in getting what I wanted. I now tend to weigh things up and consider what other people are thinking and how they will react.

Little things going wrong don't bother me anymore either. "cars got a flat tyre!".... "well it has done 9,000miles so probailty was that it was time to change it anyway.. Cost per mile is minimal!"

Good Thread got me really thinking!

Bump

Does Bumping work?

We'll See!

I enjoyed reading your stories BTW, really interesting to see how poker can drastically change one person.

I have had a similar experience. When first starting out in the game I would often tilt off my bankroll after a short run of bad luck. Inevitably, I would come to regret that decision. Over the years the game has developed my foresight and rational decision-making.

I have come to analyse situations more deeply before making a decision, both in poker, my studies and my life. I now consider the implications of what I am about to do and make an informed decision based on the information I have at my disposal.

I have discovered that this clarity of thinking is so important in living an enjoyable and rational life.

This new attribute also led me to question my spirituality and my faith. I analysed the contradictions and moral adbominations of Christianity and realised its shortcomings, ignorance, pomposity, ill-teachings, falsehoods and corruption. I am now an atheist.

LOL

I am sorry but your last statement made me laugh out loud. It's good that you're able to change your past ways in order to become the person you are today. This new person whom you have become has made life easier for you in terms of your studies and your life. You now think more thoroughly on decisions that affect you financially and by other means. Good stuff sir.

Hey, nice thread!

Seeing the world mathematically is the nuts! I quit playing the stock market after starting poker, cos it seemed so hit and miss and luck based. (At the level i was playing it... I'm sure Warren Buffet knows the odds backwards)

@bobama: +1 on the conversion. We really need more critical-thinking people in the world. My secular 'prayer' nowadays is simple: May the odds be with you!

Thanks to the thought-habits of poker, I was able to reject an unprofitable (to me) offer of additional rental-car insurance by seeing it as a problem of pot-odds, where the odds are crash-cost to insurance-cost, and estimating the minimum crash-per-year probability required for the insurance to be worth it. Of course, sound "bankroll management" principles meant I had to be able to cover the cost of a crash if one did occur. But I would have to crash my car seven times every ten years for the policy to have been a good investment.

Of course, a lazier approach would be to trust that highly-paid actuaries have done their homework and know what to charge you in order to make the biggest profit for their company.

Have 7 chrashes in the first year! Your laughing for 6 then! jk

Bump!

I don't give a fuck now about pretty much anything.

There's really not much point bumping a thread after just a few hours since the last post. Maybe if it'd dropped to the second page between the times it's being done...

Sorry, this is the only time I've been this active in the forums.

Originally posted by NightFrostaSS
I don't give a fuck now about pretty much anything.

Why am I not surprised? ♦

Originally posted by BObamaJr
This new attribute also led me to question my spirituality and my faith. I analysed the contradictions and moral adbominations of Christianity and realised its shortcomings, ignorance, pomposity, ill-teachings, falsehoods and corruption. I am now an atheist.

Same.

Originally posted by NightFrostaSS
I don't give a fuck now about pretty much anything.

Almost there.

Originally posted by NightFrostaSS
I don't give a fuck now about pretty much anything.

maybe this sounds as trolling for some of you but i feel the same. the amount of me just not giving a fuck increased big time in many everyday situations.

Tbh that's what has changed about me the most, I don't give a shit ♦

Although i've always been a fairly logical person i'm not intensely rational in everyday thinking and am able to think of almost everything that happens as just completely random happenings (Which they mainly are ♦ ) Some call me pessimistic, but I think i'm just being realistic and logical. The best example of this is when I crashed my car in the snow, I got told by everyone "Wow, you're very lucky you weren't hurt", all I could think was "Well, no, I was very unlucky to have skidded and ended up head on with a big fuck off Land Rover"

I kept comparing this situation to having AA vs KK AIPF, with the flop bringing a K and the river bringing an A, and someone saying I was lucky to win ♦

I did have quite a lot more to say on this, but i've got shit to do, peace ♦

24 Reasons why you should play poker!

1. Poker Is A Great Teacher.
2. Poker Improves Your Study Habits.
3. Poker Develops Your Math Skills.
4. Poker Develops Your Logical Thinking.
5. Poker Develops Your Concentration.
6. Poker Develops Your Patience.
7. Poker Develops Your Discipline.
8. Poker Teaches You To Focus On The Long Term.
9. Poker Teaches You That Forgoing A Profit Equals Taking A Loss (And Vice Versa).
10. Poker Develops Your Realism.
11. Poker Teaches You To Adjust To Changing Situations.
12. Poker Teaches You To Adjust To Diverse People.
13. Poker Teaches You To Avoid Racial, Sexual And Other Prejudices.
14. Poker Teaches You How To Handle Losses.
15. Poker Teaches You To Depersonalize Conflict.
16. Poker Teaches You How To Plan.
17. Poker Teaches You How To Handle Deceptive People.
18. Poker Teaches You How To Choose The Best "Game."
19. Poker Teaches You The Benefits Of Acting Last.
20. Poker Teaches You To Focus On The Important Subjects.
21. Poker Teaches You How To Apply Probability Theory.
22. Poker Teaches You How To Conduct Risk-Reward Analyses.
23. Poker Teaches You To Put Things In Context And Evaluate All Variables.
24. Poker Teaches You How To "Get Into People's Heads.

from KezSwagger @ youtube

Originally posted by angalius
24 Reasons why you should play poker!

You can find that article here

Im definitely a lot more calmer, patient and i dont really care about anything.. I guess im less of an extrovert than i was say a year ago, but i dont think i turned into an antisocial person at all.