I think this is a very important question and one I struggled with.

I first started playing poker for fun and money was secondary. I came to the forum learned all about the stability of lhe and I was hooked. It became about the money. I did this for about 8 months and it really wore on me. I wasn't enjoying poker near as much. So I thought about this question and came to a realization.

I never had/have dreams about playing for a living. That's the way I was treating my time playing poker. I was studying non stop, trying to get in x amount of hands a day, etc. I was focused on strictly playing lhe as it was the most steady source of money. I wasn't playing other games or other formats. I stopped enjoying my playing time and it was affecting me in a lot of ways. I realized that what I wanted from poker was enjoyment and the money was a nice side.

So now I've decided to play poker for what I want from it. I'm playing SnG's, heads up matches, MTT's, PLO, basically just what I feel like playing. This has helped me solve my personal problems that poker brought about. Also, I'm enjoying it again which is great. I suggest others ask themselves this question and answer it honestly.

I hope I'm not alone on this, so why do you guys play?

Just some thoughts.

competition
money
fun

I too don't play anything else right now but LHE; as I'm really focused on getting the BR up in order to try 2/4 or at least multi-table 1/2.

I think I may want to split out some of the BR to allow for SnG's, for fun.
But usually, I can just play 1 of those a couple times a week and I'm good.

"I play for money, my kids eat." - Knish.

Ok, so I don't have kids and this isn't me, but I like the quote.

I play LHE for money. Right now, I'm trying to build a bankroll, at some point I'd like to play high enough that I can supplement my income and maybe someday even go pro. Right now I'm not making money playing limit so I'm taking a break so that I re-study and get back onto the winning track.

I play NL SnG's and MTTs mostly for fun, in other words, I'm not focused on just making money when I play them and I don't feel like I'm grinding. That said, poker isn't any fun for me when I'm losing, and I'm extemely competitive so, I wouldn't be playing SnG's and MTT's at all if I didn't think I had a positive expectation.

I guess I'd sum it up by saying that I play poker because I enjoy it. I enjoy because I enjoy the competition and the fact that I'm pretty decent at it. The money is also important though because if I wasn't making money I wouldn't be playing at all.

I love the fame.




sw



I love the money.

I love the game

I love the fact that you can make a living off of a game u enjoy.

I love the thrill

I love the fact that u can do whatever you want whenever you want.

I love the fact that no matter how much you play and how good you are you will always have more to learn.


I play the game because of all these things, not just one.

Poker's actually my sole source of income at the moment, so I guess the money is the most important thing. That said, I don't feel pressure to grind. I think that's likely a result of running so well for the past few months. I'm scoring big enough playing low-limit NLHE that if I want to take a couple days off, it's no big deal. I play when I feel like it.

That said, I do play for fun also. I love playing Crazy Pineapple, even though it hasn't been as profitable as it was initially. I've gotten away from LHE, PLO, and PLO8, because they were becoming money drains, and I wasn't enjoying them like I once was. I'm sure that I'll go back eventually though. I've also recently started playing micro-limit 7-card Stud. It's always fun and interesting to pick up a new game even if it's not particularly adding to my hourly rate.

For fun. When it stops being fun, I'll stop.

My poker journey started with blackjack. I used to enjoy going to the local casino and playing blackjack. I would count cards, play proper strategy, and even change the strategy slightly when the card count got very high (as everyone should, with a plethora of faces in the deck). I am a lifetime winner at blackjack, but only barely (a couple of thousand over a few years, playing $5 tables). After some reading, I discovered that you could push way bigger edges without expending the same mental effort by playing poker. That's not to say that poker is easy, but it's certainly easier than counting cards in 6-deck shoe, pouncing on the few shoes where the count gets high enough to matter, and all the while trying to make it less-than-obvious that you are counting cards. That's a lot of effort, when you originally headed to the casino for a good time.

So, I read some stuff about poker. The authors I read all wrote about poker being a game where you are in control of the EV. That appealed to me, as a card counter, so I read more. And more. Then one day, I made the big step, and sat at the poker table at the local casino ($2/$4 at first). I played like crap post-flop, but I won. And again. 3 times. Eventually, I learned how to play postflop. I won more. I lost sometimes, but did fairly well overall.

I didn't have a bankroll. I also didn't have much free time (those wins and losses took place over 6-9 months). Poker became popular on TV, and PokerStars advertised it's site. I looked it up, and started playing online with play money for quite a while, due to my inherent distrust over giving people money on the internet. Eventually, I overcame my fear, deposited $100 on Stars, and played micro with the odd MTT thrown in for kicks. I moved up, and up, and up, and then down, and up again. Welcome to today. I still play part-time, for fun. I'm smarter about where I play, looking for easy tables, getting a small rakeback, and bonus-whoring as much as possible. But I still play for fun. It's nice having a hobby that pays for computer upgrades while the job pays the more mundane bills.

its def. about competition.

Competition and fun. I've played home games where there was zero money on the line and it's still fun because all of us are so competitive and just want to win. That's why I enjoy playing tournaments so much more than cash games.

Money is partt of it, but only part.

One thing that motivates my play is the desire to make people respect and fear me.

Poker is an outlet for my aggression and sadism. It's fun to beat people up, make them suffer, humiliate them, and take their money.

In another direction, poker is very social. There's always a game going, and I can always find people to relate with. The poker table is one place where it is not rude to stare and pay close attention to other people, to look them straight in the eyes. to watch them and try to guess what makes them tick. There is a kind of intimacy at the poker table.

One of the things I discovered about cardroom poker is how diverse it is. People of all sorts of ethnicities and class backgrounds play. I'm a whitebread guy, and my social life away from the table is fairly whitebread. Playing poker helps keep my mind open and my horizons broader than they would be otherwise. This doesn't count as "why I play," but I would miss it a great deal if I were to stop playing.

Its all about the competition. I have a good income and play with a bankroll that is not significant to me. I play because I want to win. I play a fair amount of MTT's because a win on those is significant money, but really winning those is what is cool to me.

Why do I play.

That's a good question.

I have just started playing in Apr of this year. One reason was all the coverage on TV. I wanted to find out about what this game and what it was all about.

Now that I have been playing only a short time. I have found that the reason I am playing is how it make me feel. When I get that big pot or I have a good run to make it to the final table in a MTT. The rush it gives me is what makes me want to play again and again.

But I believe the thing that makes me want to come back and play and play again is how I feel when I play. I get my heart beating, I get my head thinking about how to get the big pot.

Yes now that I am playing online a bit also my goal is to increase my BR and become a better player.

Lastnight was my first real big win at the Casino in a LHE 4/8 game. I started with $60. When I was finished in 2hrs I was taking away $388.

My heart was just pounding the whole time I was pulling in those pots of $$$$.

Can't wait to do it again.

competition and to pay my bills

this is an interesting response coming from you.

personally, i would feel that this should be one of the smaller/smallest reasons.

after all, we shouldn't be "out to get" any of our opponents, and we also all know that any short-term* results are also meaningless as far as whether they are actual signs of skill or luck.

* i mean short-term in a relative sense. hard to say where the line is between short and long term.

aseem

same here,

I love playing HU and asking if they wanna go best out of 3 or 5 right off the bat, that way after 1 game, u get a feel on the other player,

becomes more of a chess match instead of card catching contest.

I love the excitment of playing in a MTT, and of course i love playin cash games for the coin.

Why the hell is it important to say what motivations a person "should" or "shouldn't" have?

People's motivations are what they are. They can change over time, but they aren't subject to change by arbitrary decision. It is no more appropriate to say that competition should not be a big reason for a person to play poker than it is to say that a person should like to eat brussels sprouts.

The guy in seat three is raising every time he has paint in his hand, because he came here to gamble. Who are you to say whether or not he should like to gamble?

Wouldn't it be better to accept him for who he is? He gambles and you take some of his money, and you both get what you came for, so in an important sense you both walk away winners.

Understanding in a deep way why you play poker is an important part of becoming a stronger player. When you truly understand why you play, you can devote attention to finding out how to get what you want in a way that costs you the least in other ways.

Everyone says they play "to make [or win] money." There are a million ways to make money, all of them different from poker. What is it about poker that makes it an attractive way to make money? If you knew you could only be a break-even player, or perhaps just a loser, would you still play? Why?

If you ask yourself these questions with preconceived notions about what your answers "should" be, some of the answers will hide and be harder for you to find, because they aren't what they "should" be.

Wouldn't it be better to be open to all answers , and to deal with them on their own terms?

Because I'm a degenerate who wants to make money.

Seriously,

Make Money
Competition
Adrenaline Rush in MTTs
Preparation for a future career
I have little else to do

I knew it,

P.S. My team is gonna Pwn you and ur clowns in the FCPFC

Only because it's on a rigged site, making this a complete luckbox tournament. If this was on a good site like UB, you guys would have no chance.

Debating who to use my first pick on
Teneight
Hoosier
Pupsta

i've got 2 out of those 3 as 1st round, not gonna tell u who i dont have soo.. the race is on biznatch

its a game. I want to be the best at whatever I do.

1. chicks
2. chicks
3. chicks

this is the best answer ive seen yet.

Competition, then fun. Money is a side effect.

In fact, I had to cash out $1000 for the first time last week. It didn't seem real that I actually had made money playing poker. It just seemed like points before.

"First you get the money. Then you get the power. THEN, you get the women."

-Tony Montana

I'm not a real human being, and poker affords me the lifestyle (i.e, making enough money to continue living) I require, with an opportunity cost of very little.

Things like "work" and "getting up" don't fly well with the Iceman.

Iceman enjoys things like:

1) Sleeping until noon
2) Drinking
3) Not showering for 3 days
4) Taking vacations and paying for them in the process
5) Drinking
6) Sleeping until 2pm
7) Zonking out for 6 hours a day

Cheers,

Ice

PS- I also enjoy awkward moments during extended family gatherings when everyone asks what I'm up to. "I gamble to eat. Fuck you, Stupid Aunt Gail."

Several times over Thanksgiving...

"So, what are you doing these days?" "Same ole. School and work." "Oh, where are you're working?" "Well...I play poker." "Oh."

I wear it as both a badge of pride and shame...but mostly pride these days.

It happens to be something I have a knack for and I enjoy the game. I like the thinking involved, the competition and etc. It's similar to playing sports, everytime you play you want to win and win big. Of course the money is great as well.

addicted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(at least I'm honest!)

To be perfectly honest, I play cause I love the rush, the game, and the money. I got a wife and 2 kids, so it’s not like I got all kinds of cash to throw around. I started 2 months ago, and like anything I do I want to be the best at it. So I read a bunch of books and forums blah blah blah… But it hit me last night. I really like the rush, pulse going threw the roof when “donkey head” is putting all his money in when you have the NUTS! I love that the most!

gooch loves people that refer to themselves in the third person

I got done school got a job, and I was sick of coming home after work every night and sitting in front of the TV until it was time to go to bed and repeat.

I think there is something about sitting down at a table and being able to walk away with more money based only on wit. (and to a lesser extent the cards)

So now I play online, occasional live game. My grandfather who I haven't seen in a 6 months at Thanksgiving. "Hey Nate nice to see you. So how you doing on the online poker."


Tthen I found out my aunts boyfriend lost a car in a game of Acey Deucey so that took the heat off of me.

My reasons for playing poker have changed over the years. I began playing in high school with my friends, mainly for fun and competition. We played the usual silly home games and didn't take it too seriously.

Then I went away to college, and discovered that I was a complete donk and that skilled players can become very profitable playing poker. This is where my reasons for playing shifted from fun/competition, to making profit so I didn't have to get a part-time gig. I studied this game harder than I studied my finance books, and my checking account grew accordingly. It was during this time that I grew to love the game of poker.

Poker has been my main source of income for the better part of 3 years now, and I can honestly say that profit is not the only reason why I play. I have a genuine love for the game that I will never lose. I still enjoy playing home games with my friends playing with quarters, and I always try to improve where my game is lacking. (Stud hi/low, O 8) I can sit at my computer for hours on end analyzing hand histories from mtts I play, and I have ADD so I can't sit and do much for hours at a time. Poker is one of the biggest aspects of my life and I think it will be forever.

In short, I haven't landed a full-time job since graduation, so I play poker for profit. If I have a bad week at the tables, it will have an impact (albeit small) on my financial situation. However, I will never let my playing for profit get in the way of my love for the game. I know it sounds corny as hell, but I really do love this game.

have the cards leveled out for you? I remember you were in a tough downswing?

Yeah, they always do. About 3 weeks ago I was on one of the most brutal downswings of my career, but the past week and half has been crazy. I don't think Ive missed any sort of draw in like 10 days, so yea, things have leveled a bit:)