I think that there are many factors. Some factors overlap and often more than one will be in play for a specific person at any given time.

1. Fun of playing the game
2. Social interaction – particularly live home games with friends
3. Intellectual challenge – more challenging than playing cribbage with friends
4. Emotional triggers – highs and lows of the game may be more exciting than watching sports or movies for the emotional releases that they provide. Players who seek these triggers may play above their bankroll and skill level because the low stakes games aren’t exciting enough.
5. Competition triggers – people who love competitive sports may find the competitive aspect of poker attractive
6. Aggression release – connected to competition triggers. Poker allows plenty of opportunities to express aggression by shoving all-in or by continually betting to pressure players to fold (submit to their aggression).
7. Lack of understanding of odds combined with selective memory – leads players to think that they are better than they actually are and to undervalue the skill component of the game
8. Love to gamble / addicted to gambling – odds are not as important as the chance to win big or to hit your hand. For some people the cost of chasing the inside straight eleven times in order to hit once is worth it even if they only win a small pot with the win. The satisfaction of winning and even the excitement of chasing seems to outweigh the costs as the monetary losses pile up.
9. Trying to win back previous losses
10. Dreams of big wins – some players who play large field poker tournaments also love to buy lottery tickets for the same reason
11. Propensity toward gambling combined with stressors in their current life – we all need something to lean on when things are not going well; a drinker will tend to drink more, a gambler will tend to gamble more
12. Still learning poker – fun plus intellectual challenge, but the beginner may lose for a while
13. Still adjusting to a higher play level than they were previously at
14. Trying to earn rewards from other sources – bonuses, rakeback, free rooms/meals at gambling hotels

Some of these reasons apply to winning players as well, like competition triggers, fun of playing, or adjusting to higher play levels. Others, like lack of understanding odds, trying to win back previous losses, or addiction to gambling are detrimental to the makeup of a winning player. I once tried to hang out in a discussion forum for gambling addicts but left because I felt badly. I could ignore the probes that tried to prove to me that since I was there I must have a gambling problem, but everyone else had a real problem which I didn’t have, at least not in the same way. Even though I was honestly there to learn and perhaps gain insights that I might be able to pass along through this blog and other mediums I felt awkward trying to hang out .

There is a much darker tone to some of the reasons than to others. For example, fun and learning sound like good, positive factors. Playing poker because of stress, or because you are seeking aggression release, or because you are trying to win back previous losses have a much darker tone. I know that I’ve tried to “dig myself out of a hole” during a session that starts down, or started a poker session and later noticed that I’m trying to take pots away from players by betting/raising far too often. And I know that sometimes I’ll start playing poker as an escape from an uncomfortable situation or recurring unpleasant thoughts. Usually I’m able to restrict those sessions to playing the cheapest tournaments in order to avoid too much damage to my bankroll. Not every poker player is able to divert themselves out of danger like that though. I’m aware that it still costs me a few dollars in bankroll and some emotional stress in these situations so I can see how someone with less patience or a more tumultuous living situation could be caught in the undertow.

First off why identify poker, and then throw in “other types of gambling”? The first bill in the article refers specifically to online poker, and, though the other effort to repeal the UIGEA would affect all forms of gambling, the article refers to the fact that it specifically “bars U.S. banks from handling transfers from poker websites”. As the first writer points out, though only very briefly, poker is not the same as other casino games because you don’t play against the house, you play against other players and therefore it is possible to come out ahead. There is an element of chance involved but a skilled player can actually win rather than just lose more slowly if you have skill at the other casino games. Maybe the second writer asked for the extension from poker to gambling in general.

From what’s written I’m not sure that Ben Boychuk knows poker. It sounds as if  he has asked some friends or has done some internet research. But that’s better than Pia Lopez who has chosen to ignore the difference between poker and other games (perhaps intentionally since the difference weakens her argument). She doesn’t even use the word “poker” on her side. Instead she refers only to “online gambling” and likens it to “state-sanctioned prostitution, heroin sales, child porn sites – any number of human vices”.

Let’s face it; those degenerates that play online poker are the same undesirables that buy prostitutes and sell drugs and child porn. We’ve all known that all along; why don’t we just come out and admit it? They probably buy state-run lottery tickets, for that matter. And play in office sports pools. Maybe even some bingo.

The question that came to my mind was, what if I were Emmit Smith and wanted to play poker? What if I had his personal finances, combined with my current poker background, experience and bankroll? What would that do to my poker game?

The answer should be: Nothing.

I guess the question could have been, if I won a lottery but continued to play poker, what difference would that make? And the answer should be the same.

Two thoughts that come out of this. One, if I were well off, not necessarily Emmit Smith range, but enough to be comfortable spending $200 every week for an evening out, $500 a month on clothing, $10,000 a year in donations, and more interested in playing poker as a once a week hobby, then maybe I’d be happy depositing $250 every month, losing that during the month, and then redepositing. This is similar to my paramedic who was happy playing at Doyle’s Room and losing $10 a week.

The second thought is that I’m really not emotionally disconnected from my poker bankroll. I can imagine that if I spent $10,000 a year in donations and $200 a week on evenings out that my attitude to my poker bankroll, currently in the small thousands, would be different.

And you know, I think that it’s the spending that is the key difference. I’m a cheap bugger in real life. I could afford to spend maybe not $200 a week but $75 every week on entertainment, but I don’t. I could spend maybe not $500 a month on clothes but $100 every month, but I don’t. My annual cost for clothing (I don’t buy a new suit or winter jacket every year) is probably close to $150 on average. Partly that’s because my clothing inventory relies on gifts since people don’t know what else to buy for me, but also because most things I wear until they wear out before I replace them. I have some socks and underwear that are well over ten years old, but don’t have holes or dead elastic so I keep them in the rotation.

Maybe that’s too much information.

So I’m not a spender and it takes some convincing for me to part with dollars. On the other hand I willingly part with $150 every fall to join an NFL pool because I get enjoyment from it, plus I think I’m ahead lifetime because the pool has no juice. But even if it turns out that I’m not ahead I can’t be very far under and that’s a small cost for the years of enjoyment that I’ve had from participating. But to lose one $100 stack, be prepared to lose another, and possibly another after that is still tough for me to accept even if it is variance and I know that I’m still within my bankroll requirements.

I’m sure Emmit wouldn’t worry about it.

But playing against $10nl players can be very tilt-inducing when you’re running bad. It gets frustrating when you keep getting it in on the turn against half-stacks with an overpair or two pair and the guy hits a set with his underpair that he couldn’t fold. Or the guy makes a river bet that makes no sense but you’ve only got air so you can’t look him up, plus you’ve got no fold equity because he’s left himself with almost nothing left in his stack.

Top this off with some latent frustration bleeding over from somewhere in my daily life these days and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Not a very costly one, since it’s only $10nl, but a poker disaster nevertheless.

I know that I’m better than almost all the players that I’m sitting at the table with, but that doesn’t mean that I can force my blind steal into a winning hand. Or that my AK that I three bet from the blinds is going to win when I miss the flop and the turn.

~

What I’m trying very hard to do is to consciously turn this into a Zen practice.

The first attempt ended up being one of those “try — and then forget to execute” types of situations. We’ve all done those before. Told ourselves to fold more often, told ourselves to fold when we meet aggression post flop, told ourselves to not pay off opponents who chase draws, told ourselves to not try to outplay opponents who can’t fold bottom pair on the flop. And then in the heat of battle we promptly forget. In this case it was me saying, “Hey, let’s treat this as a Zen practice,” and then a moment later I’d forgotten. I remembered later on, but again I forgot a few moments after that.

The second session was more successful. I started using the breath counting exercise. Inhale – one, exhale – two, inhale – three, exhale – four, and so on. Once you reach ten you simply start again from one. But the problem is that poker interferes. I play two instances (tables) of Rush Poker at a time and when I reach three or four I usually have an action to take and can’t keep counting. So I replaced this with flipping back or checking back to try to be aware of my breathing. Every moment that I’m not required to use all my attention on poker I try to be aware of my breathing, to listen to my breathing.

Listening to my breathing was much more successful. I was much more aware of my body and much more balanced and relaxed. As a bonus, I also had my first up session after 4 losing ones, and only the second up session in the last ten or eleven sessions. But this is only the bonus. The real benefit is how I felt during and after the session; more balanced, less frustrated, and enjoying the experience of playing poker again.

Senator Harry Reid is trying to slip a bill though before the end of December. On first glance it might appear to support online poker in the US.

But Reid is supported by the casinos, and the bill that he’s proposing has a 15 month moratorium on online poker before allowing online poker to become legal in the US. That 15 month moratorium means that any existing poker site, including PokerStars and Full Tilt, the two biggest sites, has to stop all poker for US customers for that 15 month period. If they do not, then they become ineligible to apply to have US players after the moratorium period has ended.

In other words, the casinos want in on online poker. They want to force the existing online poker sites to get out of the market until they, the casinos, have time to prepare to enter the market.

It’s expected that if the bill went through, PokerStars and Full Tilt would choose to comply in hopes of retaking the market when the 15 months are up. Washington State residents have already had a taste of that.

This is bad for all online players on these big sites because a huge chunk of their customer base will disappear, meaning fewer cash tables running, smaller tournaments with smaller payouts, and longer waits for sit and goes to fill up.

Likely options during this period are Bodog and Absolute/Ultimate Bet. Bodog is not likely to care because they won’t be allowed to apply after the moratorium because they offers all kinds of sports betting.

Latest word seems that Reid thinks that it’s unlikely that the bill will pass. It was proposed to start January 1, 2011, so if we survive until then, hopefully we can avoid this entirely.

Today, October 14, Full Tilt Poker came out of nowhere and took aggressive measures to stop the use of our poker bot software at their online poker room. There was no warning given to anybody, and this was after years of tolerating us to such an extent that most of us felt they welcomed us with open arms.

Interesting interpretation.

In Kohlberg’s levels of moral development I’d read this as Stage One. In Stage One anything that I’m punished for is wrong. If I’m not punished, then it’s right.

Followed by:

To be certain, the use of such software has always been against their “official” terms of service. We all knew that. But for the past few years that part of their agreement was always perceived as being given with a wink. There are hundreds of us who have been active there on a daily basis and the overwhelming majority of us have never heard so much as a peep out of them. If they suddenly decided that they didn’t want us, given the fact that they have allowed us to proliferate unrestricted up to this point, one would expect a warning and a chance to stop using the software.

This was not their approach. They came out of left field and froze all our accounts and have confiscated all our funds. This was a very sudden and calculated move on their part. It would be difficult to describe their actions as anything other than stealing, if you understand the environment.

So now it’s Full Tilt’s fault, and Full Tilt, not the bot users, was/is being unethical.

This has obviously now changed. Consequently we must seriously consider un-supporting Full Tilt poker. They apparently do not want us there anymore, and would rather have our account balances than our business. We see that as an incredibly unethical move on their part and must question anybody who wishes to continue to play there even manually. Look at the people you are trusting with your money. See what kind of people they really are. We would recommend not giving them even one more hand of business, whether you ever used a poker bot before or not.

So there you go. If you want to support poker bots, don’t play at Full Tilt.

Personally I have a hard time feeling sympathetic, or reading their point of view as anything other than a pathetic twisting of facts to support their own situation. Now, as to whether this implies that Tilt may, on some other issue, suddenly ban other users who might have visited PTR or something I dunno, but atm I think it’s a long stretch from here to there.

More recently Italy has moved to nationalize poker for Italians and France has followed suit. I don’t know many Italian players, but I do know some players from France who recently received notification that they were no longer allowed to play at PokerStars. They’re invited to join pokerstars.fr, the French site, and to play for play money for now.

The French government’s plan is to tax on top of rake, 2%, and in order to do so, they required poker sites to establish French only poker sites, meaning the sites must exclude French players from the main site and French players are only able to play against other French players. So much for the internationality of online poker. This is not even EU; they can’t play against citizens from other countries using the Euro.

I’ve been using computers since the days of local bulletin boards. I thought that was pretty cool; being able to communicate with people that I never met who had some similar interests. I remember using Lynx (a text based browser) and connecting through a local university to get all around the world. It seems sad to have the internet hacked into sections with restrictions, just for local tax grabs.