A Fine Line between Addiction & Passion

Addiction indicates bad, degenerative behavior that is beyond a person's control. Passion has more of a positive, pleasant, "love my work" sort of conotation. So, how does one distinguish between the two? Is an addiction only an addiction if there are negative consequences? Or can an addiction be wonderful, positive and fulfilling? By definition, the answer is no. According to dictionary.com, an Addiction is: "habitual psychological and psychological dependence on a substance or PRACTICE beyond one's control." On the other hand, Passion is defined as "a strong fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anyhing; boundless enthusiasm for an activity or practice."

So, being that this is a poker blog, of course this leads me to the next question- "Is poker an addicition, a passion, or something else?" I have given this much thought. I have decided that poker can be either, depending upon player in question. For some, general gambling is an addiction and poker can fall within that realm (it is a casino game with a percentage of luck attributed to the outcome). For the wrong person, poker can become the reason for their ultimate demise.

However, poker, has also been classified as a game of skill, both by experts and the United States Supreme Court. There are hundreds of thousands of players, maybe even millions, across the globe that play this game as their sole source of income. For these players, poker is not a 'practice beyond one's control.' If a winning player (one that earns consistently) is having a tough session, or conversely, is on an extreme heater, she has the knowledge, the experience, and/or the smarts to determine when to stop or continue a session, regardless of their enjoyment of the game. For this player, there is no dependence on poker in an addictive sense any more than the 9-5er is addicted to being at their place of employ (maybe its more enjoyable, but no more addictive than that).

I believe the classification of poker as pure gambling, or poker as predominantly degenerative, or poker as naturally bad moral behavior is complete garbage, and without one iota of support that these categorizations can be applicable for all cross-sections of players.

I honestly believe that a focused and skillful player with excellent bankroll management skills can be quite successful playing full time, regardless of society's label on poker as a person's passion or addiction. The true answer to the question of addiction v. passion is a study of the person, not the game.

Monday Poker Madness

Quick update from yesterday's poker. I played the $50 rebuy at the Club- ended up in for $150. Another final table appearance, finished 7th. Only top three paid. I re-raised all in with 88, and of course, got called by AQ. He almost mucked, but then, he realized the monster that is AQ, and said "I call." 88 is the exit hand of the month, I swear. I cannot win when I have AK against 88 and when I push with 88, its as if I have 2 3 off suit =)

Also, I final tabled the $109- 7/99 for a $450 profit. I got sucked out with QQ v. A8(soooted- another brilliant hand). But this is how I will survive (for next time). I need to work on building my stack before hand. That means gathering as many chips as possible, even at the risk of busting. Raise and re-raise. Make it impossible for players to see a flop (with certain obvious exceptions). If I had a big stack, I survive the qq suck out and still make the top 3. So that will be my game plan. Now that I have improved my middle of the tournament strategy that has allowed me to survive until late, my next plan is to improve late game strategy. Oh, I also won a $10 straight for $215 tournament dollars, that I will probably use toward Aruba sat tomorrow night.

Overall, I strongly believe this will be an amazing year in poker for both Jon and I and of course, Dragon (its already been pretty phenomenal for him!).

Good luck and peace,

Lucky C.