MOTIVATION & GOALS PART 1

It is crucial to find inner motivation to become successful in life. My theory is that players who are solely motivated by external factors won’t last. They will find the job too boring or lose their bankroll to players who are highly motivated. As a poker player it is a good exercise to write down what motivates you and what your short term and long term goals are. In this blog I will sum up some internal and external motivation factors, goals and describe various career paths you can choose from.

INTERNAL MOTIVATION

• Winning
• Flexible work hours [x]
• Being your own boss [x]
• Relying solely of your own skill & abilities to succeed [x]
• Potential of earning twice as much as the common man [x]
• Excel at the game of poker, love for the game [x]
• Setting targets and goals and always strive to climb higher mountains [x]
• Become famous
• Win a big tournament/title
• Get a sponsorship [x]
• Travel the poker scene
• Earn enough money to do the things in life you dream off [x]
• Dreams for the future

EXTERNAL MOTIVATION

• Pay the bills, providing for your family [x]
• Earn the respect of your peers and prove people wrong
• Earn certain amount of rake back per month
• Avoid getting a regular job and become a regular citizen – Mr Anonymous
• Work because it is a choir
• You don’t want to be portrayed as a failure so quitting is not an option (unless you go broke)

I have marked the points above with [x] which is my personal reasons to play poker. Make a list for yourself. It can be useful to look at doing downswings or periods where you might question your career path.

LACKING MOTIVATION & NOT SETTING GOALS

• You are only after results and have no process oriented goals
• You have high expectations so goals becomes routine tasks and don’t give any satisfaction
• You have no short-term goals, only far-off ones
• You reach your goals and fail to set new ones
• You have too many goals
• You have underlying goals such as looking good, avoiding mistakes or keeping up your win rate.

VARIATIONS OF POKER

If you play poker you need know why you play and what you are trying to archive. If you play to become a world famous poker player it is not going to happen by bum-hunting HU or play 100 SNG’s a day. On the contrary if you are playing for the sole purpose of paying the rent it is most likely the best way to do it.

This is a brief discussion of different types of poker career choices.

Cash Games

• Heads Up (HU)
• 6max  & Full Ring 6-10 players

Sit & Goes (SNG)

• HU SNG’s
• 6max & Full Ring SNG’s

Live Poker

• Cash games
• Tournaments

Multi Table Tournaments (MTT’s)

CASH GAMES ONLINE

Heads Up - The bum hunters and the reckless  players

The most important strength in HU poker is being mentally strong. You have to be strong as a bull and remain calm throughout a match to succeed. If you take beats personal or have tilt issues you will get crushed. The cards dealt are less significant in HU poker. Psychology and winning in the right moments more often determine who will be the winner.

There are two types of Heads Up players. One type is the reckless type who plays against everyone on his level and occasionally takes shots at higher stakes as a challenge.

The other type is called a bum-hunter. He only plays fish and bad regs and sits out against any real challenge. His sole goal as a poker player is winning money. He has no interest in mastering all aspects of the game. Poker is simply a way to make a living while taking as little risks as possible.

It might sound like I do not respect this type of player. That is a wrong assumption. I do have respect for them. One of my best friends has been a succesful bum-hunter. They posses something I don’t. A bum-hunter can’t decide when to play. He has to wait for hours to get a game and sometimes a match is over in 10 minutes. He also has to play on 10 different networks with different software which can be confusing when playing several tables at once.

Read Part 2 HERE