Why

Poker is a tough game. We all know that. Sometimes the odd player might make it a little easier for us with a bad bet or call, but essentially it can be a very frustrating game. When trying to build a bankroll, it’s not called “grinding” for nothing – it’s hard work, and you have to put the hours in.
I read somewhere this week that the joy of a win is only a quarter of the annoyance you feel when you suffer a bad beat – and in a game where bad beats are always going to happen, you are putting yourself through an emotional rollercoaster every time you play – and unless you win at least 80% of the time, you are generally going to feel bad about poker more than you are going to feel good about poker – it’s a fact of poker life.
So, if poker is such hard work, and such an annoying game, then why do we play?
Why don’t we turn off the laptop and do something else?? There are a million things out there to do. You could go and have a round of golf. You could go and have a pint. You could build a raft for Milla Jovovich (well, one member of RTR might..)

I can’t answer for anyone else, but here’s why I play poker…
I am a lover of sport. It used to be the case that if there was sport on TV, I’d watch it. Anything – football, darts, snooker, formation ballroom dancing, boxing, and I’d get involved emotionally with it. I’ve rowed with Sir Steve Redgrave, I’ve celebrated with Gazza as he looped the ball over the central defender and banged it in the net (Wembley 1996 – some of you might remember that with a smile on your face – some of you won’t) and I’ve pushed Desert Orchid to a Gold Cup win.
However, since I started playing poker, I have become the Sportsman – and with a little bit of help from the poker gods, my poker destiny is in my own hands. If I decided that I wanted to try and become the WSOP champion, then I could have a go, and depending on how much money I want to invest, I might have to win one,two, three or four events to achieve my aim. If I decide that I might want to have a go at winning a big Sunday night event, I can go for it. And in what other sport can I compete against people from all over the world whenever I want to??
So now, instead of being a watcher of sport, I am now the competitor. And nothing else I do fulfils my competitive instinct like poker does.

So, yes it’s tough. Yes, sometimes it hurts. Yes, it drags me down sometimes.
But I’ll always come running back.

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