Quote Originally Posted by cowboyardee
I beat up on atrocious players, usually in live games. And drink for free. That doesn't make one a good poker player.
But it can make one a happy player... all depends on your motivation.

... and I'm not trying to be a smart@ss...

Aside from those noobies with "Slevin Syndrome," there's usually a blending of "I want to get goot" (maybe to make moniez, maybe 'cause their competitive, maybe 'cause they have dreams of going pro...) and "This sh!t is fun". I think this is a very important balance to keep for most...

Two main things can make this sh!t definitely not fun...
1. Consistently losing moniez
2. Consistently being told you suck

There's only one cure to #1, and that's to get better... and for some, before they get to that point they stop 'cause, well, the sh!t's just not fun. That's cool - and Gears of War 2 is out in a few weeks so I'm sure they'll find something to do...

There are those who are committed to getting better, but are equally committed to it still being a fun way to spend their time. They already do something for 50-70 hours a week that's not much fun -- it's called a job. And a lot of these same people aren't looking for poker to be a second one of those...

These are the folks where I think it's critical to recognize why you enjoyed playing in the first place. Keep the sh!t balanced. This ain't graduate school unless you want it to be... and even then you can be on the 6 year plan if you cool with that. Just don't bring the whine about things not moving fast enough when you the one that picked the Pinto...

And poker is a marathon, not a sprint... and prolly the longest f-in marathon you ever done. Doing your best mental & work ethic 440 and then crapping your pants by mile 2 is not in your best interest. Pace yourself. Read some. Study some. Play some. And keep it all in the context that makes you wanna come back and do some more even when your roll takes a 5 buy-in poop.

This is honestly one of the things that I think FTR really got going for itself as a site. People rarely wield the "suck" hammer indiscriminately. Past the noobie forum, it's all fair game. But there's a lot of support for keeping it real and fun for the tadpoles like myself...