Well that's it!!

Hi, in my opinion, poker is an addiction. An addiction which is no problem at all when everything is going well, and is actually a pleasant and profitable form of occupation. For the last couple of months, I have subscribed to this addiction and enjoyed riding the highs and attempted to avoid the lows.

However, for me, this addiction provides too many unpleasant side effects and as such I need a long break. With my personality, with money in my account, I can't have this break, as I am too tempted to keep playing. I know I am good enough to win a higher percentage of the time than I lose, but at the minute this isn't enough. If I lose, I find it hard to go to bed...now that's not right. I am tired, but I know there is money out there that I have lost and should win back, I stay up and waste the next day...that's when poker turns from a skill game to a gamble. I always say to people when defending poker that it isn't greatly different from the stocks and shares, and involves calculated risks and for the top % of people profits will be made. Yet if a stockbroker always felt compelled to stay after work hours, this would also be counter-productive, and would involve many stretches where the worker is working less than operatively.

Not sure where the analogy is going, but basically I need to take my money out to stop me from playing when I don't want to. The huge selection of bad beats (AS IF I'M THE ONLY ONE ANYWAY!) hasn't really upset me too much...it upsets me more that I stay up all night trying to get back to where I was, as if the game of poker owes me something. Staying up til 5AM is inexcusable, bad for me, and something I want to avoid.

I guess this post and my actions in withdrawing have proven everyone right...grinding poker all summer isn't a realistic thing to do...and you will get sick of downswings or need money or whatever and have to stop. For me, I can't not play if I have money in my account, and , It's not the financial nature of a downswing which bothers me, but the impact this has on my day/night/etc. I have run so so bad over the last few days, but tonight I played bad, for the first time in such a long time. This was the product of overplaying and losing the element of fun from poker. Turning it into a grind has meant this project has to end, but the profits made will be re-invested when I feel ready.

I am going to spend the next couple of weeks seeing friends in the evenings more, waking up earlier in the days and working on my dissertation. Law really interests me when I get into it, so that's what I'm going to do.

The $2310 I've taken off from Pokerstars tonight, on top of the $900 I've already withdrawn and another $300 or so from live/Fulltilt means I have made around £1650 profit in around two and a half months, an amount that has kept me tied over for the summer, and when I get back to poker I am happy to put a lot of this back in to build on the progress I've made this summer.

However, for now I need to have a long break, and have to do what I have to to get back in control of my life, as poker has a canny knack of dominating your lifestyle!!

Apologies to those who wanted me to crush the top games...I will do, just on my terms and not poker's terms!!

Much love to all,

Paul!

Ps...I'm feeling good about this, actually looking forward to sacking it off for a long while!