Working in the poker industry for the last 5+ years it has become clear to me that barely anyone, myself included has appreciation for the value of money. I have thought about this often over the years, but even more so lately. The subject was fresh on my mind again after an incident yesterday on the golf course. The shaft on my Tight Lies 3 wood snapped in mid swing! This in itself is pretty amazing considering my club head speed is that of an 80 year old man.
Anyways when I went to the pro shop afterwards I found myself pondering if it was really worth spending an EXTRA $45 for the premium graphite shafts. What the hell is the matter with me. The night before I played in a $50 sit and go, donked out first, and thought nothing of it. By no means am I a big player like some of the other bloggers here, but I have had my fair share of swings in the $1k - $4k range for a single session. Luckily I am at a stage in my professional life that a few swings like this once in a while are not going to make a difference in my net worth or lifestyle. The fact that I can win or lose this much without feeling any pain, makes a $45 decision about a golf club so negligible. Yet somehow it still troubled me on why I didn’t just say, “yep gimme the best shaft you have.”
It’s just bizarre to me how poker players can win or lose what is some other people’s 2 week paychecks in a single session. Yet when we have to deal with money in the real world we can fret over decisions that are $100 or less.
I think many poker players that play at any level over $2-$4 are like me and have delusional views of the value of money. For instance, if you lost your $215 buyin playing in the Sunday Million, would you pissed off all day? Probably not, as you expected this was likely to happen. Now let’s say your wife came home and showed you her manicure/pedicure and knew hairdo that she got done on a whim, with a price tag of $215. Most guys would be like wtf? Actually maybe not, (letting your wife spend freely on herself is such +EV for later on in the evening.) But you can see the rationale here….Either way it is $215. Why is different if it leaves your possession at a poker table versus somewhere in the real world.
On the topic of the value of money, it just baffles me when I hear people speaking about saving 10% on a $20 item, and that’s why they waited to purchase. Or the people that drive 8 extra miles to save .05 a gallon on gas. Somehow though, more people in the U.S. have this mindset than the mindset most gamblers have. Although I suppose these people also don’t know the feeling of either winning or losing $1000 in 1 hour playing a game on the internet.
All in all, my conclusion is that we all need to seek a few sessions with Dr. Melfi and get our heads screwed on straight when it comes to the value of a dollar in the real world versus the poker world.
June 21st, 2007 at 4:16 pm
honestly if I could go a day without someone bringing up the price of gas that would be a good day.
It comes up a lot lately because I bought a Vespa (a $5500 Vespa!), almost everyone asks me if I bought to save gas money.
“Yeah idiot, I dropped $5500 to save 50 cents here or there.” Talk about finding shit to worry about, I think people preoccupy their lives with that type of shit.
June 24th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I think one of the most important skills in live is the ability to maximize your enjoyment/dollar ratio. I’m very much a free spender, but I tend to only spend my money on items that will actually make my life more enjoyable. If I don’t feel like cooking I will go to a decent sit down meal and spend $20 every time over spending $10 on fast food I don’t actually enjoy. Money has always just been a means to do the things I enjoy most in life. I get no pleasure from having an extra 1k sitting around in my bank account.
A good example would be the UFC fight I attended last night. There were supposed to be 3 of us going, but when one of my friends found out that the tickets would cost $600 he immediately backed out. We make the similar amount of money, and he actually likes UFC more than I do. For him it was “way too expensive” but for me it was a no brainier. The seats were about 5 feet from the octagon and I had an awesome time, worth well more than $600 in my pocket could ever be worth.
For poker players I think this issue is a big balancing act. It’s stupid to fuss with a few dollars here and there, but you also don’t want your reduced value of a dollar to put you in a bad place because you are wasting money on nothing.
June 28th, 2007 at 2:52 am
I too find myself doing stupid crap like this. I have no problem blowing $10-$20k online but my house is barely furnished. I’ll tip the cart guys $10, $20, and even $100 at the golf course but it took me 5 years just to buy a new set of golf clubs which I badly needed.
I guess when you’re spending it on something that will possibly make you more money, or make someone else happy you could give two shits but it’s like you feel guilty spending it on yourself.
August 19th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I too am guilty of this. I think Roger hit it on the spot with this “I guess when you’re spending it on something that will possibly make you more money, or make someone else happy you could give two shits but it’s like you feel guilty spending it on yourself.”
On the other hand, after I lose a big session online I am more likely to go out and buy myself something nice to get over the loss.