You need to adjust the amounts here to the level you play at.

When one plays in a tournament and pays - say $50 dollars - entry do you really feel like you are gambling? If $50 is around £35 then, for me, it is the same value as 3 bottles of wine or dinner or a couple of rounds of drinks after work. In terms of time it is around 2-3 hours entertainment.

So - for me - I don't really feel that I'm having a gamble if I have been playing for around 3 hours because I would have spent the £35 on something else anyway. I don't really care if I win or lose and that is a bad attitude to play with but I can't shake it. I already feel that I have had value for money.

Sometimes - no matter how much is at stake - someone really annoys me with their trash talk or makes an issue out of bluffing me out of a pot. I can then focus on crippling that person and play a good game but as soon as they are out I kind of lose focus on winning and simply play each hand with little regard to the fact that from a strategic point of view I should play less hands and tighter to get a tournament position.

Finally - this is why I think that cash games with unlimited rebuys are so much more exciting than tournaments and so much more of a gamble. I think cash games bring out the real gambling fever while in tournaments once your $50 is in - its in and most of the rest is tedium waiting on the premium hands with the odd buzz when you get that AA or KK. But you could as easily be playing Bridge and waiting on the pat hand.

Anybody understand what I'm getting at?