Do I play too much?

[Oinkment]

I was just thinking about it today and I reckon I play poker for about 30-40 Hours per week! Roughly 15-20 hours live and the rest online. At the moment i win just a bit more than i lose so don't consider it unhealthy - but I do wonder sometimes if I played less it might improve my game.

I was wondering how much other people played andif they had had similar thoughts....

[a1056688]

In my opinion, the more you play the better you will become as long as you arent tired all the time and making silly mistakes.

[SlaineMcRoth]

Indeed you can never play too much. I think even if you do play tired and make silly mistakes it tends to shake you up a bit and you actually learn from it as well.

I've had it at times where I played tired and wasn't really concentrating and consequently lost quite a lot of money. Lesson learned and paid for

Now when I am tired and still want to play I make sure I don't have any music on. Turn the volume up on the poker program and make sure that it is the only thing running. I also clear my desk and basicly make my surroundings completely free of anything that can distract me.

Doing that quickly wakes me up and before I know it I'm so engrossed in the game I'm not even tired anymore.

Another trick is to play tournaments or sit & go's when you're tired. That way you can only loose a set amount.

[SlaineMcRoth]

Always good to hear an honest reply. Most people that I know are either always up or play even. Most likely these people are lying to themselfs. I usually said the same thing, either up or even. Now I keep a book on everything I spent and win while playing poker.

Since keeping a book on all my poker spending (about a year or so now) I'm up by only a couple of hundred. But since I've been keeping a book I've been playing a lot better. I think it's because I now able to see the big picture. If it's not going very well one night I find it a lot easier to stop purely because I look at my little table of 'profit' or 'loss' and think;I'm not doing as well tonight and don't want to make a huge dent that I'll have to fill again over the comming days. So my losses are less big where my wins are still the same.

I don't know, it might help others, it certainly helps me.

[VancouverKarl]

I play online 2 or 3 hours a night on $0.05/0.10 up to $0.25/0.50 NLHE tables. Low stakes but I can win week by week doing it ($40-60 per week average) If I could stick to this it would be great....

Unfortunately I tend to think its a good idea to play after a few beers and it usually isnt. I woke up with a horrible hangover once and checked my history to find I had lost $100 playing heads up sit n gos :o (quite a lot for a 5 cent 10 cent player!) Add this to the usual hangover empty wallet and i was feeling quite poor!

The other thing that goes wrong is increasing my stakes. After a few weeks builing my bankroll ill get tempted to increase to $0.50/$1.00 or above no limit tables but I just cant seem to beat them. Does anyone else experience a big improvement in play at around this level. The other possibility is I am thinking about the money too much and getting scared by raises more.

[SlaineMcRoth]

The problem you seem to have is that you're playing scared and that is never a good thing. I don't really have a good answer on how you can beat that feeling of playing scared so you'd play your normal game and win. You seem to be able to beat the lower limit tables and so it stands to reason you can also beat the higher limit tables. But indeed, if you're afraid of loosing money you won't be making the correct decisions. Maybe you should allocate a certain amount of your bankroll which you 'know' you're going to loose when you sit down. That way, if you do loose it, it won't hurt so much. One thing you always have to do though, is buy in for the maximum allowed on these tables. It really helps to have the upper hand right from the get go. Don't be afraid to bet! That last one is probably the most important.

If you can call a bet you can raise it my old man used to say

[VancouverKarl]

One thing you always have to do though, is buy in for the maximum allowed on these tables. It really helps to have the upper hand right from the get go. Don't be afraid to bet! That last one is probably the most important.

Interesting point. I usually take 10x the big blind on no limit ring games (ie 20 dollars on a $0.10/0.20 table). This is usually half the maximumn allowed. When I first started playing online I was quite a weak player anyway and I would take the minimum amount. Im sure you can understand why I was not very successful. Now I would say I am a tight/aggessive cash table player and I have started to get a good feel for when to reraise someone who I feel is bluffing and overbetting their hand (whilst holding nothing at all myself). This has really improved my hourly rate. I think taking the maximum to the table now would be a good move for me

Any opinion on increase in standard of play as you go towards the $0.50/1.00 NL tables? I still beleive that at this level you lose a lot of the fish who lurk on the lowest limit tables as they learn the game and there is a big increase in online "professionals".

[SlaineMcRoth]

I personally don't think you loose that many 'fish' although there might be more sharks around. Does that make sense? The important thing to do is pick the right game for you. A lot of poker sites give statistical information about the tables running. The amout of people in pre-flop, the average pot size, players already waiting, etc. Make use of these statistics and you can find yourself in a very profitable game. Say there is an 70/80% pre-flop call then you know that's going to be a very loose and profitable game and if you can handle that, jump in. If there are already two people on the waiting list then you know these people have sussed out the same thing. So look for a different table. There's no point in competing with other sharks. Then again, you might enjoy a tight game more. Again look at the pre-flop rating and join in when it suits you. There are so many tables going on at the same time there's always a game going that suits you. And again, buy in for the maximum, that way you have an edge straight away over hopefully most people. That's one of the things I look for in choosing my tables. Shortstacked people play much more scared and are therefore easier to put off a pot.

[Oinkment]

You guys seem to spend more than me - My weekly limit is £60 for the whole week! If I spend more than that I am in trouble LOL. Online i restrict myself to William Hills £2 +20P 200 Player tourneys and Play 2-3 home/Card Club Games maximum buy-in £20. I play tourney style games where possible and try to avoid cash games as I suck at them. Everytime I play a game a cannot afford I have no chance - Because I can't really afford to lose so as a result I worry to much when I play and make silly mistakes. To be honest with you It has taken me about a year to know what my game is and its been a hard road! But knowing that when I sit down its money I can afford to burn means that my play is confident and I enjoy myself.
Most weeks I break just about even, every now and again a big big win and some weeks I lose the lot and think I have a expensive hobby!

I do think it is extremly important for a poker player to know what his game is and master that before moving up to a bigger game. I like playing for 30+ hours so by keeping it at low buy-ins I can play lots and lots without having to sell stuff! (LOL)

Mind you saying that I am saving up all my change for a couple of months for a poker festival buy in which is way above my leaugue but I reckon it could be good expeirience...