1 HR session

[nawhead]

I can't play for longer than 1 hour without going into "WTF I spew now?" mode.

What should I do?

[tmiby]

how many tables? less is more....

[Silverthunder]

Hmm.. I can play for like 4 hrs, easy, if well rested in one sitting. I have lulls in there with fewer tables. Sometimes I go back to 1-2 tables for periods.

You can do 1 hour sessions, take a break, and then come back shortly thereafter. I guess one of the downsides is that you are going to miss out on reads. Hmm. You could keep some tables open for a while, like 15 minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes, jump on the wait list and start reviewing the hand history?

Maybe start talking to yourself after the first hour, explaining what you are going to do ie. bet/fold etc.

Maybe switching to a different poker game after 30 mins? Like you could try the lowest stakes heads up or something new.

[tmiby]

Originally Posted by Silverthunder

Maybe start talking to yourself after the first hour, explaining what you are going to do ie. bet/fold etc.

I like that part!
But, you're correct! Honestly, for myself, I think when I'm doing a vid, then I also play more focused. And it's the same thing. Discuss your actions with yourself. Keeps you concentrated.

while playing, don't do anything of the following beside:
- watch TV
- surf porn
- talk with your girlfriend about important stuff (at least for her)
- ....to be continued


The only thing I allow myself, is surfing in this forum (when not playing every single table on cake)

[Silverthunder]

Like Timby's post Phone ringing/someone coming to my door during a session is neg EV.
You could try playing a strategy video(one of Trikkurs or whatever) in the background as a motivator to keep yourself thinking on the right wavelength.

Nawhead, also, you have interesting insight into the theory/tactics that we can see in the forums. So that's the hard part. You just have the easier part to deal with, grinding.

When you are running hot, does this 1 hour thing still happen?

[chinz]

Originally Posted by nawhead

I can't play for longer than 1 hour without going into "WTF I spew now?" mode.

What should I do?

Play shorter sessions, as simple as that. And also, try to get better at noticing when you're not playing you're A game and then just quit. I think that short sessions work better for me too, but I'm trying to get better at playing longer sessions (and staying on my A game when I'm stuck).

If you feel like you're playing your best game and you've got good tables running, feel free to continue... but try to use that "1 hour rule" as a general guideline. Have you tried something like setting up a alarm clock which tells you to quit after 60 minutes, no matter what the results are? I have tried that!

I have lately been trying to play only like 60 minutes in one session... and rather play 2 or 3 sessions daily than one longer session.

[urbansprawler]

Originally Posted by tmiby

- surf porn

No
No
No

This is such a bad idea. Orgasms give you this relaxed feeling and basically shut down your poker brain. You will go on tilt so much faster after a good wank.

[nawhead]

Originally Posted by tmiby

I like that part!
But, you're correct! Honestly, for myself, I think when I'm doing a vid, then I also play more focused. And it's the same thing. Discuss your actions with yourself. Keeps you concentrated.

That's funny since I started to limit myself to 1 hr sessions after I taped myself a couple of times. I saw some amazing results.

Maybe the trick is to tape myself for longer than an hour and see what happens. Every time I play!

Originally Posted by Silverthunder

When you are running hot, does this 1 hour thing still happen?

Usually when I'm playing longer I also play bad, erasing most of any win from the 1st hour. So... no.

Originally Posted by Silverthunder

Nawhead, also, you have interesting insight into the theory/tactics that we can see in the forums. So that's the hard part. You just have the easier part to deal with, grinding.

I actually think hand analysis is the easy part. It's just practice. Playing is a test of how good you've practiced.

It's like... any kind of practice. Practice in itself isn't the hard part. You can make many mistakes, and it's no problem. Performance under pressure. That's the hard part.

And I can only perform about an hour a day. I can analyze hands for 8 hours straight sometimes. Whatever, if I make a mistake, I stop, think, go back and edit. You make a mistake in a session, that's it. Duh duh duhhhhh!

[Silverthunder]

Originally Posted by urbansprawler

No
No
No

This is such a bad idea. Orgasms give you this relaxed feeling and basically shut down your poker brain. You will go on tilt so much faster after a good wank.

+ EV to type URLs for porn in the chat dialogue box?

And Nawhead, you have prepared yourself for the session by being on these forum so you have already done the homework and put the thought into it. You have memorized a lot about equity, lines, etc. Some of the villains that we play against, just play play play with no reflection or preparation.

Also, concerning the topic at hand: with 1 hour sessions, assuming no deterioration in game play after the one hour, you lose a lot of value. When you have a good table, you do not want to leave. If I had to give someone a 10 minute lesson on poker and then they had to take their life savings to Vegas, that would be part of what I would talk to them about.

As an example, see the first couple of paragraphs of my post about defending with a gutshot & flush draw from yesterday.

OP I think realizes this and that is why he is asking for our help.

"I am going to sit down and play a 1 hour session" = -EV
the fact of the matter is that maybe you should sit down for 15 minutes and realize that the solid TAGs are just everywhere and that it's best to leave.

[nawhead]

Silverthunder, I'll play! You're so right!

I'm being a sissy. It's like trying to build muscles.

I was very scrawny as a kid. I still am... but whatever.

But there was a time when I had this job, and I had to be strong. OK why am I being so mysterious? I was in the military. Branch not important, I don't want to talk about it, I'm not a lifer.

Anyway, so I had this job. I had to run all the time, I had to lift very heavy objects all the time. I was a scrawny little kid, OMG I was crapping my pants all the time. I used to get super tired doing 20 sit-ups. They made us do 200 sit-ups! WTF!

But then I realized I wasn't made of glass. I lifted those heavy objects, and my body didn't break. I got stronger. I did those sit-ups, and my stomach didn't break. I ran those miles, and my lungs didn't catch on fire.

So maybe my mind won't explode if I keep playing longer. If I focus myself. If I dedicate myself. Stop being a sissy.

My mind's not going to break. I can do this!

Oh and Chinz, I did use to do the timer thing too!