Maintaining your focus throughout the session (kinda long)

[Ian M.]

I just wanted to ask the forum about a problem I always have when I play online poker...and thats playing my "A" game through the entire session. I could be playing great poker for 3 hours straight, and all of a sudden I will totally ignore sound judgement and make a ridiculous call when I am obviously beat and throw 3 hours of profits out the window. I know it isn't tilt, because I don't really get frustrated when I lose pots and I can do this after I have won a ton of money...I think its just that I get worked up when I am in a big hand and this causes me to make mistakes. Does this happen to anyone else?? I don't think its that the stakes are too high, because I am only playing $25 Party and I don't care a whole lot about the money. I've noticed that it is never a bad raise that I make, it is always bad calls. It's like I just quickly click on call before thinking it through, and just seconds after the hand is done I think to myself "that was a horrible call, why did I do that??".

I will give an example (I lose the hand history). Today I played a hand with JJ UTG+1. I decided to just call preflop, and everyone folded except for the SB and BB. The flop came 678 with 2 diamonds, and I didn't have one. The SB who had me covered (I had $27) bet $2. The BB calls, and I raise to $6, suspecting that one or both are drawing. The SB raises me allin, and I call almost instantly. I just instantly thought "probably drawing", and called. I didn't stop and think if this player would play a draw this way, nor did I think about the tons of hands he could have had that had me beat. The player had a flopped straight and took it down.

Right after this hand I couldn't believe I had made that call and just logged off. So I guess the question is, what can I do to try to stop this from happening? Should I practice taking my time with decisions, however mundane, to get used to totally thinking things through before I act? Has anyone else had these Out-of-body poker experiences?? /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ian

[DcifrThs]

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Should I practice taking my time with decisions, however mundane, to get used to totally thinking things through before I act? Has anyone else had these Out-of-body poker experiences??


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if your poker decisions are mundane you're not playing good poker...i am always confronted w/ choices, that call button never gets clicked in a big hand after i make a bet and get raised all in...in fact, THE EXACT opposite happened and i got put all in by party accidentally b/c i took too long. when you are raised all in why is your hand on the call button?? it should be thinking what will you do if you're raised, what are the possible hands? what are the nuts? what draws are out? what was the pf action? what does it do to the probability of those hands i just listed being out there?...if you're thinking of calling instantly that means either 2 things:

1) your hand was on the call button after you bet and the second he raised you called.

or

2) you made the decision to call quickly and for whatever reason moved the clicker to the call button and just called based on that decision.

personally, in a big hand or any NL hand i'm involved in really, no buttons get clicked w/o time taken. hand is off the mouse. hand that cured me of that problem: paradise poker $200 buy in. ($2 bb). it was a long time ago when i was running well and thinking i was great so lets take a shot at this game. i get KK UTG and raise to $7, SIX people call and the button makes it $25 to go. i make it $50 and 2 more call, button moves me in. i call!!! board comes KT2QA.

i lose to AA. why did i call? same reason you did, hand on mouse, no thinky, act quickly....take your time...you have more than you think.

-Barron

[Leo Bello]

Hand off the mouse is the best tip possible.
Take your time than grab the mouse. Specially when you are on a big hand.
Take your time.
But another point that should be considered is the time you playing. Unfortunately we are no machine.
Sometimes I feel the same way. After a long time 2 or 3 hours, I begin playing less optimally. So, I just leave the table, or sit out for awhile. Grab a drink, take a walk, browse the internet, read 2+2 (always find something interesting to read or answer).
Anyway, concentrate on finding your weak spots. And then work on them.
The most important thing is that you have noticed a leak on your game.

[TStoneMBD]

I don't really play online all that much, I'm much more of a live player. When I'm playing, I have to say that I never go on tilt which is something that I am very proud of. However, when a session starts going bad or I'm getting very tired I start losing focus and my reads become very off base. This of course leads to me making poor calls and turns a losing session into a disaster. I realized this was happening because I was getting emotionally involved according to my success in my sessions and because of this, when I started catching a poor run of cards I felt unimpowered and started paying less attention. I've begun controlling my emotions lately and have come to a higher level of accepting variance and because of this I'm able to concentrate for longer periods of time during rough days.

My own story is all I have to offer. Hope I was of some help.

[SlyAK]

I would recommend playing for 3 hours or less at a time online. I have been lowering the time of my sessions and it seems to help me focus. Even if it is only taking a 30 or 45 minute break and watching some tv, taking a walk, doing some chores, (yuck) it may help you.

Realizing when I am not playing my best has always been hard for me to identify. I realized today that I wasnt at my best, I was tired because of a meeting at work that interrupted my normal sleep schedule, and I was becoming a bit frustrated after losing KK vs. AA... (dammit why do my cowboys always run into aces, kept going through my mind). I decided to take a break once it got to my blinds again. I lucked out and took down a big pot when I flopped a set of Jacks, and finished up for the session. I STILL quit when it became my turn to post the BB though, because I knew that due to tiredness etc I wasnt going to play my best. This has been a very difficult thing to learn, but I am slowly getting better at identifying times when I am not playing my 'A' game. Once you realize that you are bored, tired, frustrated it is time to take a break and when you feel ready to go again good on-line games will always be there.

Sly

[TheCat]

I do EXACTLY the same. I play really well for some time build up a good stack then blow it on one crazy raise or wild call. I would never do this onland, only online.

[tdomeski]

Ian,

I must say I've experienced some of these same sessions that you have described until I came across a post in this forum that introduced me to the "10 Second Rule". . . . .

This rule is simple, yet entirely necessary and effective. . Basically the rule is, whenever faced with a big river call, an all in call, or an all in bet, take 10 seconds minimum to think it through before you call. . . This will allow you to give it some thought instead of just pressing the call button when all the adrenaline is flowing and your need to gamble emerges.

[Ian M.]

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I do EXACTLY the same. I play really well for some time build up a good stack then blow it on one crazy raise or wild call. I would never do this onland, only online.

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This is exactly the same for me. I have never done this during a live game.

[Ian M.]

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Ian,

I must say I've experienced some of these same sessions that you have described until I came across a post in this forum that introduced me to the "10 Second Rule". . . . .

This rule is simple, yet entirely necessary and effective. . Basically the rule is, whenever faced with a big river call, an all in call, or an all in bet, take 10 seconds minimum to think it through before you call. . . This will allow you to give it some thought instead of just pressing the call button when all the adrenaline is flowing and your need to gamble emerges.

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This is good advice, thanks. Over the next couple of weeks I'm really going to try to slow down when in big pots.

[Ian M.]

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if your poker decisions are mundane you're not playing good poker...i am always confronted w/ choices, that call button never gets clicked in a big hand after i make a bet and get raised all in...in fact, THE EXACT opposite happened and i got put all in by party accidentally b/c i took too long. when you are raised all in why is your hand on the call button?? it should be thinking what will you do if you're raised, what are the possible hands? what are the nuts? what draws are out? what was the pf action? what does it do to the probability of those hands i just listed being out there?...if you're thinking of calling instantly that means either 2 things:

1) your hand was on the call button after you bet and the second he raised you called.

or

2) you made the decision to call quickly and for whatever reason moved the clicker to the call button and just called based on that decision.

personally, in a big hand or any NL hand i'm involved in really, no buttons get clicked w/o time taken. hand is off the mouse. hand that cured me of that problem: paradise poker $200 buy in. ($2 bb). it was a long time ago when i was running well and thinking i was great so lets take a shot at this game. i get KK UTG and raise to $7, SIX people call and the button makes it $25 to go. i make it $50 and 2 more call, button moves me in. i call!!! board comes KT2QA.

i lose to AA. why did i call? same reason you did, hand on mouse, no thinky, act quickly....take your time...you have more than you think.

-Barron

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Maybe "mundane" is a little exaggerated, but there are definitely certain situations where you know what the best play is, and it doesn't take a whole lot of thought. Like you know you should raise a set on the flop with a draw heavy board against a lot of players, etc. Some players play 4-6 tables at a time so I assume most of their decisions are made very quickly. I was thinking of slowing down with these common situations so I am less likely to jump to a quick conclusion in a big hand. I appreciate your comments, I love the "hand off the mouse" idea, thanks.