Training yourself to play more hours

[Belok]

Been playing for about 8 months (with a 2 month break in there), and have just recently decided to train myself at limit.

Now im not going pro, and as of now have no plans to. But I would like it as an option. So I'm basically trying to train myself to be able to play full time for a living if I ever decide I want to.

Training on limit, 300 bets at .5/1, I fairly quickly burned through to the 300 bets at 1/2. Now my roll is at 1100. (hit 1197, but bumped my head on the glass ceiling) For the first week or so I could easily go 4-6 hours straight (after work till sleep) without any trouble. Now, I find myself playing an hour and a half and finding excuses to quit (cutting losses, quitting ahead, etc.).

So a question to all you pros and overtime players. How do you motivate yourself to play for hours on end? Especially those of you who play 10 hours a day pro. Do you just make a mental note to yourself that "I will play from 8am-6pm today" until it becomes a habit? I can see that type of thinking ruining the enjoyment of the game for me, but if thats the difference between 50 and 150 bucks a day, it would be worth the discipline.

Any tips or ideas would be appreciated

Thanks,
Dan

[jgorham]

My girlfriend beats me when I ask to get up. It usually works out.

Besides all of that though, I like the 6max tables for that very reason. So much easier to play for hours on end - at least for me.

[Matt24]

My schedule is 4-2 Sunday, 3-6, 7-130 monday through thurs. Basically my motivation comes from earning money. I also keep it fresh by playing in the supers and other MTTs. I also watch TV while I play and have 3 monitors so I have a third monitor open to do other stuff as well. I play 8 or 9 games at a time.

[Dov]

If it's not fun, don't do it.

If there's something else you would rather be doing, don't do it.

I motivate myself by remembering all of the crappy jobs I've had so far that I hated. After that, playing another 3 hours is easy.

Dov

[Lawrence Ng]

Why do you want to play online for 8 hours a day? Why not do just 4 hours, and spend the other 4 hours studying the game or posting on 2+2 instead.

[Huhmare]

I've had that very same problem.. I played limit and got bored to it.. It's always the same. I started playing no limit SnG's and I can't wait to get started. I also tried some 7 card stud. If the game is starting to be too familiar, try some other game for fun. I knew that I would almost certainly lose playing 7 card stud, but I won 50 BB's in a day.. I was lucky, but it sure felt better than any pot won in texas holdem.. Just play an hour every now and then for fun.. You can't lose much, but it's freshening

[theBruiser500]

Um, I don't know of anyone that plays close to 10 hours a day, I'd be interested to know if anyone actually does that. I agree completely with Lawrence. BTW lawrence, nice avatar!!

[astroglide]

i'm inclined to think that most people who "can't get in the hours" are the types that always quit when they get up a set amount because it kills them if they give some of it back. you can ride such waves for a long time to produce an inflated hourly rate.

[rloftin]

I try to keep my sessions to about two hours each. Then take a break of some sort. Could be ten min. could be hours. This keeps me fresh and my mind clear. Remember there are 24 hours in a day no need to get all your poker hours in all at one time.
R Loftin