Poker Boredom

This is a question to all long term ring game players. Besides observing your opponents, how do you deal with the boredom of the game? Sometimes it seems like I can spend an entire session playing hands only out of the blinds or near the button.

I have become spoiled by the speed of online poker. When I play in a live game it seems like it is being played at a glacier like place.

Do any other players feel this way or do I need to get away from the game for awhile?

The boredom you are referring to occurs when you are dealt nothing but rags for hour after hour, which happens too often in my opinion, but that is the game. Most (low limit, anyway) players "solve" this problem by playing their trash hands anyway, but we can all admit this is a suicidal way to deal with it. So if you get no hands and are bored, there are 2 ways of dealing with it. 1) Watch whatever is on TV in the card room, or 2) Try to work on other skills during the game, like trying to read what the players who are in the hand have, practicing working on pot odds, etc. This gets pretty old after a while but it does something to improve your game at least, which watching TV doesn't. But watching TV is less aggravating. When I start watching the tube, though, I find I have "mentally checked out" of the game, and when I do get a playable hand, I often play it badly. I think the only thing you can do is just sit there and while your blinds are getting ground down, try and work on other skills like hand reading, pot odds, etc. If you are like me, at a certain point (usually 3 hours or so of not winning a single pot), you will start to get in a really bad mood. When that happens it is time to leave and accept it is not your day. And you WILL get in a bad mood, getting cold cards for 3 or 4 hours straight makes anyone aggravated. That is a one of the huge advantages of online poker, I think, when you get like this you can just click go do something else in your house for a while; when you are at a cardroom, you just sit there getting more and more pissed, because to "give up" means you have to get in your car, drive all the way back home, etc. It is much harder to admit defeat. I don't think there is any easy situation to this, you just have to not go on tilt, and when you can't take it anymore, quit. Zen and the Art of Poker has some good discussion about how to handle this that may be of interest to you. It's funny, from all of our posts it sounds like we get deal premium hands every 5 minutes. No one mentions the many times where you get 9-5, 7-2 for hour upon endless hour. But of course that is not anything worth posting. One thing I have learned about this great game, is that poker is absolutely BRUTAL and CRUEL. You must have the patience of Job to avoid ripping your hair out on numerous occasions. To quote Peter Wolf, "Poker exerts an incredible ability to open your nose." Truer words never spoken.


Tim

Serious poker is a game of hours not minutes. Remember that serious money is often at stake . One hand can mean a days wage won or lost. I have found creating conversation and a fun mood helpful to alleviate boredom and good for the game. I now practice " Zen Poker", the best state of mind for handling bad beats and boredom.

Study this book ! Most of all now I try to have fun and shrug off all the negatives of playing, losing and boredom (not easy to do). Beware of online impulse gambling . I have found it to easy to get caught up in the action and play too loose.


My two cents worth,

Poindexter

U do not want to go home after playing for about 2 to 3 hours!

So play another poker game for abour an hour or so--like stud!

I mainly play 7-card stud.

But if my game is not profitable or I'm not receiving any playable hands for awhile,then I play Hold'em.

I then play Hold'em for awhile,and if I don't receive any playable hands,I go back to stud.

Finally,if nothing materializes,I then go home!

By changing games,you re-invigorate your mind.

Happy pokering,

Sitting Bull

If you're not getting good hands you change games? I can see this if your mind is starting to drift, maybe, but then you either need to snap out of it or go home. Card shuffles are independentally random events.


If the cards are running cold changing tables doesn't halp. The cards don't know the past or future, or care about to whom they're being dealt. If you're going to be superstitious I suppose your approach is better than those annoying deck change people, but is really no different.


Next time, flip the dealer a toke and ask for a winner before the deal. Bakti dharma to be sure, but it might make you feel more lucky...

It didn't sound like he was being superstitious, but just suggesting a way to keep things interesting. If switching games can keep your mind sharp, it could be worth doing. My concern would be you might be leaving a good stud game for a not as good hold-em game. Or vice versa.

Reasons to change table/game:

- table or some opponents too tough

- you're not good at the particular game

- better game elsewhere

- all other things being equal, you're not having fun


Reasons to stay:

- you already know something about your current opponents (brain equity)

- won't have to wait

- won't have to post

- other than one or two really good players, table is a good one and you are willing to give up a little in expectation in order to learn from the better player(s)

- you have/can put other player(s) on-tilt


Reasons to leave entirely:

- no good games to be found

- tired, distracted, on-tilt

- have lost an uncomfortable dollar amount, or you're not a winning player and you lost your limit

Even harder to deal with, IMO, is getting playable hand after playable hand that misses the flop completely or gets sucked out on the river. At least when you're getting rag after rag, you only lose your blinds.


Either way, it's definitely a game of patience.

Cold runs of cards is very common to all of us and would sometimes test our patience and discipline. We lose our concentration, our eyes start focusing on the TV screen, got involved in conversations, etc., etc. Pretty soon, marginal hands start looking like monsters.


To alleviate this, I leave the table for a round or two or wait for change in dealers and walk on the casino floor, entertaining myself by watching the Don Quixotes balk the windmills at craps, roulette and Caribbean Stud. Or take a whiff of fresh air in the boardwalk and then get back in the game.


Better to do this than playing those imaginary monsters which could be hazardous to your bankroll.

taking a break away from the table --maybe going for a walk.

Might be better than changing games to keep your mind focused.


Happy Pokering,

Sitting Bull