Sleep Schedule

[UTGunner]

from a jasonHoldem post:[ QUOTE ]
What are the things you do to help you play your best?

At least 8 hours of sleep. Sleeping is 0 EV, playing when tired is -EV...don't play when you're tired...sleep.

[/ QUOTE ]
This has got me thinking about sleep and play schedules. I have a completely flexible schedule, so I have begun to sleep from 4pm to 11pm - then I get up and immediately play poker for 4 to 6 hours (with short breaks). The games are soft, the sites don't crash as much as during peak times. Do others have unusual habits and preferred times to play?

[El Barto]

I don't ever sleep.

Must play 24 hours a day.

[1800GAMBLER]

After i'm already multi-tabling 4 tables, reading twoplustwo, downloading albums and eating at the same time, i find even if i play tired it doesn't make much of a difference since i'm not normally focusing on the games anyway.

[ZeeJustin]

[ QUOTE ]
After i'm already multi-tabling 4 tables, reading twoplustwo, downloading albums and eating at the same time, i find even if i play tired it doesn't make much of a difference since i'm not normally focusing on the games anyway.


[/ QUOTE ]

I find the exact opposite to be true. Like you, I rely on my instincts at the table. I generally play 4 tables at once, while surfing, chatting, etc., but I find that my instincts are much less reliable when I'm running on no sleep.

I've certainly met many people that are barely deterred by lack of sleep like you, but I'm just not one of them.

[goodguy_1]

I agree being well rested for me ...that's a minimum of 6 1/2-7 hours of sleep.It is a prerequsite to a solid winning session.

When I'm off-balance my instincts fail me,I dont do those quick instinctual plays at the sub-conscious level that are so important when you play 4-6 tables because you are focusing on so many things at once.If you play fewer tables you may be able to get away with it.But then that may not really matter because I find for me personally even if I play fewer tables I will still make 1,2 or even 3 more costly mistakes than I would have IF I had been more rested.

I usually play 4-6 NL tables.Being rested is even more important playing NL than Limit.I can play Limit on auto-pilot tired.. I cant do that at NL not at least for a full day's work.

When you are tired at any game you will make more mistakes on borderline decisions which are key especially when playing short Limit or any type of bigbet in my experience.I will force myself to go back to bed for an hour or so if I get up after 6 hours just to feel decent.

Now my sleeping patterns thats another issue--hehe.I usually go to bed around 5am/6am and get up at noon or 1pm.I dont like missing half the days light but it allows me to get up and be active and then play games at their best hours 8pm -4am est...

[OnlinePokerCoach]

I agree that playing tired is bad. I admit to having sessions where the little beep keeps waking me up as I play each hand when my turn comes up. Obviously not optimal play...

My main point in writing is that I am amused by the sacrifice you make for optimizing profit, assuming you consider it a sacrifice. Sleeping from 4 to 11 p.m. is quite extreme. I know some people do it in "regular" jobs if they work a night shift. Daniel Negreanu wrote about how he used to play poker for regular hours (like 9 to 5 p.m.) just to treat poker like a normal profession.

Anyway, I am sorry for now making much of a point.

[scrub]

Playing while tired doesn't hurt me that much.

Playing while hung over kills me.

scrub

[1800GAMBLER]

I don't use instincts. Instead i just based my play on the average party poker player. This means when i raise up QQ (in no limit) and get limpreraised, everytime i'll call, but this means when i hit a player who only does this with AA KK 100% i'm done, but when i hit the player who does this with any pocket pair i'm 83% good. But over the long run i'm going to run into more 'any pairs' than 'only AA KK' players. Meaning calling 'in general' is right yet could be only ever be a wrong play against some players.

This is the extra value i happily give up for the extra tables. Since it would be more valueable to base my plays on the individual not the group.

It's not instincts for me, it's grabbing hand histories and learning how over an average they play. One big machine VS me.

So back on topic, if i have 12 hours sleep or 2 hours sleep i'm making the same play in this situation every time, only problem being less sleep may make me hit the wrong button.