Peak performance poll

[Phat Mack]

How long can you maintain peak performance in a poker game?

[MEbenhoe]

Are we talking online or B&M? My answer would be different depending, and I think that would be true for everybody.

[Phat Mack]

Are we talking online or B&M?

Good point. Let's say B&M.

[Sredni Vashtar]

Phat Mack,

I went with 4-5 hours for B&M. Way less for online. I consider peak performance watching all the action intensely, which gets tiring. I can maintain high level performance much longer by just playing slightly modified default strategies, but not "peak".

I assume you were referring to poker playing. Haven't tried the other thing while playing poker, yet.

SV.

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]
Phat Mack,

I went with 4-5 hours for B&M. Way less for online. I consider peak performance watching all the action intensely, which gets tiring. I can maintain high level performance much longer by just playing slightly modified default strategies, but not "peak".

I assume you were referring to poker playing. Haven't tried the other thing while playing poker, yet.

SV.

[/ QUOTE ]

I gotta agree with you here. I think the people who are voting for 8-9 and higher, either aren't properly evaluating there own true peak performance, or they dont actually understand what peak performance means.

[PokerFink]

I gotta agree with you here. I think the people who are voting for 8-9 and higher, either aren't properly evaluating there own true peak performance, or they dont actually understand what peak performance means.

I disagree with this and the quoted post. It is imperative to watch every move in the first hour or two to get a read, and obviously as new players sit down. But as you develope a feel for the table and each player, it becomes less important to watch EVERY move.

I play my best when I have a read, which allows me to get comfortable (literally), sit back, and just play. I still look at every showdown, every pot worth a damn, etc. But it's possible to play peak for 8-9 hours even if you're not watching EVERY motion EVERY player makes, since you've been playing with them for several hours.

[HTML Samurai]

For me, it also depends how long I have been up, but I am going to assume that I am well rested before setting down for any decent amount of time. I voted 6-7, but thinking back, that might have been a little optimistic...

[Phat Mack]

I went with 4-5 hours for B&M.

I did some work on this a couple of years ago. I've got playing logs that cover many years. I entered a lot of them into spreadsheets and data bases, then played with the data by graphing hourly results and session results against session lengths. I came to the conclusion that I played my best for between 4 and 5 hours, with a noticable decline beginning at 6 hours.

I have a lot of doubts about the data, however. Things like going broke in 15 minutes, having a game break early, or having a whale sit at the table in hour five would skew the results, and I don't know how to account for such things.

When I was in 20's and played a lot of stud, I was convinced that I started to fade after three hours, but that was just subjective interpretation. I don't get to play much stud any more, and I've aged out of a lot of ADD problems, but I think I was probably right. I used to piss off a lot of players with my three-hour hops.

I assume you were referring to poker playing. Haven't tried the other thing while playing poker, yet.

Poker playing?

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
When I was in 20's and played a lot of stud, I was convinced that I started to fade after three hours, but that was just subjective interpretation.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is actually an important point. I use to play stud long before I tried Hold'em. Now I have no hard data, aside from my memory, but I am certain that playing 7-stud took more effort and energy than Hold'em so operating at peak performance was more demanding and could be maintained only for shorter periods. Other parameters to factor in are amount of shorthand play and knowing the majority of your opponents before sitting down, as opposed to cracking the safes on a bunch of new faces.

Shorthand play of pot-limit Omaha is also very taxing. On the other hand, playing low-limit Omaha 8 is a snap. In fact, I can play winning Omaha 8, watch baseball and keep a scorecard, read a book, write a love letter, listen to music, evaluate indefinite integrals, and compose villainous screeds in my head for latter posting on 2+2, all at the same time. This may seem a miraculous feat to some but in reality is just a mundane accomplishment in the ever evolving and interesting life of Le Misanthrope . Only Vince L. (or perhaps El Diablo) could do more at the same time – probably by having a monstrous argument with the person seated next to him at the table.

[img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Le Misanthrope

EDIT: On the serious side, I said 6-7 hours. If young and rested this is certaintly within reason. But some other parameters would need to be met and those parameters would vary depending on type of game etc., etc.

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]
I play my best when I have a read, which allows me to get comfortable (literally), sit back, and just play. I still look at every showdown, every pot worth a damn, etc. But it's possible to play peak for 8-9 hours even if you're not watching EVERY motion EVERY player makes, since you've been playing with them for several hours.

[/ QUOTE ]

This shows a misunderstanding in what playing at peak performance means. Playing at peak performance, isn't just playing at a high level, or playing winning poker. When someone asks how long can you play at peak performance, they are asking you how long can you maintain playing at your absolute best (the peak of your ability). While I believe many of us can still play at a high level or at least play winning poker 8 hours into a session, at this point you will not be playing at 100% of your ability. It may only be a slight decline, but thats still a decline.