Problem with playing in my sleep
 

Hi guys, this isnt as much a gambling or poker problem as it is a chess one. When I was a younger man and played alot of Magic: The Gathering I'd often play whole matches in my sleep, when I moved to poker it was the same, but not as bad.

Lately Im playing alot of chess, and this has happened in the past when I've played alot, I play in my sleep. I cannot picture a whole chess board with the pieces dispersed around in my mind when Im awake. But when Im asleep I will play whole games in my mind, with alot of strategical thought.

I'll wake up at 4 in the morning from a dream where Im in some middle-game heavily weighting my options and I will feel stressed out and mentally drained. Worst of all it feels like I'm never totaly asleep, like a part of my mind is always awake, active, and analyzing chess situations when the rest of me is asleep.

I love chess and all, but I just want to sleep like normal, and not play heavily involved mentally demanding chess games throughout my sleep. Do you guys have any advice for how I can make this happen? Thanks.

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

don't play before you sleep, do something that takes no brain power, like watching tv or something.

Working it out in your dreams probably helps you become a better player [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

For a month or so I actually would dream about hold em alot... It wasnt me losing or winning alot, just normal, boring, top pair hands, which made sleeping very frustrating and annoying; it also made me stop enjoying poker for a while.

I dont really have a solution, as shortly thereafter I had a month long fling with a gal and was nailing her almost nightly, so that helped with the stupid poker dreaming.

Moral: Go get laid, itll solve alot of your problems [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

Skip,

I've had a lot of trouble with this in the past as I am also a former MTG player, current chess and poker player. I found that because I was studying and playing chess for SEVERAL (5-6) hours a day at least I would be frequently playing in my sleep and the games were intense. I would wake up with the same problem as you not ever feeling rested and my mind was going 24/7. I cut back on my hours of chess in the last couple of years and since I cut back I haven't ever had a dream of chess, thank god...because as much as I love chess and poker, I hate dreaming about them because they stress me out. Hope this helps.

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

[ QUOTE ]


Moral: Go get laid, itll solve alot of your problems [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed. Everyone has "work" dreams. I find mine are tied to sexual frustration. Ask Dr.Al though.

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

These are different from work dreams, they arent tied to sexual frustration, they continued to occur when I had a girlfriend.

Dont bother with stupid responses that are made more to brag that you claim you get laid all the time.

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

[ QUOTE ]
I love chess and all, but I just want to sleep like normal, and not play heavily involved mentally demanding chess games throughout my sleep. Do you guys have any advice for how I can make this happen? Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Stop playing chess.

That is the first and only step that will give you a peaceful sleep.

Once you have given it up for a week, take a look at the pattern that has developed through your life in regards to these kinds of games. Magic, Poker, chess, if you started playing Backgammon, would your sleep be any different?

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

So I should switch to backgammon?

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

don't do it.......

Re: Problem with playing in my sleep
 

I did the exact same thing when I played magic. When I moved to chess, I did the same exact thing there. Now, I am at poker, and I also dream about that on occasion.

It is annoying, but I find there is really nothing that can be done about it. Sorry for being unhelpful, just wanted to let you know you are not alone.