When you make your living from "grinding" at the poker tables, it's very important that your playing conditions are as ideal as possible. This includes:
Allowing yourself enough time to play.
Not just a quick 30 minutes here and there which encourages "gambling" rather than the patient play that is required.
Playing when fresh.
If I'm feeling tired then I won't play. Instead I'll often sleep for a while until I'm ready to play.
Playing without distractions.
I'll rarely play when my two daughters are running around the house- even when their nanny is here. I'll also often turn off my phone and MSN. (Due to the monotony of multi-tabling full-ring for several hours at a time, I don't consider having the TV on as a distraction- and will often get through 2-3 films during a session.)
Sometimes I have to leave my daughters on the fridge to avoid being distracted!
6 comments:
By he way, you have a very nice house! :)
All what you said is right... and that is my big problem.
I'm not a professional player yet. I have a regular job where I work 40 hours a week. I work sometimes on day shift, night shift, weekend, etc... My working schedule is very difficult to handle because It is not a monday to friday 9 to 5 job.
On top of that, I try to play 50 000 hands of poker / month. The result is that I almost always play tired and I'm not always focused. I go on monkey tilt sometimes and I play when I should not because I need sleep.
You are lucky to be able to focus on your game. I'm thinking about leaving my regular job to concentrate on poker, but I don't have the balls to do it yet... maybe at the end of the year, I will see.
Anyway, it is not an easy decision.
@+
JP. We play together a lot on FT, so I know your game pretty well.
You're one of the better players at those levels, and you've done well considering you've only been playing since last November. (I believe.)
Like you say though, you need to avoid playing at the times when you're tired/tilting because in that frame of mind it's easy to lose money at a faster rate then you can win it at when you have your "A" game.
Good luck.
You have beautiful children :)
Thank-you Lisa. :)
Mike
I have a 4yr old girl...used to lock her under the stairs when I was playing...now I can use the fridge idea...much more humane :)
DanseMacabre
LOL Mark. :)
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