Tricks for paying attention while playing live?

[Corpsebean]

I am primarily an internet player, I currently 8 table SSNL very easily.

I do love playing live, however I have a serious problem with paying attention when I am not involved in the pot. My judgement is still very good due to my recognition of betting patterns, however, I can't help but feel that I could do my game more justice by getting more specific on physical reads and patterns, etc.

My spacing out is so bad that a few times when I already knew I was going to fold preflop, I had spaced out for 30 secodns while the action was on me - thankfully because I am quiet and tight/aggressive people took it as me being deep in thought so when I finally realized that everyone was waiting on me I just gently tossed my cards into the muck.

Do you guys have any tricks or routines that you do to keep you focused and paying attention to the other players when you are out of a hand?

[LuckyTxGuy]

I play alot online and but I also play alot of live home and B&M games. I do not have the ability to play more than one table online at a time. I've tried to play two at a time but it always seems like the action is on me and I've got a big decision to make. My wife often says I have a one track mind, so that might explain things.lol Don't get me wrong, when I play a single table, I often feel like I have time to goof off a little in between hands. However, I feel like I just concentrate on my hand, the community cards and the other players too much to play more than one table. That being said, you can probably see where this is going concerning live play.

When I play live, especially B&M (because I have more money at stake) I do not have a problem staying focused. I play $1/$2 NL and at any time have from $100 to $500 in front of me, which for me is alot of money. So it's easier for me to stay focused and want to watch what other players are doing, even when I'm not in the hand. Maybe you should move up to higher stakes in live play. I've always felt that if the money really matters, a person will stay focused. When playing for what feels like pennies, it's easy to be distracted. I've seen a couple guys at the table before who had the same trouble as you and I've easily pegged them as internet players. They are usually pretty solid players, they just seem to get bored quickly.

To me, if you can't sit down and stay focused, it's time to leave. If you can never get focused, maybe live play isn't for you. To me there is nothing better than the live game experience. I'd take it 1,000x over playing online. That doesn't mean I pay 100% attention to every single flop, call, or raise, but I usually know what's going on and I enjoy watching people, players, the dealers, and just the whole card roome atmosphere.

So I guess I didn't help at all.lol Maybe your mind is just suited for multi-tasking more than the average persons. While many people think it's stupid, maybe you should take an mp3 player with some music or a podcast to listen too while you play. Anything to keep your mind to totally wondering off into lalaland would be good.

Good luck.

[DDH]

My spacing out is so bad that a few times when I already knew I was going to fold preflop, I had spaced out for 30 secodns while the action was on me - thankfully because I am quiet and tight/aggressive people took it as me being deep in thought so when I finally realized that everyone was waiting on me I just gently tossed my cards into the muck.

One thing I do to help that, and, hopefully to not give off any sort, "I plan to fold this hand" vibe is to consider every hand playable till I have to fold it. I'm in the CO, I look down at 83o, I say to myself, "if there's enough limpers, or very few limpers, I'll play this." Then, when it gets to me, I fold. There are few to no situations that I'll play 83o, but telling myself that, at least makes me keep track of who's doing what, and what's happening before me.

During the hand, if you're not in, try using the old trick of simply trying to put people on hands.

[Jim T]

You could try not looking at your cards until the action is on you. Just please don't do it at my table. It's irritating and delays the game.

Also, if you're playing at a low limit table you'll look like a tool. When I first started playing, at the lowest limit the Bellagio had, the guy next to me made a big show out of waiting to look at his hand when the action got to him. Even as a noobie I was ready to strangle him.

[Edge34]

[ QUOTE ]
You could try not looking at your cards until the action is on you. Just please don't do it at my table. It's irritating and delays the game.

Also, if you're playing at a low limit table you'll look like a tool. When I first started playing, at the lowest limit the Bellagio had, the guy next to me made a big show out of waiting to look at his hand when the action got to him. Even as a noobie I was ready to strangle him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Any competent player will be able to do this and not "delay the game". Either you're playing with a bunch of idiots or you're a nit. I hope its the former.

I do this, not because it helps me focus, but because its a habit I got into when I started playing live. Can't be that bad waiting 3 seconds for me to either fold, call, or raise.

[johnc]

I have the same problem, only I'm not really spacey per se but I have to constantly be vigilant in order not to let my mind wander. There's a few "tricks' I use to keep focused such as listening to my iPod on low volume to give me some pleasant ambient noise, ALWAYS look at my cards only when the actions on me, and most importantly I talk, gab, socialize, smile, etc with the other players at my table. The mountains of info you get is huge. I've had people that I'm sitting next to and gabbing with who'll start showing there hole cards - while still in hands. I've even had one drunk guy do this while I was still in the hand! It really provides us with the opportunity to actually see the people behind the action which seems to always keep me in the game.

[fellfold]

I play a lot live and even I am guilty of not paying attention when I am not in the hand, but I try to use hands to get information (mostly on betting patterns/habits). This is especially important when you are new to the table. I like to pay attention to the pre-flop raisers. What do they do when they miss? Will they slow play if they flop a monster?

Another thing you can do live (and I believe it saves me a little bit of money) is to watch for telegraphed action behind you. Many players (especially in limit) will have pretty obvious telegraphs for raises or folds.

[TheStation]

I started playing live before online so I might be in a somewhat different situation. The main thing I always do is talk to the people around me (as the poster above said), every so often you find some good people and making friends with regulars is good, especially halfway thinking ones, as they will offer up info about other players in the game after being friendly and talking to them

I dont avocate iPODs becuase there are so many things you miss out on IMO, using it for an hour to cool down from a bad beat or get your mind focused again, thats fine, but using it for your entire session is bad

[itsmarty]

[ QUOTE ]
a few times when I already knew I was going to fold preflop, I had spaced out for 30 secodns while the action was on me - thankfully because I am quiet and tight/aggressive people took it as me being deep in thought

[/ QUOTE ]

Having people think you're deep in thought is much worse than having them think you're the sort of player that misses his action.

Martin

[smoore]

- Put people on hands and "play" them... "What would Jesus do?"

- Count the pot. Again.

- Once you can count the pot quickly by how many bets are in each street, replay the action in your head. This is the big one for me, if I replay the action when I'm not in the hand it's just automatic when I am in the hand.