Length of sessions help or hurt psychology?

#1 05-23-2007, 01:06 AM

I just finished an overnighter at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls. 4 friends got a few hotel rooms. The long and the short of it is this. I played two sessions, both about 6-8 hours, and got some sleep overnight. A few friends played through the night, around 20 hours straight. My question is what is everyones optimal point of effectiveness? Between what hours are you maximizing your poker playing abilities at? When is your body at its maximum effectivemness to pay attention/make correct reads/etc.

First, it takes me personally about 45 mins to get comfortable, and reads on players. I can play fairly well for upwards of 8 hours, but then start losing focus. My mental game slips, and I become pretty robotic, playing cards only.

My friend told me he has no problem lasting 20+ hours at one session, but I find this hard to beleive. His bloodshot eyes tell me something different.

Howie

HOWMANY · #2 05-23-2007, 05:17 AM

Once I get to the point where my body can perform no function other than play poker the game is usually so good that it doesn't matter. That point is typically after 12 hours or so. Sort of depends how long I slept the night before/how often and long I've been playing live lately. In these situations I basically play until the point where I feel I can barely drive home while keeping my eyes open. Last week I was honestly in a pretty bad spot where I played from about 10pm-noon and my eyes kept trying to close on me while I was stuck in traffic so I turned up music/air conditioning to turbo power to help me. If I was in a nearby hotel I imagine I would not have a problem playing 15-20 hours. Sessions shorter than 8 hours don't really ever happen any more. 8-10 is my normal and if I'm not winning a lot I leave.

So the answer is that I agree the ability to play well decreases after a certain amount of hours, but if you are staying for the right reasons then you are still a huge favorite.

svenson · #3 05-23-2007, 11:41 AM

Everyone has different levels of physical and mental endurance.
Everyone also has different levels of outside stress and anxiety that affect their game and tarnish their endurance.
I think one of the most important aspects of poker is knowing when to quit, and that is something you have to personally calibrate over a good amount of experience.