Forcing youself to play or Playing whenever you feel comfortable?

pshady · #1 10-30-2007, 01:20 AM

I tried forcing myself to play everyday cause I only like to play when im feeling comftorble like when my mind is relaxed and when i think about poker which is why I don't play as much. BUt trying to bang in a few games everyday not going so well now i've been hitting a slump with some unbelievable bad luck. Don't think I can go this route unfortunately and am going to have to go back playing whenever my mind is calm.

johnnyknish · #2 10-30-2007, 01:46 AM

you shouldn't be forcing yourself to play everyday because your not going to play your best and thus giving up value. you should only play when you are relaxed and ready

iplayscared · #3 10-30-2007, 01:55 AM

pshady, you sound exactly like me lol. I always think i should play more but i only play when i feel like it. When i force myself to play i am just impatient and dont play very good.

Johnes Benjamin · #4 10-30-2007, 03:40 AM

learning to get yourself "in the zone" is a very important part of playing serious poker.

even more important though is recognizing when you really shouldn't be playing.
It's a balance

Rek · #5 10-30-2007, 03:45 AM

Why are you playing? If it is as an income stream then playing regularly is important. If you are in a slump because of bad beats then it just sounds like variance.

If you are playing for the enjoyment of playing poker then just play when you feel comfortable. It is not compulsory to play poker.

pshady · #6 10-30-2007, 05:01 AM

Main reasons: to generate more income since i'm already doing well just playing on and off and to get more practice and eventual move up to higher stakes.
Another reason is to get my mind used to playing everday consistenly and win but that didnt go so well.

AJackson · #7 11-10-2007, 11:24 PM

I've yet to find a comfortable balance. If I only played when I felt like playing I doubt I would play much, but at the stakes I play I really need to focused.

If I'm really not feeling it, I don't play. But if I'm sort of meh about playing (which I feel about half the time) I'll usually check out the tables as I'm browsing the internet and if I find lots of good tables I usually find the motivation to play.

Overall I feel like I need to be putting in 60K hands/month. I don't usually let myself get too far behind pace because I know I'll have to make it up.

I think a lot of the resistance to playing has to do with the fear of a big downswing. Hopefully, over time, as I gain more confidence in my game this psychological pressure will ease.