i cannot put in long sessions, need help

[furyshade]

i've noticed this has been a problem for me ever since i started playing cash, i cannot put in sessions much longer than an hour, two hours at the very most. this summer i plan to play poker much more seriously and have just started playing 2/4 (i always 4 table) and i want to be able to put in the necessary hands. today for example i had a great session but just felt tired after an hour and decided to stop. anyone know a good way to teach yourself to put in more hands and longer sessions, i think it is really holding me back.

[skelm]

I think you're pushing higher too too. Try playing less tables after half an hour or so and gradually push yourself once you know you can handle it. Is it hard to concentrate because you aren't getting hands or is it because you're getting tired? I'm tempted to think it isn't always the latter. Try giving youtself breaks now and then and coming back to it - over time you will be able to go longer and longer.

[ipp147]

[ QUOTE ]
i've noticed this has been a problem for me ever since i started playing cash, i cannot put in sessions much longer than an hour, two hours at the very most. this summer i plan to play poker much more seriously and have just started playing 2/4 (i always 4 table) and i want to be able to put in the necessary hands. today for example i had a great session but just felt tired after an hour and decided to stop. anyone know a good way to teach yourself to put in more hands and longer sessions, i think it is really holding me back.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm exactly the same but it doesn't really matter too much as I not full time.

One thing I do occassionally is decide on a number of hands I want to play and just open up enough of PT to see the hands figure and then play through to that.

I suppose you could try and do like a 500 hand session and then 600 and then increase small.

Any help?

[Arrg]

I also have problems with session length when I try ring games. I've found that if I say something like "I'm going to play 200 hands over X tables" I'm able to achieve that, and if I feel like it, I can go farther.

[furyshade]

i can play a bit longer than that, i usually range between 800-1200 hands in a session, and like i said last night i had an amazing session where i won quite a bit but still was just tired after 835 hands. i dont think playing less tables will help cause that will just make me more bored. i have the classic problem where i only play long sessions when im losing, when im winning i think i tend to cut short because im afraid of losing is what seems to be the pattern. i have no clue how to remedy this though, i see people like CTS who put in ridiculous sessions and just gets hundreds of thousands of hands in and i cant imagine it, maybe its just because its a new stake and im not so used to hte money im playing for even though im winning, not sure.

[jukofyork]

I don't so much have problems with session lengths as I do with just putting in the sessions in the first place. I can if I put my mind to it play monumental sessions, but I end up giving myself eye strain and even temporary short-sightedness from it, so I've now tried to cap session length to 3 hours max.

I've tried all sorts of things like playing X hands/SNGs in a day, but then i tend to take lots of tiny breaks which drags things out unnecessarily. Lately I've been trying to force myself to play two 3.5 hour sessions every day (3 hours of play + ~0.5 hours finishing off SNGs), but I just can't for the life of me stick to it...

I do sometimes get real bad migraine/cluster headaches where I just can't play even if I wanted too, but other times I just seem to find any old excuse not to play for the day. It's like a constant battle between being thoroughly bored of playing poker and knowing in the back of my mind that the fishes won't last forever (so I should try to put in as many hours as possible before the fishes all die off), but I still find myself saying "oh [censored] poker today, I'll play a bit more tomorrow" way more often than I should.

Anybody else have this problem, and if so have you found any good way to make yourself play? I'm wondering if I should try making a prop bet with somebody in the same situation where we don't have to pay up unless we don't meet our target number of hours per week, or something along those lines.

Juk [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[saeute]

Drink some water during your sessions.

[TIGERsrm]

I am in downswing at the moment and am finding it very hard to stay away from negativity and usually have to stop playing after 1-2 hours just due to the sheer mental torture that seems to hit.

This is my first serious downswing (8 buyins so far) [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] and I don't deal too well with losing. I don't suffer from tilt too often, in fact I never try and 'chase' a loss mainly because I can't stand to carry on playing (wish I could grind on).

My mindset needs changing, I need to play through this (especially as it's my main income source) and come out the other end a stronger player for it.

I am a serious golfer and used to think that was the most frustrating game out there but am now convinced poker takes that title. I Need to get the fun back into the game, remind myself that I am lucky to be able to play and make money from a game that most people play as a hobby.

Ordered 2 books that hopefully might help me, The poker mindset and inside the poker mind. Gotta get back to those 6+ hour sessions, just the thought of grinding for that long seems like hell at the moment! Change of perspective needed!

[jukofyork]

[ QUOTE ]
I am in downswing at the moment and am finding it very hard to stay away from negativity and usually have to stop playing after 1-2 hours just due to the sheer mental torture that seems to hit.

This is my first serious downswing (8 buyins so far) [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] and I don't deal too well with losing. I don't suffer from tilt too often, in fact I never try and 'chase' a loss mainly because I can't stand to carry on playing (wish I could grind on).

My mindset needs changing, I need to play through this (especially as it's my main income source) and come out the other end a stronger player for it.

I am a serious golfer and used to think that was the most frustrating game out there but am now convinced poker takes that title. I Need to get the fun back into the game, remind myself that I am lucky to be able to play and make money from a game that most people play as a hobby.

Ordered 2 books that hopefully might help me, The poker mindset and inside the poker mind. Gotta get back to those 6+ hour sessions, just the thought of grinding for that long seems like hell at the moment! Change of perspective needed!

[/ QUOTE ]
Have you tried to just not look at the cashier for a few days at a time?

I used to be terrible for always opening up the cashier to check if I was up or down (even half way through a session), but found that I play much better if I simply don't look until the end of each week. At the start of the week I might be able to gauge where I'm at, but after a few hours I have no idea if I'm up or down and it's quite an enlightening feeling to just be able to play solid poker without caring about short-term results.

Juk [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ray Of Light]

[ QUOTE ]
i've noticed this has been a problem for me ever since i started playing cash, i cannot put in sessions much longer than an hour, two hours at the very most. this summer i plan to play poker much more seriously and have just started playing 2/4 (i always 4 table) and i want to be able to put in the necessary hands. today for example i had a great session but just felt tired after an hour and decided to stop. anyone know a good way to teach yourself to put in more hands and longer sessions, i think it is really holding me back.

[/ QUOTE ]


If poker is your hobby, then the only thing that will make you play longer is a strong passion for the game.

Passion for the game of poker is not something that you can teach/discipline yourself to do. And there is nothing wrong with that.

I suggest you continue playing short sessions and simply enjoy poker for what it is for most people... a profitable, yet challenging passtime.

Forcing yourself to play more poker than you feel comfortable in doing, will probably do your game more harm than good...