Keeping your sanity as an NLHE player

[shat4brains]

I wanted to start a discussion on this for awhile now. I was talking to a buddy of mine who plays 12 tables 8+ hours a day. I don't understand how people can play only one game for hours on end. Obviously people who have full time jobs dont have as much time to invest in poker as degenerate gamblers like myself do. I honestly think if i devoted all the time i play poker with to no limit i would go crazy and never play poker. So basically what i was wanting to talk about was how you guys who 8-12 table like several hours a day keep from burning out? I have tryed to do this and i can't so i have to spend a lot of time playing the other games. So these are my thoughts on this and i would really love to get a good discussion going on this topic as i think it is essential for grinders to not burn out.

Although full ring is the most enjoyable for me personally i also play limit 0/8, PLO, 7 card stud hi/lo, razz, triple draw, and limit holdem. I also spend a fair amount of time playing HU NL. What I have discovered is that playing all these other games has emensly helped my poker game in general and improved my NL win rate by quite a bit. Limit 0/8 and PLO i think have helped my postflop game and helps fight off the urge to play bad draws in NL. For example sometimes i flop an open ended straight draw on a monotone flop and i would chase it and if u do that in these games you will burn money and fast. PLO especially has helped my game because at some points it requires pure pedal to the metal aggression and has helped me recognise potentially good semibluffing opportunitys which transfers directly to when im playing NL holdem. Also plo helps you recognise when good hands are likely to be beat and how to let go of those sexy looking preflop hands on dangerous boards 7 card stud hi/lo i think is an awesome game that requires an emense amount of skill to do well at. It helps the overall thinking process because you are often in multiway pots and have to think about potential cards and things that could happen. often you will brick when your opponent(s) hit good looking cards and will have to fold, you will really be thinking about multiple things at once with the whole hi/lo aspect of the game which in turn keeps you sharp and ready to react to anything that happens in another game. Razz has quite simular benifits as 7 card stud hi/lo but it also teaches you pateince. To do well at razz you have to muck very good looking hands as soon as you hit bad and your opponent his a good looking card. This helps out in other poker games ,like in holdem when your AA is almost certainly beat given the action, I used to NEVER be able to fold AA even unimproven on a crazy board but razz helped me realize when my big hands are no good and helps you make big laydowns in correct spots. Okay Triple draw is so damn fun first of all (especially when your drunk [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img])and is a nice refresher from all the other games. on the surface it may seem like it lacks potential benifits to the typical NL player but it helps raw hand reading skills because you cant see any of your opponents cards which makes it harder to read hands but gives more practice to your hand reading skills. This game also emphasizes the importance of position which obviously is necesarry to understand in the other games. In triple draw you have to make marginal decisions all of the time such as whether to stand pat on this made 9 and stuff which again is benificial to other poker games. Limit holdem is another great game, often people think its like pulling teeth but its very enjoyable IMO. I think that it greatly helps postflop abilitys because you will very often to be faced with marginal spots where decisions have to be made whether or not to call down or 3 bet ect.. And shorthanded limit is even more benificial IMO because it requires a lot of aggresion used in selective situations to succeed at and we all know selective aggresion is good in all of the poker games. If your a full ring player i think its good to play the other forms of NLHE. 6 max is a pleaseant change to full ring and it helps to be comfortable playing in 3 bet pots and playing position. You also need to be 3 betting a lot lighter in 6 max than in full ring which helped me personally identefy good 3 betting spots when i play full. I emensly enjoy heads up NLHE and especially PLO these are a lot of fun and help you focus becuse all you have to focus on is the one player you are playing and nothing else so it helps recognise betting patterns timing tells and that sort of thing. also you will be seeing more flops than you would in a full or 6 max game which improves postflop play.

well these are just my thoughts about this and i would really love to get a good discussion on this as i really would love for people to say how they keep their sanity as a person who speciallizes in one game. and i would like to hear what other people do and their thoughts on this

(sorry, i know my spelling/grammar blows)

[Dogballs88]

Nice post - thanks for writing this up. An excellent overview of the various games available and how they individually benefit a poker player in terms of skill development. If I were you, I'd simplify this into outline or bullet point format, and post it in the beginner's forum and ask the mod there to sticky it.

As far as your question goes, I'm a one trick pony as I'm sure most of us are. I have a full time job so it's not like I'm playing for 12 hours a day, but sometimes I play quite a bit (6-8 hours on the weekends is not uncommon). I set goals for each week, month, etc. and write them down (OK, type them up in my Excel spreadsheet LOL), and hold myself to them. Goals may be - play xxxx hands, make PlatinumStar by so and so date, move up to $xxx NL, etc.

I try not to think about the amount of time I'm putting in but rather focus on "my next step". Hope that helps.

[wulfpacker21]

if i am going to be playing a full day of poker i usually play about 2 hrs. or whenever my mind starts to wonder take an hour or so break or when i feel like im ready to play again then 2 hrs. again etc. i do enjoy mixing it up from time to time to mix it up and it def. is a big sigh of relief

[Renton]

jesus, paragraphs

im sure its all very compelling data

[shat4brains]

[ QUOTE ]
jesus, paragraphs

im sure its all very compelling data

[/ QUOTE ]
lol i failed english so....

[Mr_Donktastic]

tl;dr but i think the answer is beer and weed.