Sleeping Habits

[RThomas]

I'm hoping this is the best forum for this post. If not, feel free to relocate it.

I'm 19 years old and in addition to a regular nine-to-five job, I play poker on the side. I enjoy it a lot and really get into playing once I get started. The problem is, lately I've been playing farther and farther into the night, getting a start later in the evening after I get home and sometimes playing until midnight or 1AM. Since my regular wake up time is around 6:15AM, I usually only get about 5-6 hours of sleep a night. I find myself not able to go to sleep at night, laying in bed staring at some poker forums or watching late-night tournaments on my laptop.

Also, my weekend sleep schedule seems to be nearly always screwed up. I'll start playing on Friday night and eventually go to bed sometime Saturday morning, which naturally throws off my Circadian rhythm. Most of the time when it comes to Monday, I've only gotten a couple hours of sleep on that Sunday night at most.

I don't have too many pressing problems with my home or work situations, but this seems to be a nagging problem that won't go away. I enjoy playing poker and wish there were ten more hours a day that I could do so, but it just seems like I can't fit everything I want to in a day's time and still get a nominal amount of sleep. I'm wondering if this is perhaps a temporary problem, something a break from poker might fix, or if this is some sign of a deeper seeded problem. Even on nights that I don't play poker and do something else, I feel like because I stayed up late playing other nights, that I need something to do until the wee hours.

I've traditionally had problems sleeping through my teenage years and have sought out professional help a couple times. I know that teenagers tend to not sleep as much as they should, but I'm not sure if this is something I should be worried about. I know there are ways to correct this problem and I believe I can right myself with some work, but I'm just wondering if any of you have ever experienced this situation; and if so, how did you go about fixing the problem and getting back to a healthy sleep schedule.

Edit: I should make it clear that I don't feel addicted to poker or gambling in any way. I feel like I could quit the game as a whole if a really pressing matter required me to. Perhaps I am and just don't see it but I just feel like this is kind of a broad problem that falls into this area.

[The Eureka Kid]

Cut down on either work or poker, simple as that. If you are winning more at poker than you earn at your job, I'd be cutting down your 9-5. Maybe switching to cash games is also a solution, you aren't locked into hours of playing like you are with an MTT. The most important thing in life is your health, don't sacrifice it by losing sleep due to a hobby. Change things now to achieve a good balance of work, poker, exercise and whatever else and you'll avoid troubles in the future. It's good that you are identify the problem before it has caused you to get sick etc etc.

[Rek]

[ QUOTE ]
I should make it clear that I don't feel addicted to poker or gambling in any way. I feel like I could quit the game as a whole if a really pressing matter required me to.

[/ QUOTE ]
You mean in the same way an alcoholic can give up drink if they really wanted to. Be careful – it is not until you can admit you have a problem that you can then deal with it.

I don’t know you so perhaps you don’t have an addiction here but it does sound a possibility.

In general, people of your age need more sleep than you are getting. However, everybody is different and perhaps you are an exception and don’t need as much sleep. It sometimes feels that people are forcing themselves into a certain hourly night sleep pattern. My mother for instance (and yes, I know you need less sleep as you get older) worries constantly that she wakes in the early hours and then can’t get back to sleep. She lies there fretting about it until “it is time to get up”. I just tell her that if she is not tired then get up and do something. It is not as if the lack of sleep catches up with her. She just doesn’t need it to function fully. Other people may need 9 hours a night.

[RThomas]

Perhaps I should have chosen my wording more carefully: I don't feel this is a gambling problem so much because of the length of time this has gone on extends beyond my start in poker. However, I do wonder if playing poker late at night is fuel on the fire or just another occupation of my time. I was really just wondering if there's any other poker players that experience problems like this. Sorry for the confusion.

[SellingtheDrama]

I went through the same cycle - I started cutting back the poker and also made sure to do something else between playing cards and going to bed (generally reading - and not poker).

Set yourself a hard schedule - work around first your desired sleep schedule and then your regular job. Poker fits the gaps in that, nothing else.

[Johnes Benjamin]

pretty standard, a lot of people deal with similar things. I find that a lot of times when I think "there is just no way I can go to sleep yet, there is something I want to do and I'm not tired but it sucks b/c I have to wake up tomorrow" it is actually easier to get to bed than i thought.
It is hard to make yourself do it, but if you take an hour or so before you are supposed to sleep and drink some chamomile tea or something you will be ok. Try it for a couple days and it will come pretty naturally.

Try to play earlier in the day. Poker can give you a lot of excitement and make your heart race which will make you less tired when its time to stop. Also exercise during the day will probably help with this

[cmoneymaker10]

where is that thread about the guy who played poker while he slept? lol you should try that

[pokervintage]

Sleeping is overrated anyway, don't you think?

pokervintage

[Indiana]

i haven't had a decent night's sleep since moneymaker won.

Indy

[hyper_dermic]

one word... Ambien.

Ive always had extremely messed up sleep sched. problems.
If left to my own devices, i sleep for about 12 hours, then stay awake for 24+ hours.
Naturally, that did not fit in with work and life, so ive had lots of issues with being late to school, work, even events that i enjoy because of it.

Later in my life, i have found some solutions to my problem.
One being a job where i work 12 hour shifts at night. i stay awake for several hours, and sleep when im tired. works out nicely.

But how does that help you?
ok back to the beginning of my post, for when i cant sleep, and i really need to be up on time the next morning, i take ambien.
Best sleep med ever created, can fall asleep very quickly, be up in 5 hours and not feel hung over.

go to your doctor, tell him you cant sleep, you have taken ambien before and it works great.

sure its not the healthiest choice, but it sure works well. and its the american way. (just take a pill)

one word of advice though. dont take the meds while still playing poker. it can sneak up on you, and you can end up doing some reckless plays before you actually fall asleep. The icing on the cake is you dont remember what you did. Ive been quite suprised when checking my account the next day. Seems i actually play quite well when on ambien, i just dont remember it [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

-hyp