How do you keep playing your best game

[ddomo]

Hi .......... I play tornaments about 5 or 6 nights a week... and I'm finding it hard to keep playing the best that I can ,all the way thru the evening... We all know it only take one mistake ,and you are out.......
So I was wondering .. How do other players keep focus at the table ?

[agnesamurphy]

Do you take breaks at all during your day? Even just 20 minutes to take a shower or to eat something can make it much easier to play at your best during the latter half of your day.

[ddomo]

I usually play from 6/7pm to midnight or longer... with only the normal 5 min breaks......... So not really time for showers etc

[jyms]

Anyone that knows anything about poker, and tournaments knows that you get 5 mins every hour to pee. She didn't exactly answer your question, she's just trying to get her post count up to be qualified.

Focus comes from practice. Don't play large field tournaments. Try playing smaller fields and build up. Keep fresh water on hand and just know that when your getting tired you are far enough in to a tournament that the excitement of a final table should keep you focused. Personally I play cash games, but learning to grind more and more hours over time has helped when I do play live or in online tourneys

[Fielmann]

Maintaining focus, like most other things, gets easier with practice. At first 3-hour session seems long, but if you're used to 6-hour sessions it's a piece of cake.
Make sure that these 5-minute breaks are actually breaks, getting away from the computer and moving a little.
Have some (healthy!) drinks and snacks at hand to make sure your brain gets enough of whatever it is it needs.
Meditating regularly helps, as does being in good physical shape in general.
Adhering to certain concrete rules (e.g. no surfing on the web while playing) helps.
I've found it best to not listen to music most of the time (because it distracts) but switch it on like 1-2 hours before the estimated end of the session (because by then the level of fatigue is such that music's energising factor becomes bigger than its distracting factor. If that makes sense.)

[agnesamurphy]

Anyone that knows anything about poker, and tournaments knows that you get 5 mins every hour to pee. She didn't exactly answer your question, she's just trying to get her post count up to be qualified.

I KNOW you get five minutes after every hour during tournaments. Just because I have 10 posts doesn't mean I'm rambling to build count or that I can't contribute anything intelligent. It's one thing to comment that something I said was incorrect, but it's another to completely discount me based on my post count and assuming the intention of my words. Even you as a moderator started at zero posts at one point in time.


No one says that you can't take 20 to 30 minutes to do something else after you bust out of a tournament. No one says that you have to play tournaments back to back to back and only giving yourself the five minute breaks. I asked about longer breaks because I got the impression from the original post that tournaments were being played one right after another, and I had no idea how long the day actually was.

[Pascal]

Good comeback that ^

Ddomo - I don't get many days I can play, so I tend to play 14-16 hour sessions with an average of ~13 tables, starting around midday and finishing past midnight. It's become normal for me to do this because I started playing shorter sessions with less tables and then slowly built it up. The more regularly the play the quicker your decision making will become and the less you'll have to think about auto-pilot spots. The great thing about tournaments is, especially preflop is you know which factors to base your decisions off so you get in the habit of taking it all in at once very quickly and making a fast decision.

As for playing for a long time, it's just practice. Music helps, as does having someone else playing those sort of sessions with you. If you don't know anyone, Skype helps to have some social interaction. Have meals prepared/ready meals/decide to order takeaway before you start playing. Energy drinks are handy as a backup in case you final something which started late in your session and you end up going longer than you were anticipating. Lots of water and using the 5 minute breaks to get up and walk around both help too.

[ddomo]

Thanks every one for the Ideas... Its given me a few ideas .. Also helped me think about the problem in a more analical way ... I've recenly been playing in huge fields on poker stars ... and at first this was more exciting / motivating to keep me on my best game ..But that has faded.
So now I'm going to think about how to set my self mini goals to achieve during a tournament to keep me interested in every hand ...my limited experience of multi tableing tells me that it doesn't improve my game ....
Anyone with ideas for mini goals during a tournee would be welcome ... I will post and let you know how I'm getting on with it ......
As a side issue .... After a bad beat... I loose focus aswell ... and start to over play cards and go on tilt quite easily ... Does any one have a mantra or method to try and limit the the self inflicted damage caused by this leak ..... all ideas welcome....

[Pascal]

Your goal of every tournament should be to play every hand optimally. It doesn't matter if you received bad beats; why do you go on tilt when you suffer a bad beat? If you ever want to be able to take poker anywhere near seriously you need to address that issue. There's a lot of resources in Beginners' Circle about tilting, just search it.

[Luco]

I keep myself busy by studying the table and taking notes. In large mtt's you get moved a lot so it should keep you entertained.

[MadMojoMonkey]

Should be more upset when you give a bad beat than when you get one.

The goal is to get your chips in as a favorite, so when you do... that's a good thing. If the odds weren't 100%, then expect to lose some % of the time.

Play great and EXPECT TO LOSE.

Then when you lose, it's OK, and when you win, well, things didn't go as you planned, but you got a nice consolation prize.

Also, rigorously work out your own starting hand strategy and consider why each hand is or is NOT playable from each position. When you start to tilt, knowing your foundation is going to keep you from huge mistakes.

[Pascal]

If you don't get your money in bad a fair amount of the time playing tournaments you're playing way too tight

[ddomo]

Think I might have to give the game a break for a short time ... Not playing my best . And loosing is no fun for me .. .......... need to do something to get back in to a winning frame of mind ........

[jaxpaboo]

Play less games. Maybe fewer at higher stakes to keep you more motivated.