long tournaments -- how to improve your mood?
I'm playing in the Pokerstars $500 tourney yesterday and I'm pretty pumped. My problem is that if I can't get into the game after the first hour, my mood starts to go way down. I'm still able to play well, but I seem to lose that killer instinct. It seems like testosterone man goes to sleep! Does anyone feel the same and how do you combat this?
I'm itching to play, but get nothing to play. A few minor skirmishes and I'm even over the first forty minutes. So, I'm starting to feel like the train has left the station and I haven't hopped on. I'm staying sharp by observing and putting other players on hands and keeping an eye out for opportunities. The first one comes knocking when T800 aggressive SB goes all-in and I'm in the BB with JJ. I'm put him on a steal (one early limper in the pot) as he has a dwinding stack and doesn't mind a race -- I can just tell. I quickly raise all-in to isolate and take advantage. He turns over A4o and I'm thinking this is much better than I expected. He hits the ace on the turn and I'm now down to T1700.
It's still in the first hour, so I know it's not a bad situation. But my mood has gone way down. I catch an early raiser/bluffer with 99 and get to T3000 a few hands later, but my mood is still down.
I made it to the third hour on a short stack, but in decent shape to make a final run. But, I never really get out of this funk. My mind begins to wander and I'm less focused when I get a visit from Monkey Man. UTG makes an odd raise of 4.5 times the BB, and everyone folds to me on the button with TT. I think, hmmm.. that's an odd raise from this guy, he almost wants to make it look bigger than it is and it really feels like he's a nervous nelley with Jacks. I get the visit from monkey man, and all of a sudden I raise all-in. Folded to UTG and he calls and turns over JJ.
I know if my mood had been a bit better I would have heeded my brain man observations and likely folded. I know, I know, TT is too good a hand to fold -- but my brain had a good read.
I find this happens in many of the bigger tournaments I play, and the cards don't cooperate in the first hour. I'm not usually in trouble, but I get the feeling like I've got a long road to walk and the sun keeps getting hotter and making it harder to walk. I just want to stop and get a cool drink and forget about the walk.
So, how do others control their mood? Music? Zen activities? Playing naked --well that might not work in a casino.
I'm itching to play, but get nothing to play. A few minor skirmishes and I'm even over the first forty minutes. So, I'm starting to feel like the train has left the station and I haven't hopped on. I'm staying sharp by observing and putting other players on hands and keeping an eye out for opportunities. The first one comes knocking when T800 aggressive SB goes all-in and I'm in the BB with JJ. I'm put him on a steal (one early limper in the pot) as he has a dwinding stack and doesn't mind a race -- I can just tell. I quickly raise all-in to isolate and take advantage. He turns over A4o and I'm thinking this is much better than I expected. He hits the ace on the turn and I'm now down to T1700.
It's still in the first hour, so I know it's not a bad situation. But my mood has gone way down. I catch an early raiser/bluffer with 99 and get to T3000 a few hands later, but my mood is still down.
I made it to the third hour on a short stack, but in decent shape to make a final run. But, I never really get out of this funk. My mind begins to wander and I'm less focused when I get a visit from Monkey Man. UTG makes an odd raise of 4.5 times the BB, and everyone folds to me on the button with TT. I think, hmmm.. that's an odd raise from this guy, he almost wants to make it look bigger than it is and it really feels like he's a nervous nelley with Jacks. I get the visit from monkey man, and all of a sudden I raise all-in. Folded to UTG and he calls and turns over JJ.
I know if my mood had been a bit better I would have heeded my brain man observations and likely folded. I know, I know, TT is too good a hand to fold -- but my brain had a good read.
I find this happens in many of the bigger tournaments I play, and the cards don't cooperate in the first hour. I'm not usually in trouble, but I get the feeling like I've got a long road to walk and the sun keeps getting hotter and making it harder to walk. I just want to stop and get a cool drink and forget about the walk.
So, how do others control their mood? Music? Zen activities? Playing naked --well that might not work in a casino.
Comments
Also, I surf the web, check my email, watch TV, and talk to my girlfriend and other players at the table.
Regards,
all_aces
I noticed a poster at one of the casinos that read "gambling problem call this number 1800*******". So I gave them a call and explained my problem I have with a big stack........they hung up in my ear. So yeah if anyone can help me out also that would be great.
Wader
Little poker humour in the second paragraph, no offence to anyone.
Thanks for the repsonse Aces. It's a weird time/space continum for me. It was like when I was playing hockey, and I didn't get the puck, and didn't get a chance at making a nice hit -- the game felt like it was taking forever. So, three hours feels like a long time.
Hard to describe. But I was just in a funk. It started to set in, when I was treading water, and the pack was starting to move away. My preference is to exploit spots where I'm a big favourite -- like my JJ hand. I seem to find allot of these spots when I'm playing in the qualifiers -- mostly because I'm playing bad players. So, there are way fewer spots to exploit in the Sunday tourney -- so it feels like things are taking longer. When I lost that hand, I just got deeper into the funk. I still played well, but my mood just wasn't there.
I'm starting to think this might be an experience thing. Through experience you're confident you can overcome the bad beats, a bad run of cards and also realize that sometimes it's just not your night. I realized this as I was playing some limit later -- I took a huge 20BB loss in the first forty hands at the Party Bad Beat tables. I was unfazed as I picked up some huge weaknessess to exploit, and I knew the odds would even things out. Before I knew it I was up 10BB. Experience seems to teach patience. So, maybe it's just spending some time in the trenches.
I'll do this in regular tournaments, but anything over $100 gets my full attention. I find I lose allot of key hands because I'm missing that edge (information) when playing better opponents.
Thanks for your thoughts!
A good example of this was the $33R WPT Sat I played in yesterday. I won the chip in a $3 Sat earlier in the day. Since the $33R was a rebuy, I figured it would be carnage for the first hour, and that I should lay low. I wasn't there to spend my own money. Didn't take the add-on either. It was a frenzy of stupidity as usual. Some of it was mine, until I put on the brakes. lol I was down to T$550 at the first break.
This will give you an idea of how much I "actually" played during that tourney. Some people, as they lose a few hands in a row, get overwhelmed. Their memory tells them "this guy was all over me, or he always did this, or that." Some newer members might think I was very aggressive to get as far as second place in that first season 2 tourney. (I won't even mention the last hand again. lmao) Actually it was just the illusion of aggression. Shifting gears back and forth. Speed up, slow down, etc. Playing the "A" game. All it takes is patience, guile, some good cards, and a little BS. lol So just how aggressive was I in the season opener?
256 hands played and saw flop:
- 24 times out of 56 while in small blind (42%)
- 25 times out of 54 while in big blind (46%)
- 10 times out of 146 in other positions (6%) <Threw away quite a few marginal hands
- a total of 59 times out of 256 (23%)
Pots won at showdown - 11 out of 15 (73%)
Pots won without showdown - 44
(lost 4 pots out of 59 total)
So what this means is that I WATCHED 197 other hands played. It is tough to keep focus sometimes, but use whatever works for you.
Thanks for your encouragement. My total flops seen during these big tournaments is around 16% until it gets to the late stages. Most likely because of more aggressive players and me folding more often in the BB. Also, I see far fewer hands out of the small blind -- about half as you.
As people have "poked" at this, I think I'm getting a clearer picture. It's not the number of hands I play that got me into the funk. And it's not a concentration thing. I'm 100% fully engaged in the tournament and I'm assessing players, putting them on hands and thinking what they should do in certain situations. I find that fun and engaging, especially when I'm playing against good players. I also check on the "pros" and how they're doing. Quite often they'll have a stack size similiar to mine, so I find that comforting. I aslo look for "hints" from the pros & good players I've observed, to figure out how they get to the next level. So, I'm fully occupied.
I think it's my mood in general that affects my play, and makes me concentrate on all the negative aspects of my situation. I start seeing the average stack size getting bigger than mine, and I realize I'll have to make some key plays soon. I then get pissed off that I couldn't play that "flyer" out of the big blind because some bozo raised in early position and the button called. Even though the flop missed and I save some big bets, I still wanted to play that hand! Then I notice a key mistake being made, and I wish I was in the hand to captitalize. When I hit my set I don't get paid off big enough. I'm focusing on the negatives, rather than the really good plays I made, like catching that early raiser on a bluff, or bluffing in position on a really weak early bet to a weak-tight player.
I then begin self-destructive behaviour. It's Monkey Man time. Brain man tells me that early position raiser had JJ and I'm on the button with TT, but Monkey Man has been nagging Brain man with negativity all day, and now's his chance to take over. Raise-All-IN. IGHN.
I've been able to spot the self-destructive behaviour in my limit game. But it took a long time, and allot of experience. Mostly running my bankroll down to 0, and having to build it up again. The problem with no-limit is the raise-all-in is a killer.
Thanks for indulging me!
Cheers
Magi
LMAO
I was caught in my funk and forgot to repsond to your post. LMAO too!
I hear you on the big stack thing. My funk carried over from Sunday's tournament to Monday! Playing in a WPT qualifier last night, I'm in third spot after the first break with T17K
The first sign I'm still in my funk, is that I forget to do the addon. Yes, 2K is not that much, but it's enough for a bluff!
I get 56o in the BB for a floppped straight on a board of 789 with two clubs. I bet the pot, and Button raises all in. Brain man starts to say, hey JT is a good limping hand...my thought process ends there..... and what do you know before I even have a chance, Monkey Man springs into action and calls.
It leaves me with T6K. Few levels later I build it up to T13K and look at AK in LP with three limpers. I raise 20% more than the pot, and Button makes the minimum raise, leaving him incredibly short stacked at 8BB. Brain man starts to think....hmmmm.... why would he make a minimum.....end of though process...Monkey Man raises all-in. Button turns over AA. IGHN.
Now, I'm thinking I need to call that hotline. Help...me....kill.....monkey...man! Wait that may be anohter hotline.
Cheers
Magi
sometimes i go to they gym before heading to the casino
not sure if that really helps...something about the andrenaline :spade:
And magi, we both did well to get that far tonite. You got game, so don't sweat it.
Example: Tonite at one point, I was in good chip position at about 40k. It was half the leader, and twice the average. (I love that) An hour later I was down to 20k. Then I got moved to another table with some LARGE stacks. So this 1 Large stack to my immediate left kept calling my steals, figuring I was desperate. Luckily beat him twice, an doubled back up to 40k again. It gets real hard to bluff when you have 20k, and a few at the table have over a 100k or more though. lol That's when luck decides who goes further. imho of course
Hey, why is it that we're allways in the late stages. It's because we're part of a great group here and we're Canadian! Always looking to learn.
I loved how you built that massive stack when I was at your table. You were able to sucker punch some suckers!! It was really nice seeing you do it. It didn't hurt that you had the nuts, but you need to extract everything when you do -- and you did.
I was in a different mood last night. Actually quite good. I too took a couple of hits, but recovered nicely. A little lack of concentration at the end, and I let go of a great opportunity to double up. I bailed on a blind steal, which I think I could have taken down by pushing all-in when I was around 20K. Same spot as you.
It was real funny when I thought I was going to make a Monkey Man play when I limped with the Jacks UTG. As I announced that to you at your table, I realized that if I was thinking that Monkey Man was going to visit, I already averted him -- after all I was still thinking!!! And, then I realized it was the player I had set up earlier when I limped my SB and he made a big raise which I folded. I find that a nice set up late, as it doesn't cost very much and it looks like you're a weak player. And, the aggressive player always remembers how they pushed you out of a pot with a crappy hand! So, I started to salivate when he made a big raise and everyone folded. Yes, I knew Monkey Man was gone and I was making a good play.
On a different note, I replayed the Sunday tournament in Pokertracker last night. I made some awesome plays, and I was still down on myself. I found the trigger. It was a hand where I had AJ in the BB. It was the second hour, and I called a small raise thinking I could make a great bluff if the flop came small, and a great value bet if I hit the Jack. The problem was that my opponent hit the set and I spend too many chips finding out he had the set. However, I was still smart enough to bail on my bluff at the river -- so I didn't sink the ship on a bluff. I know he had the set -- trust me.
What bothered me is that I was down on myself, even thought I was playing my B+/A game. Oh well, lets see what my coach thinks of my play. I'm sending him the hand history with my comments.
I had been way above average for most of the tourney and than when I came close to blinding out I hit the panic button (again) and blew my stack.
Wader
Oh, that seductive lure of cards that at one point in the tournament were gold and now it's midnight and the fairy godmother turned them back into a pumpkin. I keep telling myself Poker is about experience and I got some good experience there!! Great showing though -- it takes some good play to get that far.
Cheers
magi
I have experienced a lot of boredom lately. Hard not to.
I try to set a game plan for myself and try to stick to it..
most people who rush out to top 10 early never win.. multi tables are plain and simple a long battle.. You have to try and stay focused and stay on your game plan.. if you get card dead take notes, study players, try to keep your focus and keep your mind on the big picture...
TV's running in background , talking in msn/aim all these things affect your game and play..
Stay focused and work at your game... Everyone takes beats! Everyone has luck! The better players rise to the top because the focus and work at it... Studying opponents and plays, taking notes all keeps your head in it and helps long mtt's speed up.
And I noticed that too TS. Leader after first hour never finishes first. lol