Boredom while playing poker

ScottyZScottyZ
in General Poker Chat
Being bored while playing has recently come up in two different threads-- Dave Scharf wanting to play multiple SNG to combat boredom, and Paul 3221 bringing up the fact that he finds ring games more boring than SNG's.

Any thoughts?

How about a few quesitons to get it rolling.

1. (a) Are you often bored while you are playing? If so, is it because you are bored with the stakes you are playing? Because the pace of the game is simply too slow? Because there is a lack of interesting decision making required, i.e. the game you're in requires a rote "textbook" strategy?

(b) What exactly do you find fun/exciting/interesting about playing poker? What exactly do you find tedious/boring about poker?

2. More boring: Ring games, or tournaments?

3. More boring: Playing with friends, or playing with strangers?

4. More boring: Playing against skilled opponents, or poor opponents?

5. More boring: Playing or watching?

6. More boring: Limit or No-limit?

7. More boring: B&M or Online?

8. Is being bored and/or unemotional simply a natural extension of the "poker face"?

I can't really offer any answers, since I would say that I'm rarely bored playing poker. On some level, I find this concept incredibly *sad*.

So, if you'd like to give it a more positive spin, just change the wording from "boring" to "interesting". It's basically the same idea that way anyway, since most of the questions are relative. :cool:

ScottyZ

Comments

  • ChugsChugs
    answering your questions

    1. I'm bored if only playing one game, unless it is the later rounds of a tournament. Even then only really if i'm short-stacked, since with a chip lead i need to try to control myself and not play ... thus resulting in boredom.

    2. i find ring games more boring

    3. strangers is more boring, since against people you know there is a special feeling in picking up weaknesses in their game, you're playing the person also

    4. actually i really enjoy playing against bad players, not because i win as well as i should against them, but for the unpredictablility. i really need to try to figure out what game they are playing, since it isn't text book poker. still the challenge of matching wits with a master is something special

    5. i find watching can be quite exciting if you are entirely out of the action ... ie not even at the table, but boring if i'm in the game.

    6. boring is limit

    7. boring is online

    So looking at all the q&a i should be playing in:

    a NL B&M Tournament with a mixture of good and bad players who i know, and should be involved in as many hands as possible
  • TilterTilter
    1. I watch a movie while I play to overcome the partial boredom (but once I get deep, I get more interested).

    2. Ring Games more boring

    3. Playing with strangers more boring, I want to be able to smack talk and boast :D

    4. Playing skilled oponents (possibly), cuz I like EZ money

    5. Wow, this is tought I like to watch a good game (Ie WSOP, WCOOP), but I enjoy poker so much, so neither are boring

    6. Wow, I like Limit (more attention) and NL (more action, less playing), neither boring

    7. Online more boring, B&M All the way

    8. me no good @ English!
  • garrogarro
    1. (a) Yes and No. Basically I find it hard to keep my interest up when I am running card dead. However at that point I switch into note taking mode. Making notes about what my opponents are doing, what they play, how they bet. This helps to keep my interest level up.

    1. (b) I find everything about Poker exciting, the bets, the hard folds, the bad calls, everything. The only tedious thing is that I have to get up and go to the bathroom every couple of hours. ;)

    2. RIng games for me.

    3. N/A both have different things to offer.

    4. Skilled, mostly because you don't have the craziness of a poor player thinking UTG that his K7 suited is a fantastic hand. With skilled opponents the amount of action slows, but man when the hands come, and both player go hard it becomes really exciting.

    5. Watching slightly. However to help relive the lagging moments, I often am playing one of my poker recording via Media player while I play online. Nothing like watching poker while playing poker.

    6. Limit for me, but not by much

    7. Online, mostly because it is harder to get the sense of isolation out of my head. (Thanks to pokerforum.ca that is no longer a problem).

    8. I don't think so

    Just as a final note.

    When you are running bad and losing it is hard to keep interest in the game. When you are up and winning, of course it's more interesting because you are winning, you have a great sense of accomplishment. It is harder to keep that feeling when you have lost money 5 nights in a row. At this point I usually take some time off, read a good book, spend time with the family (maybe heal some bridges since I have been grumpy because of losing money).
  • IronIron
    1. (a) Are you often bored while you are playing? If so, is it because you are bored with the stakes you are playing? Because the pace of the game is simply too slow? Because there is a lack of interesting decision making required, i.e. the game you're in requires a rote "textbook" strategy?

    No. I wouldn't play if I was often bored. I did go through a stage where I was bored a lot, trying to increase my bankroll at micro limits. The pace of the game was very slow, and the best approach was to stick to a almost robotic textbook strategy. Eventually I became very impatient. I took a week off and started mixing up the games I was playing, by playing more NL sng's.

    (b) What exactly do you find fun/exciting/interesting about playing poker? What exactly do you find tedious/boring about poker?

    Fun/exciting/interesting - putting people on a hand. Reading them based on their betting patterns, or even better reading them based on their physical expressions. Sneaking peaks at people when they first look at their cards... the DECEPTION involved in bluffing, or of trying to appear weak when you have the nuts. The analysis of the game... figuring out what I did wrong and how to plug the leaks in my game. The rush when a flop hits you heavily, especially when you know your opponent has a hand they can't lay down.

    Tedious/boring - micro low limit when the players are slow and the best way to win is by sticking to a very set textbook strategy, most chatting at the low levels, did I say slow players.... zzzzzzzzz. Trying to find a good table unsuccessfully, finding one and then having everyone leave within a few minutes.

    2. More boring: Ring games, or tournament

    Live games are all exciting to me. Online the slow speed of some of the ring games can get to me. Tournaments are more exciting as far as the online options go.

    3. More boring: Playing with friends, or playing with strangers?

    Wow, hard choice. Neither is boring.

    4. More boring: Playing against skilled opponents, or poor opponents?

    Don't get me wrong, I like poor opponents, but sometimes it can make the game a little more boring (especially online).

    5. More boring: Playing or watching?

    Watching... but that can still be fun as long as the players are worth watching.

    6. More boring: Limit or No-limit?

    Live it's all great. I find NL a little more exciting, especially online. Micro limit online when you are putting in hours to up the bankroll a bit can be a bit tedious.

    7. More boring: B&M or Online?

    Online.

    8. Is being bored and/or unemotional simply a natural extension of the "poker face"?

    I started anwering this and it was going to look like an essay so I'll try to put it in only a few words. I'm definitely not bored when I'm in "poker face" mode, and the poker face doesn't cause me to be bored. Some of the tricks I use to maintain a poker face help me flatten out some of the automatic emotional responses. It doesn't really change how I feel inside at the deepest level though. I don't know if I'm getting across what I'm trying to say very well.
  • JayJay
    1. (a) Are you often bored while you are playing? If so, is it because you are bored with the stakes you are playing? Because the pace of the game is simply too slow? Because there is a lack of interesting decision making required, i.e. the game you're in requires a rote "textbook" strategy?
    -I'm fine with the limit I play at, I don't find it too boring

    (b) What exactly do you find fun/exciting/interesting about playing poker? What exactly do you find tedious/boring about poker?
    -I love the money and the competition in poker
    -I guess if I'm not in a hand, I get bored

    2. More boring: Ring games, or tournaments?
    -ring games, I find tournaments to be more exciting and I'm sure others do as well

    3. More boring: Playing with friends, or playing with strangers?
    -playing with strangers, it's easier to crack jokes with friends and stuff

    4. More boring: Playing against skilled opponents, or poor opponents?
    -poor opponents, I prefer a challenge more often than not

    5. More boring: Playing or watching?
    -hard one but watching, I just want to be in the game

    6. More boring: Limit or No-limit?
    -limit

    7. More boring: B&M or Online?
    -online

    8. Is being bored and/or unemotional simply a natural extension of the "poker face"?
    -I don't think so
  • DJPDJP
    I like online for convenience. (many ways) TV always on too. Helps with slow games. Live is more tactile though. Reads are more of a factor. Dealing with the general public can be a pain at times though. (Spoken like a true public servant, lmao) This one guy kept sitting sideways cuz he was chunky. lol And I hate being crowded. lol

    But I did learn to shuffle chips a bit now. lol So I better go enter next B+M and pretend I'm good. lol :)
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