how much do you play?
i'm curious as to how many hands (for cash games players) or tournaments (for MTT players) people play per week.
i know some are just recreational players and some are pretty serious. please state your seriousness of play along with your total hands/tournaments per week. i'm mostly wondering how much some of the more serious players play. are we talking about 100s of tournaments a week? for cash games, thousands of hands? tens of thousands?
i know some are just recreational players and some are pretty serious. please state your seriousness of play along with your total hands/tournaments per week. i'm mostly wondering how much some of the more serious players play. are we talking about 100s of tournaments a week? for cash games, thousands of hands? tens of thousands?
Comments
Edit: also one time i tried to 3bet bluff my stationary bike.
Must've sucked when you realised it wasn't going anywhere...
Just because its easy to misinterpret the answers you will get in this thread....
Great question though I think
a hell of a lot more. in august while i was off of work i played in 84 MMTs. i know that isn't much. that was a lot for me though. probably the most i've ever played in one month. i'd like to play more than that for sure, but while at work i do not have the time.
fuck no. but no choice atm.
For example, I went for volume rather than learning (10k or so games in a few months), and then one thing V had me do was start 1 tabling and take notes on every single player and every single hand. Its not as glamorous but you can't not get good even though you wouldn't play much.
That might not be for you either, but everyone can benefit from talking about optimizing your game choice and playing/studying schedule.
Never bluff a stationary bike . . . they're solid.
Seems like a lot considering I tell ppl that I don't play at all anymore.
450 hrs ytd
so 50hrs per month avg
73 hrs so far this month in a wcoop month
Certain times when I was on a downswing I really shut down my playing and studied.
For the first part of this year I played 1-4 tables mostly and took mass notes. Here and there I go back to that.
I'm pretty much back playing 24 tables, I get up at around 7 and play till around 2 or 3pm. I'll play 4-7 days a week. I'm more relaxed about the schedule, enjoying it.
I try and studying something about the game once every night if I'm home (30mins maybe)
Once I'm established in the $8 and $15 and $3r 180 mans for a couple months I'm gonna learn how to stack and play 50 tables. Just for shitz though.
Now that I'm moving up I won't have to play as much, but I probably will.
I was crushing the micros last year, did really poor most of this year, but I seem to be doing better lately.
honestly, i'm not sure if i have enough games/hands/hours under my belt to properly gauge my skill level.
here are my stats from sharkscope:
Stars
Games: 1273
Av. Profit: $0.42
Av. Stake: $3.19
Av. ROI: 11.5%
Profit: $534
Party
Games: 269
Av. Profit: $0.44
Av. Stake: $4.25
Av. ROI: 14.9%
Profit: $119
these stats go back to 2007. so approximately 250 games a year on average. i did manage to play around 250 this summer, but i'd really like to increase my volume. it's just tough when i'm at work because i don't have time and i'm tired and not able to focus as well. i'm already slacking in my 500 $3.50 sng challenge (but that is no surprise).
i can only really hit the MTTs on the weekends though and i'm not the greatest at multi-tabling a lot of tables at once. i can handle probably four at most really, and any more i start making poor decisions i find.
i guess i should have also added the question about how many tables do you online guys play at once.
EDIT: and i'm not saying that i want to become a pro but i wouldn't mind being able to make some decent money on the side part time.
Now that I have been focusing on mtts, I only play like 6 at a time or so, so volume is less. This year im at 900 games (Feb - Sept) so roughly 8 months = 110 per mth. Thats playing mostly weekends since its kinda hard to play mtts after 7pm and still be alive for 6am everyday.
Don't ask about profit....
Its a good question too. I'd prob recommend no more than 4-6 until a person gets a really solid handle on the game. More table just means we do more of the same, we play our B or C game instead of our A game. And learning while playing kinda stops.
Out of all that, this is the only real part that is useful in answer such questions. We could get more in depth with what to play and how and when, but I think if you concentrated more on improving your game and using playing time to test and apply what you've learned you'll show a long track record of profit. It might take a year or two but if you can move up in stakes (because of skill not because of taking a shot) then eventually poker can become a worthwhile hobby because of probability.
Also once you know your own game really well, its easy to make accurate changes. Kinda like golf, you don't want to reinvent your swing, but maybe a pro wants you to just widen your stance a tad. A little adjustment like that might take weeks to get the hang of but you'll drop your golf score slightly and it will be noticeable (because you only changed the one thing).
Also single tabling and taking notes is prob the best way you can dramatically and rapidly improve your game. Even if you have to go back and read the hand history and you miss the hands in real time. Understanding what people do and why and when is huge when trying to piece the game together as a whole.
Also find your biggest leak!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reebs you might wanna play some smaller games?
Another good suggestion for mtt players is to play capped tourneys to even out the variance. So play $5 1000 max players tourneys, or 500max even. This help variance which helps tilt which helps roi%.
Have to weigh out options to do what tilts you the least too.
Also there weren't any planes and thats gotta mess a guy up too.
i would love to hear some suggestions or places to look for plugging one's leaks. i've read a couple articles about how to use pokertracker's filter to check for general leaks in one's game but all of it has been for cash games.
i'd appreciate if someone could give me some suggestions on what to look for specifically for MTTs.
also, like we've mentioned, i don't have a big sample size so i'm not too sure how much stock i can put in using my stats to find leaks. however, i'm sure it's still a worth while venture.
EDIT: and i really have to work on taking more notes. i know i don't take enough.
So finding leaks largely has a different meaning in tournaments.
My suggestion is you shouldn't exactly look for it yourself. Later you can start to do that, but you'll generally always have to bounce ideas off other players. I'd suggest posting hands too, but you have to remember as students of the game we don't always know what hands we should post.
Also getting a coach to review a whole hand history is very enlightening. Kind of a you don't know how much you don't know thing. If you get a good coach obv. I find the videos that are out very meh, there are great vids but 90% are just shit. They don't teach they just review hands and talk about them, every so often you'll here something that helps you.
Another thing that one can do if they are serious is 'ghost', using a screen share program you can watch another player play and talk to them or they can watch you. Its a little strange, kinda future tech thing, but its incredibly helpful.
I'll review anyone hand history for them, doesn't mean so much because I'm not a crazy winning player this year but ive studied the game pretty intently and worked with some stellar players.
For stats you need a sample size. Thats more cash. For mtt, its my job, for example, to see a piece of a players strategy and assess him as quickly as possible, find his leaks, and make assumptions on the rest of his game. So for me or someone who is better they don't need to see a lot of hands to find your bigger leaks.
I should reiterate to anyone reading that becoming aware of a leak is like the best feeling in the world.
This is one way you can teach yourself the game. It makes you think about what your opponents are doing and how you should counter it. And it forces you to think about the game in a different way.
I went from 24 tabling to 1 and taking notes every hand and my progress with the game was mind blowing.
Anyways hopefully you see you can have realistic goals without playing full time. Just remember if you eventually move up in stakes even if 2 years from now, you 'hobby' can net you like 20-30k+ a year
But you have to not only love the game, you have to love learning about the game. (which we do when its working for us)
i really think if i got a coach who was willing to sit down with me and let me shadow their game so i could just hear their line of thought and concepts they consider, it would help me immensely. also, if they were willing to sit with me while i play and i discuss what i'm thinking while playing it would help a lot.
the main reason i haven't done this is 1) i would like someone i know is a good player and not just some guy who says he's awesome, and 2) this costs money (i'm assuming no good players are willing to help me for free).
in all honesty, i have zero friends who take poker seriously so i have absolutely no one to discuss hands and strategy with on a constant basis. i know i can post here but i think i'd learn a lot more if i could sit down with someone for a while and pick their brain.
EDIT: i am pretty obsessed with poker (just ask the gf