Online poker is so boring
Written by Ben on August 16th, 2005
I find myself struggling to concentrate when I’m playing online poker (in fact I’m writing this as I play a sit ‘n’ go…). Poker, as you know, is a game that requires a significant amount of concentration if you want to play your best. I do very well in live games because I can focus on the players and I can’t do anything else, except maybe sleep or day dream.
When I’m at my computer I have email, instant messages, news updates, and dozens of other distractions. I hear dings and dongs every few minutes alerting me to something I need to look at. Obviously this makes it pretty difficult to concentrate on the game I’m playing and the money I’m probably losing.
I’ve found that the best way for me to concentrate on poker is to play 2-3 tables at a time with all the other applications on my computer closed. This means no web browser, no email, no instant messages. I keep one application open: iTunes. I put on my noise-cancelling headphones and listen to my music while focusing on the game. When there is a hand I’m not involved in and not interested in watching, I just listen to my music and get ready to play the next hand the best I can.
I have dedicated myself to becoming a better poker player and this means focusing as much as possible. I’d prefer to play in live games, but that’s not always possible and online poker is a great tool for seeing thousands of hands in a relatively short time span. So I need to learn to focus on the game and not get distracted by everything else on my computer.
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1 Comment to “Online poker is so boring”
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Fittsy
August 16th, 2005 at 2:06 pm
Another great tip.
I find myself doing too much while I’m playing. Especially if I am only playing in one tournament or SNG at a time. I find I end up doing all sorts of things. Playing another game, talking to friends, writing blog entries, developing web sites, even sometimes cooking in the kitchen! I’ll put the laptop on the bar while I’m making dinner.
Whats funnier is when I’m playing against weaker opponents I’m usually screwing around. Especially if there isn’t a lot of money on the line.
However when there is money involved or the game is important and I focus, I usually play better. I can almost always make the money if I simply focus on what I’m doing.
So I have to make a concerted effort to pay attention to my game and spend less time doing other things. Maybe playing 3 or 4 at a time would work. I have my monitor set to 1280 x 1024 so I think I could fit 3 or maybe even 4 on the screen at once? :) Or am I overdoing it?
- Fittsy