So I just finished off a nice profitable session and I am now sitting here and I said wait, why am I not still playing? I am playing well and wide awake thanks to some vanilla chai (I'm not gay). The tables were juicy. I feel almost ashamed that I got up and left such a profitable situation.

What is everyones theory here?

I refuse to do a loss or win limit, that's crazy.

Should I just say "I am going to play 3 hours win, lose, or draw and then get up." That seems like a nice disciplined way to approach it but is certainly not the best EV. If you're playing poorly or the games aren't as good why play the full 3 hours? If the games are juicy and you're playing well, why not put in a little extra time now so you don't have to try so hard when you can't find such good games.

So with that I find I should play it by ear, but I find myself cutting my sessions too short and just flat out not playing enough that way. I live with my Dad right now but within the year I'll be getting my own place so my monthly nut is gonna go up so I'd really like to get myself playing more respectable hours.

Xas, I know what you mean about playing set hours being occasionally -EV (like maybe after the first 2 of the 3 hours you realize you aren't focused enough to be playing good poker...or conversely, 3 hours is up but your at great tables so you don't wanna leave). But I think in the longrun, you'd be well-served to take some occasional slight -EV by setting yourself on a shedule and playing through even if you aren't playing your best. Yeah, in the short-term you're givin up a bit of profit. But overall I think it'll boost your stamina and discipline so that in the future, you don't have to worry about losing focus halfway through one of your (EXTREMELY PUNY) 3-hour sessions

-TW

i'm one of the last people to give advice on this because except for maybe Kenny, I'm the laziest pro/semi-pro here. I'm having a record month and I only put in a little over 50 hours this month. That's pathetic. Of course, I've been multitabling more than I used to as I'm up to 8 tables now but that doesn't really affect the time I put in as I play til I lose focus or interest which rarely lasts more than 3 hours. I had one session this entire month of over 5 hours. I just play when I feel like really play but I think you just have to put in some time when you know its good.

For example, that 5 hour session, I was up nearly $300 which is nothing to you but I was playing $25 tables so this was a monster session so I kept playing since i had monster stacks on all my tables. I think you just have to think before you end the session "should i play a little longer?" If you really think you should, put in more time. You could try sitting out and breaking for 15 minutes. Get yourself refocused and play again.

Yeah, it's about 2-3 hour sessions for me, I play two 100NL 6max tables and by then a few of my opponents have noticed I'm playing tighter than them and giving me less action. The 1/2 limit game I play as long as I'm at the computer but thats 10 handed so it's an exercise in folding somewhat.

I probably play about 3 sessions a day, usually six days a week, don;t need to play that much but I live in the middle of the countryside and I get restless after a couple of hours of watching TV, playing pool or videogames.

Molina