Relaxing during Poker

[InTuition]

Hey Guys,

I have recently started playing for a living and am doing nicely.  However, when I'm playing (especially when I'm playing the longer sessions) I feel pretty stressed.  Afterwards I feel tense and can be a little tricky to sleep, especially when I've had a big final table and adrenaline rush.  I was hoping someone could advise me on techniques they use to keep themselves from getting too stressed?  I do everything I possibly can:soothing music, herbal tea (ok I'm hetro but it works!!), fresh air during breaks and also something else which is too rude to mention (for all the jokers I do it by myself and there no animals involved!!). Your help would be appreciated. Cheers poker beasts, and good luck at the tables (but not against me).

Neil

[Josh]

Get absolutely liquored after you've finished the session.
Or read a good book, and unwind...keep reading 'til you feel the book fall out your hands and you'll sleep no worries.

[The Baron]

Dont let poker be the last thing you do before bed. Watch a film, read a book, surf the net - whatever really, just dont go to bed thinking of hands etc. Let it go.

[Sark79]

I feel so calm during poker.  I am actually abit of a dweeb and conducted an experiment. I wore a heart rate monitor during various daily tasks. They included watching TV, shopping, waiting at the optician, attending Uni lecture and playing poker. Of all these, when I played poker it was the lowest all day. While at Uni it was heart attack rates.


Of course you are in a very different position to alot of other players. You play for a living. That must be added stress in itself. I have a CD that has Dolphins and Ocean Waves. I play this sometimes while playing, it is great for concentration as it shuts out the outside world for 60 minutes. My only thoughts are poker and waves. Kind of like a submariner poker player  

I also drink a cup of hot water. This is really calming. I saw Ronnie O'Sullivan doing it . I thought he was insane and that it would be horrible. I did a google search and read the benifits of this. Try it, if you are like me you will feel calm after it.


I agree with Baron. I always have a luke warm shower after my session finnishes. I imagine all the negative things that have happened during the game are being washed away.

[londonpokergirl]

ipod works for me, or a soothing bath

[bundle]

Try knocking another one out, you will be out like a light.


Sark i'm worried about you man!

[londonpokergirl]

Try knocking another one out, you will be out like a light.


Sark i'm worried about you man!

 

[rivered]

Try knocking another one out, you will be out like a light.


Sark i'm worried about you man!

Love it... and so true!!  add that to Sark's wave music and you could be the next Dalai Lama

Good luck buddy. 

[the bus]

Is an understandable consequence of playing for a living that you're going to be a little more stressed. It's natural, as your results have far greater personal significance.

I find it helps to change the way you approach the game. Put the "professional" back into professional poker player. Your work area should clear of yesterdays kit kat wrappers,empty coke cans and any moldy bread lying around from the day before. Basically, a tidy desk actually helps a tidy mind. Similarly, it helps to get showered and dressed (as if you had a real job), rather than roll out of bed and play in your dressing gown. It all helps you get into the right frame of mind.

Also it can help setting yourself targets for volume of play, rather than actual results. You can't control what cards are going to fal, but you can control how many hours you put in.

I advocate that one strives to keep a ceratain emotional distance from both positive, and in turn negative results. Ideally you want to get to a place where you don't think..

"Great, I won $1,000"

or...

"Grrrr, I lost $1,000"

rather...

"Woohoo, I put in 10 hours and played really well"

Mucho mucho easier said than done this one. What's helping me at the moment is evey time I lose a big pot to the wrong river card, I see it as an oppurtunity to show off to my desk stationary (or any, bored out of her mind, lady friend sitting next to me) how completely unphazed I am. It requires a deliberate effort, but it gets easier the more you try.

Eventually I'd ike to get to a place where I could lose the biggest pot in the history of the world to a 1 outer and not bat an eyelid.

What other peeps say about winding down is great for post session too. Just as you shouldn't roll straight out of bed and play, you shouldn't go straight from playing to pillow.

[smithy69]

sark with regards to the water - you are half true. It does have calming features, but the main reason ronnie had it was to keep his hands warm between not being at the table as the snooker theatre was cold.

[the bus]

I wonder sometimes what's the craziest most nonsensical thing people would do if they saw a celebrity doing it first.

[bolt pp]

brandy

[stallyon]

Kind of like a submariner poker player  

only with more fish 

[Sark79]

lol.  I worry about me as well, bundle