What do you do while you play poker?!

I can't do one thing for hours I have to constantly be interesting or else I start making bad calls, I watch comedians on youtube. Laughing makes me focused and well nothing better to do

i raise.

Drink guinness and smoke a ciggy to keep the bad beats at bay

there is already a thread on this in the palyers lounge called bad habits while playing poker

turn tv off, lock door and unhook the phone, i need complete quiet to concentrate,, buck

I can almost always get a very good start in a tourny.I usually get hungry,sleepy or just tired during a long tourny.This is alot bigger problem than cards ever will be.So I watch tv,even took a small (30 min)nap in yesterdays fulltilt 350 cardschat freeroll!!!..and i got sleepy again or i woulda went farther..placed 11th...shoulda took another nap.!!

Now thats not something i could do. I have to make sure i see all of my hole cards. Can't afford to miss a big hand

The things I do during play really depends on my mood.
Sometimes I go on my instant messenger and talk past hands with friends during one of my tournaments, and maybe things I should have done. Other times I want to stay concentrated and play in complete silence without any distractions.

For the most part I talk to friends about my game, listen to some alternative music, and if I feel like it, the rap music.

Like someone said earlier I also like to watch comedians, but it is much harder to watch youtube videos while playing, so normally I just listen to them unless they are a visual comedian.

It is important in poker to stay completely focused but when you are sitting at a computer with instant messengers, web browsers, and other things, it is hard to keep that complete focus, but sometimes that helps people.

By the way when I do listen to the rap music, I crank the volume and bass on my computer sound system, my house shakes.

I bet the neighbours love you.

I usually read CC between hands. I`m in a tourney right now.

Good things I do while playing:

1.Concentrate on every little detail of the game.

2.Shuffle poker chips to help with boredom.

3.Drink a few drinks(up to six)to loosen up.

4.Play in very low-stakes games after my 6 drink limit.

Bad things I do while playing:

1.Not focus on the game completely.

2.Not stop drinking after 6 drinks(which happens every time BTW).

3.Play at my normal stakes games while seeing 2 monitors(I have only 1,ya see?)

How is drinking while playing a good thing?

You mean, talk to ME about the stupid mistakes you make

Not saying it is good for everyone.I seem to lack the ability to stay focused while sober.A few drinks get me more involved in the game.If I get a good read I have the balls(liquid as they may be) to act on it.

Even if I can't play better while drinking,I sure do feel like I can.

2 more reasons while I am buzzed:

PokerStars Game #13935021919: Tournament #70734022, $3.00+$0.25 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2007/12/18 - 00:50:26 (ET)
Table '70734022 1' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: LPIESIARANO (1730 in chips)
Seat 2: White_Dwarf1 (1150 in chips)
Seat 3: Hukster777 (1620 in chips)
Seat 4: Det_Jimmy (1470 in chips)
Seat 5: LVmissvicki (1650 in chips)
Seat 6: RCOLIN (1380 in chips)
LVmissvicki: posts small blind 10
RCOLIN: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Det_Jimmy [8h 8d]
LPIESIARANO: folds
White_Dwarf1: calls 20
Hukster777: calls 20
Det_Jimmy: raises 130 to 150
LVmissvicki: folds
RCOLIN: folds
White_Dwarf1: calls 130
Hukster777: calls 130
*** FLOP *** [2c 9h 5c]
White_Dwarf1: checks
Hukster777: checks
Det_Jimmy: bets 350
White_Dwarf1: folds
Hukster777: calls 350
*** TURN *** [2c 9h 5c] Q♦
Hukster777: checks
Det_Jimmy: checks
*** RIVER *** [2c 9h 5c Qd] 3♠
Hukster777: checks
Det_Jimmy: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hukster777: shows [5d 6c] (a pair of Fives)
Det_Jimmy: shows [8h 8d] (a pair of Eights)
Det_Jimmy collected 1180 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1180 | Rake 0
Board [2c 9h 5c Qd 3s]
Seat 1: LPIESIARANO folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: White_Dwarf1 folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Hukster777 showed [5d 6c] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 4: Det_Jimmy (button) showed [8h 8d] and won (1180) with a pair of Eights
Seat 5: LVmissvicki (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: RCOLIN (big blind) folded before Flop

PokerStars Game #13935032254: Tournament #70734022, $3.00+$0.25 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2007/12/18 - 00:51:10 (ET)
Table '70734022 1' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: LPIESIARANO (1730 in chips)
Seat 2: White_Dwarf1 (1000 in chips)
Seat 3: Hukster777 (1120 in chips)
Seat 4: Det_Jimmy (2150 in chips)
Seat 5: LVmissvicki (1640 in chips)
Seat 6: RCOLIN (1360 in chips)
RCOLIN: posts small blind 10
LPIESIARANO: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Det_Jimmy [Th Tc]
White_Dwarf1: folds
Hukster777: calls 20
Det_Jimmy: raises 180 to 200
LVmissvicki: folds
RCOLIN: folds
LPIESIARANO: calls 180
Hukster777: calls 180
*** FLOP *** [Qd 7c 8h]
LPIESIARANO: checks
Hukster777: checks
Det_Jimmy: bets 600
LPIESIARANO: folds
Hukster777: calls 600
*** TURN *** [Qd 7c 8h] A♣
Hukster777: checks
Det_Jimmy: bets 320
Hukster777: calls 320 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Qd 7c 8h Ac] 4♣
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hukster777: shows [Js Kc] (high card Ace)
Det_Jimmy: shows [Th Tc] (a pair of Tens)
Det_Jimmy collected 2450 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2450 | Rake 0
Board [Qd 7c 8h Ac 4c]
Seat 1: LPIESIARANO (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: White_Dwarf1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Hukster777 showed [Js Kc] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 4: Det_Jimmy showed [Th Tc] and won (2450) with a pair of Tens
Seat 5: LVmissvicki (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: RCOLIN (small blind) folded before Flop

This is while buzzed.I can't say what I would do sober,but probably no the same.Now of to increase my PokerStars BR.Thank you much

P.S.I did win it BTW

And this:

PokerStars Game #13935837627: Tournament #70737138, $3.00+$0.25 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2007/12/18 - 01:55:12 (ET)
Table '70737138 1' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: SkierExtreme (3530 in chips)
Seat 3: DAWGNU2 (2770 in chips)
Seat 6: Det_Jimmy (2700 in chips)
Det_Jimmy: posts small blind 50
SkierExtreme: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Det_Jimmy [7s Ac]
DAWGNU2: calls 100
Det_Jimmy: calls 50
SkierExtreme: checks
*** FLOP *** [Th 3d Jh]
Det_Jimmy: checks
SkierExtreme: bets 100
DAWGNU2: folds
Det_Jimmy: raises 300 to 400
SkierExtreme: folds
Det_Jimmy collected 500 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 500 | Rake 0
Board [Th 3d Jh]
Seat 1: SkierExtreme (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: DAWGNU2 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Det_Jimmy (small blind) collected (500)

BTW,I ended up winning 3 out of 4 6-max $3.40 SNG's and gotta 3rd in a 10 max.All in a 10 beer period.I went from $3.80 ro over $70 in less than a week.

I may be playing beyond my BR,but it's not like I'm not willing to risk more.Sober tomorrow I may be.I plan to play 4-$5.50 SNG's to boost up to normal,or drop back down.

Lesson being:Some people play better buzzed...If not.they get lucky(me,me,me).So don't try to tell me different.

BTW,I had good reads on these tables(or so I thought).

I either always have music or the tv on. For music usually metal, I just put one of my playlists on. If it's the tv I watch poker if it's on, otherwise I like watching movies, especially ones like fight club where it gets better everytime.

Also I play spider solitare on difficult, it's fun and a challenge, keeps you thinking though. I've won 28 and lost 500 for a 5% win rate.

And by the way, I seem to play better when I'm not completely sober. If possible, I'll smoke a bowl before a poker session. I think it depends on what kind of personality you have, for me it helps because I get irritated and tilt easily, but if I am high I am relaxed and I have never gone on tilt. I can still think clearly and make good decisions, I'm just more relaxed and thing are funny.

Hell yeah I watch fight club any chance I get whether it's poker related or not, it's kinda lame but I kinda like... listen to classical music and drink corona haha it puts me like in my "negreanu" mindset

I eat, drink, watch TV, listen to music, surf the net, manage my fantasy sports teams, answer emails, or whatever else is somehow doable while playing poker. (Not all at the same time, obviously.)

Note: I only play freerolls, for the most part. And rarely more than one at a time.

I used to to the same,I just quit a few months ago.Not that it affected my game or anything,I had to for other reasons.Smoking weed helped me stay focused(yes,believe it or not) and really helped with the bad beats.

I used to have a bad habit of visiting inappropriate sites when playing poker. NOT good for my game...

I used to time out so much and not even care, but now i actually remove the internet link from my mac dock thingie at the bottom so I cannot go on the internet.

i listen to rap and eat patater chips

Oh HELL YEAHHHH, what a film. When i was back in school, there was a kid in the year below who we used to call fight club, since he didnt really talk to anyone but would play darts against an imaginary person throwing imaginary darts at imaginary board, played imaginary table tennis, fought imagainary people. So he was just like the guy on fight club

He was amazing at maths though, so good he could even divide by zero

Eat :[
hehe poker is more like a distraction from the other things i'm doing (writing emails, stuff at work lol) not the other way round!

you're like my twin or something

i eat and listen to rocknroll. don't have that problem of tourneys being to long yet. i get knocked out too early for that.

i'll drink to that

This entire thread confuses me. I thought everyone watched porno while playing.

i sit out in low levels like on pokerstars playin 300 chip sngs i play 2 at a time sit out both and every 2 days i am up about 15k in play chips

KIDDING BTW, not a pervert

As I said in the bad habits thread, I play a lot of freecell, surf the internet, listen to music, or watch. Sometimes I do all four at one time. I guess I post on here on occasion too. I am in the CC Freeroll and the $1 MTT tourny on Bodog right now.

I believe you.

Right now I am all about the AIM free radio station Music City Christmas while I play. My favorite part about the holidays besides time off is the music.

read this forum.

so now i understand all the slow play , and i just thought you guys had a tough decision ,on every hand lol

Watch a movie mostly....sometimes eat lunch or dinner.....or just play poker...LOL