How do you stop yourself from playing too much?

Hey all,

It's been a long time since i've played online poker with any sort of consistancey. Last time I played was about June/July and at that point, I decided that I'd had enough. I found it to be a little too time consuming and to be honest, the thought of being one of those people who sits in front of a computer all day gambling kinda made me feel gross(no offense).

Being a college student with a shitload of money to pay for tution, books etc. I've been considering starting up again. However, I am slightly hesitant because I don't want to end up in the same pattern of turning to cards in my downtime.

With that being said, does anyone have any tips on how limit the amount you play? I was thinking maybe 2-3 SnG's a day or something, but even that seems excessive to me.

Thanks for any advice...

Two or three SnGs seems pretty reasonable. Or you can put a stop point on the number of hands you play.

I'm sure as a college student there are plenty of things you can find to do instead of poker...

it's really about discipline, you should develop the discipline to do what you have to do or not do what you shouldn't. Furthermore having discipline will also strengthen your poker game

I have the exact opposite problem. I'm too lazy and lack the discipline to actually put the hands in. I'm also in university and I know I could easily get 15000+ hands in a month but I never seem to do. I guess it mostly has to do with time management, and that I much rather go out and get drunk on Fridays and Saturdays than play poker.

I wish i knew how to get up and leave the table,or comp.
that is one of my weaknesses,is tat i will play for days straight.

Running out of money usually does the job for me.


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Some people set time limits for how long they play and set an alarm clock by their PC.

Other go by a set number of hands.

Some people go by a set number of tournaments etc etc....

Its all on personal preference, the way I stop myself, is once my mind starts wondering to emails etc, I know I am getting bored and its time to quit so I do.. This is good dicipline on my part (big head starting), and it can be hard to do....

Just remember playing poker online isnt gross, it is classed as cool in this day and age, I know someone who played for about 40 hours solid.... he regretted it and never done it again lol.

Just get some discipline and you will find your feet.

find a job!!!

play about 3 hours per day is enough just play a lot of tables at the same time

Set yourself a daily goal and limit. Also, poker can become a part of your life that is time consuming, but don't let it take over other things you want to do.

Anything in excess is not good.

Poker is no different than any other "vice" you might have.

Bottom line is discipline. Doesn't really matter what criteria you use, just decide on one and stick to it.

I don't even have a job yet, still have student thought nothing much I can do. Before & After school is only I can play Poker.
I'm only stop playing Poker whenever I'm tired of losing and got bad beats.

thats a hard one to call more hands you see the more experiance you receive. the big pro tournaments they play 12 hours a day for a week. play for fun a couple hours shouldnt hurt you

Still have this problem..I just can't get away because i feel like im bound to hit AA soon...but then i end up losing an extra 5-10 dollars in blinds by staying..so whats a good limit..Thanks
Ray
Good Post

its easier to stick with this live than online for me personally, but i prefer to say either X amount of hours or whenever i reach my profit goal( or not) for that session. when this happens, i make myself get up and leave, or log off, as the case may be. im not gonna try to tell you i succeed every time at walking away, but setting a monetary goal and time limit can help. the hard part can be making yourself stick by it. im not gonna say this is a quote exactly, but i recall jennifer harman saying something to the effect of there is always another game. think of poker as one long game. im sure i butchered that quote, but you get the idea i think. gl

I'm prefer playing Live poker with friends, it's even fun to talk or you getting yourself a mic and go in to Teamspeak 2 or Ventrilo :P

My biggest problem is knowing when to quit when I am running bad. It is easier to play when you running hot you have the feeling you can do no wrong. The cards are coming at you every hand and the other players just keep giving you their chips. I have found that for me is to just stop playing and starting a poker book or reread an old one to get my thoughts going back in the right frame of mind. I still get keep playing in small way by thinking about the game in different ways.

U need discipline to play poker... I think 3-4 hrs for day is rasonable. One tourney or cash tables. -
See u at the tables.

well Im with left52side...cant stop
even captzigzag is wrong, I run out of money, but theres too many freerolls
last time I stopped for any amount of time was last month when my comp was down-nice break but glad Im back

If I don't know when to stop my girlfriend surely does...

Limit urself, it is a very addictive game. Sometimes you just have to walk away and do something else and get your mind off it.

You really think 2-3 sng's a day is excessive I can't limit myself to 2-3 at one time. LOL

play cash games, more money and if you are good you can make a lot quicker then SNGs or MTTs

I am also a student and i find my biggest problem is playing when i should be studying. playing multiple tournaments at once and trying to cram for a biology test is near impossible just hard to put the computer down especially when your playing well.

play wen u feel u can play your best game,,,ie wen u are not tierd,,dont wanna play but do,,feel ill,or have had a few to many kegs,,,,stik to this method and wen u feel uve had enuff poker.just stop

I feel your pain, as soon as I get home from school Im on until I get so sleepy. I stopped about 5 years ago completely, it was very time consuming and I got nothing done. I guess limit yourself to a few sngs. If you win one play another, if you lose call it a night! Hope that helps...

ive been away 4 awhile and now just gettin back in to the poker scene and hopen to play alil more then i did we have gottin our forum back up and running but all in time i guess well hope to see u at the final table have a good guys

this seems to be a good option...lol

All you need is the discipline, and if you've played enough sit n go's or hands of cash just get up. Also do that if you start playing bad and making bad calls etc.

A good way to go about this is when you feel like you're not playing your best one day, running insanely bad, or not focused, just quit and don't play the rest of the day. This way you'll barely play when you're not into it, but when you're playing your best, focused and running hot you'll put in more hours, and you'll have limited your play and won more.

I am struggling with the same question. I am thinking of limiting the number of days a week I play, as well as the amount of time I play per setting. I want to do other things. Somehow it feels more obsessive to play online. When I play live 4-nights a week, I go home when I bust unless there is a cash game after. On the internet, I just enter another tourney. Thanks to all the great advice.

Yeah I hear ya..Im a stay at home mom and find myself playing way to much poker online. Lately I set limits on how long I am willing to play and It has worked. Good luck to you!

graduate from college so you can play poker all day and night for the rest of your life... (that's what i did) make sure you have a job to support your habit. i'd say play to have fun and once you get frustrated (if you do) just stop.

Same here, I am glad to see i am not the only one with this problem
I tried to limit myself for a number of hours to play, or till i win or lose predefined number of $, but usually i find myself keep playing and forget about my limits, usually i stop when i am getting frustrated from the game or life calls me.

Keep yourself busy doing other things if you feel playing poker is taking over your life limit yourself and and be consistant, not worth losing your money just playing poker!!!!!

schedule some sort of plans, (meeting somebody, household task, whatever, ) at a certain point so if forces you to stop, stick to it!

discipline!