How do you turn off the poker part of your brain to sleep!

I sometimes have trouble sleeping at night after playing poker. I tend to go over the hands in my head, especially the ones where I lost bigtime. It causes me to have a sleepless night... The results of this are me beiong tired the next day and not on my game (which might cause me to lose more and have even more sleepless nights... help.... )

I need some advice to help me out.

Does anyone else have the same problem

Any tips to help me not think about poker after playing

This is because at the casino last night in a tournament I had AK, and the flop was A55 and I was raised into and I pushed all in against the big chip stack (I was in 2nd by less than 1000) and he called with AJ and hit his J.... God I couldn't sleep!

Watch Porn

Seriously after a while unless you get a really bad beat in the last hand of the night you should be just able to think of it in the same way as 'what shall i do tomorrow' etc.

It is good sometimes to replay the odd hand in your head, could you play it differently etc but not enough to keep you awake.

If it is purely a loss on the river ie. a race, you should learn that in poker sometimes you will win, sometimes you will lose.
Its a tough lesson to learn but as the cards will often turn against you on the river, it is one which we need to understand.

GL in poker and sleeping

Well the poker part of my brain doesn't turn off when I sleep. I'll frequently dream about poker.

Sounds like you're ruining your health over this and it's not worth it. Perhaps you should give up poker before it goes too far. I do know how a bad beat feels (I'm sure we all do), but we've also been on the winning side of one. Maybe tomorrow it will be you. Good luck.

Dreaming is ok as at least you're asleep then

Sex and/or alcohol should do the trick. If neither is an available option, go out and run.

Simple. Just stop thinking about it.

After it happens a bad beat only exists in your mind, so if you stop thinking about it, it not longer exists.

Now go to sleep.

I think they have a word for this....ummmm...hmm...oh yeah, "Addiction." lol

Yeah I get that too. I always seem to have various quads & get paid off in my dreams.

Whatever you do, don't eat a bunch of pot cookies. Yikes! I always misread the flop in my dreams, too many colours...

So YOU'RE that SOB from last night!!

I stopped playing late at night. I found that even if I had done well - or sometimes especially if I had done well - my brain was so active from all the concentration that I couldn't switch off for an hour or more. OK at the weekends - but I can't do it and be fresh for work.

^^^LOL

human nature... you cant stop thinking about something important that you failed at if you're just laying there staring at the ceiling. watch tv maybe?

The more ya play the easier it gets,I watch tv myself and dont pay any attention anymore.Only I might ponder awhile If i was playing bigg money,in the 200 and above payouts,specially if i buyin and get close...other than that,i dont think at all about it.I might think about when the next game is and keep in the back of my mind a few seconds.Ive been there tho..lol

Not to get all Zen Master but... Difficulty falling asleep can be attributable to a lack of balance between mental and physical excertion.

If you worked the brain for an extended period of time you made need some excercise to help you get to sleep. If you've been working out all day (jogging, hiking, swimming, whatever...) try reading before bed.

I don't know your schedule but maybe try working out before playing.

Never had that problem, once i finish a tourny then its out of my head, i can recall most hands i've played for weeks but i never worry about them, once they're done then why bother.
If I had the best of it and got a bad beat then i know i played it right, if I had the worst of it and lost then learn from it, if I had the worst of it and won then thank my pokerstars for a slice of luck and be more careful next time not to end up in that situation

the key is to time your tournaments to last if you do well maybe 1 hr past ya bedtime. if you're doing well, it's ok to stay up, but anything causing you to finish more than an hour after you want to, just don't sign up.

I think that many players recap the hands of the day. You might want to try a 5th of Grey Goose and a porno... I heard that works ok.

Aloha

i agree 100%. took me awhile to get half way used to it. still cant sleep sometimes but im getting closer.

theres a poker part to your brain?

I have a hard time sleeping after poker too. The hands do run through your head. The bad beat and then the kick ass ones too. I try not to play at night to keep the head from wondering in that direction.

Yea, when the adenaline is pumping and i want to go to bed i will usually get really high then put a movie on. I will usually fall asleep within 15 mins. Unless I accidentally put in a good movie then i get no sleep.

thanks for the advice!

Porno! Magic!

I think this happens to everyone. Even poker pros. I've read numerous accounts where pros have lost some sleep based on previous play from that day. I don't think it is that serious and like some have said it gets better over time. It's part of the game, but if it doesn't improve somewhat over time maybe you should stay away from the felt.

actually for me, watching tv does it better, after a night of poker all you have to do is watch some tv & i get totally distracted away from poker, it does help

Because I have just begun playing poker again, there are very few times I feel I can add my "two cents", and help a fellow member out. However, this is my specialty. Not only have I had problems with this, but I've also helped out a lot of athletes that have had this very same problem. I'll post my reply later tonight or tomorrow. I apologize. I was just perusing the board before I left my office for the night so I do not have time to do it now.

Here's what I do. Watch poker on TV for a little while, then close my eyes and listen until I fall asleep. Watching them somehow puts my hands into perspective so I can stop thinking about them.

God knows how many times I've won the sunday million.

I’ll try to answer this with as little words as possible. I’ll forewarn you though. It will include a little anatomy/physiology though. Like someone stated above, this happens quite often, especially with hobbies. Where there is passion, there will also be stress. I’ve worked with numerous athletes who have actually made themselves sick, to the point of vomiting, over mistakes made during games. They couldn’t sleep. They couldn’t eat. It ruined any fun they once had in the sport.

More than likely, your lack of sleep is directly related to the stress of poker. Whenever we are stressed, no matter if it is mental or physical stress, our body response is fight-or-flight. Acutely, we’ll release hormones, mainly noradrenaline and adrenaline to help stimulate our body. I’m sure we’ve all experienced this during a big hand. Your heart rate will increase, blood pressure rise, you’ll get a little anxious, and your stomach will turn. Blood is diverted to your brain, heart, and muscles. Basically, your body is getting you ready for an intense situation. This doesn’t last long though, only during intense situations, not likely what’s causing you to not sleep at night. Over the long-term though, your body relies on another stress hormone called cortisol. It basically does the same thing as adrenaline, but not to the same degree. It also helps control your sleep-wake cycle. During normal times, cortisol release actually follows a daily rhythm, the majority being released in the morning and the least at night. Thus, it’s thought to promote wakefulness. However, during times of chronic stress, your cortisol level will remain elevated. Thus we have the cause of your insomnia. Elevated cortisol levels caused by chronic stress from worrying over your poker games.

It happens all the time though. When I wrote my article for Bluff magazine, I slept like crap for a week worrying about what to write. I’ve seen athletes time and time again suffer from stress. In severe cases, it’s actually broken down their bodies leading to numerous physical injuries. What’s particular concerning to poker players is the effect chronic elevated cortisol levels have on the brain. Studies have shown that elevated cortisol levels can actually harm the brain leading to impaired mental functioning. Prednisone, a prescription medication similar to cortisol that’s used to control inflammation, causes mania and cognitive impairment when dosed too high. It’s actually quite frequently in elderly patients. So not only is it making you sleep like crap, but it’s also impairing your mental functioning. Not good if you want a career in poker.

The easiest way to fix this is visualization. Instead of worrying about your past performance, visualize what happened, card by card, hand by hand. Don’t think of solutions. Don’t think of what-ifs. Don’t think of anything except replaying the entire past performance. Then try to fall asleep. I guarantee the next morning you’ll have solutions to your answers. Until you realize that worry does not fix anything, you will always struggle with your sleep. Visualization is key. The top athletes in the world use it. If that doesn’t work, relax. Do whatever relaxes. Soaking in a candle-lit luke warm bath with incense does it every time. There are some good tea products out there that also promote relaxation, along with certain types of incense.

As far as supplements go, magnesium citrate or glycinate is excellent for promoting restful sleep along with relaxation. Also, because the majority of Americans are deficient in magnesium, it’ll also help you in various other ways. L-Theanine is also excellent. There’s actually been a couple studies released that showed when l-theanine is taken with caffeine it’s not only superior to caffeine alone with regards to cognitive performance, but it also prevents some of the negative side effects from caffeine. Kava kava is another one. You just need to make sure you are getting a legitimate brand. Relora is also another herbal that has been shown to not only caused relaxation, but also decrease cortisol levels. For your particular case, Relora and magnesium should do the trick. However, they should only be tried after you’ve exhausted all non-pharmacological methods such as meditation, visualization, and other relaxing techniques.

There’s my two cents. It was a little more wordy than I thought. I apologize.

well for petes sake if you're already dreaming of poker, surely don't watch it b 4 you go to sleep

Just thank your lucky pokerstars that the guys with AJ try to give you their chips. Nod off to dreamland with the knowledge that you'll end up well off in the long run.

Yea i too have trouble sleeping after a noght of poker but i watch some tv or listen to some music to get my mind of poker so i can have i good nights sleep, or I use some out side(some consider it illegal) assitance(wink wink).

I first had with this problem when I played the horses everyday, every bet gets played out over and over, and I still lost. I started playing less and of course the sleeping problem went away. Lately I have been playing a lot of poker but not with the rent money so to speak. I have no trouble sleeping but I do dream about winning. This of course is a symptom of compulsive gambling and I know the fun of internet poker will go away if I push the stakes up. As long as it is a game to you and not life and death then over time the sleeping problem should dissapate. If not well addiction is something to consider.

i think of all the beats I have put on people and it helps me fall asleep and dream good dreams