I get bored, make stupid play, bust, How to fix?

I will get midway in a larger MTT (or even SNGs sometimes) and will get bored or distracted because there isn't much action, or I am not getting hands. Then I will choose to play a bad hand that I normally wouldn't play under the circumstances and I bust out unnecessarily. Example follows.
Jan 17 21:06ET$3 + $0.30 Tournament 76521185
Jan 17 $3.00 + $0.30 454 214 Later last night, I made myself stay focused, and despite many bad beats, I came in 10th out of 331 entrants.

I think I read Jennifer Tilly in Bluff magazine, and said once something like, My brain says don't make that play, and she sees an arm, her arm, putting chips in the pot, her brain was right, and she busts out....I do this. Finger pushes button bet/call/raise, brain says, not a good idea.....

HOW do I stop stupid plays??????

On the other side, I have moved my overall ROI from -73% to -40% and I actually have a plus 5% in the in the 11-45 sngs.

I have met the enemy, she is within........

I know what you're talking about.

It's hard sometimes to stay focused for 4 hours.

I had the same problems until I started multitabling.

Now, in addition to the buy-in tourney I play I have a micro-limit ring game hold-em running.

Or 2-3 freerolls on different sites.

Don't add too many tables though - only as many as you feel comfortable with.

Basically same thing as said above, multi-tabling is the bomb when you're bored.
If I have a big MTT going on, I'll usually open a 5-card draw table or 2 on the side, since that's my favourite game
If that doesn't work... smoke a fat one.

Cut finger off, no problem!

Ways to combat that dEVIL within!
1-Multi table. Even if its a play money game sitting next to a real money game. Many ring players will max out their brains with tables, partly to combat the inherent boredom that must occur while playing poker the right way.

2-Find another distraction. I use FREECELL, a solitaire game that came with XP.

3-Knit, or move your PC to the kitchen and cook.

4-Start a card by card history in Word about what you think is going on for every single action during that particular MTT.

5-Find any conceivable way to avoid overthink!

6-Porn...

I think that you should play garbage occasionally. I do this when I know I have a good read on my opponents. I do this very cautiously and certainly don't get pot committed.

It has payed off. I just don't make a bad habit of it and consider my chipstack, position, blinds, and be disciplined enough to endure the lost when I know the odds are that I'm beat.

Playing those hands can also be very profitable in the long run. Great way to get under someone's skin in a tournament. It also keeps people unsure of their reads on you.

Keep in mind that this should all be orchastrated under the right circumstances. In other words, have a plan and a contigency plan.

I play 2 ring games and a tournament at a time. It does keep you from getting distracted. At times, it can put me on tilt when three tables are beeping for me to act. I've learned that sometimes you should just time out while focusing on a big hand on the other table.

3 or 4 ring games... a tourny... a friend ...and a dart board haha

we rotate one auto folds the tables while one throws darts haha ive gotten deep in some tournys with that method and im not a tourny player by any means haha but they are fun and i do partake...

when theres a hand we both focus and play it out

ps (make sure the friend has half a brain lol)

this fights off the devil within for me haha

when my boys not around... (roomate lucky me haha) i just multi table as the others have said ..

good luck !

you could also read CC forums or a book. be careful about not watching the table though.

I usually play another SnG tourney for low stakes where there is usually alot of betting to keep my mind busy.
I watch tv also, normally a program I don't have to really pay that much attention to, so I can keep track of the poker game.

I read, play in several tourneys, walk away if i have to, surf the web, anything to keep my mind busy. idle time is not good for me.

You know, I used to have the same problem when I started play poker online. I don't have this problem when I play live games but online is a different animal. What I've found useful is to play multiple games. I'll have up to 4 games going. One of the tables is bound to keep your interest.

Chap

I'll either play 4-6 games simultaneously or just a couple and partition my browser so I can surf and read while playing 2-3 tables.

annie, Your post in indearing. RU married...LOL

On a serious note, you are learning. You always know what to do before you begin to act on that knowledge. Human behaivor. Cant change it. natural progression of the learning process. Soon you will see the trap AND AVOID IT. Then and only then, will you have undersanding

might seem like a dumb suggestion , but why not spend the time taking notes on your opponents, looking for betting patterns and testing out your reads on them at no chip cost to you.

That seems a more profitable use of your time than getting up and walking about or web surfing

i know the feeling. my worst mistake is to keep reraising with marginal hands when im on a streak. i will get a hold of a few chips, and to start make unnecessary raises. if there is a good solid tight player at the table, they always seem to pick up on it.. in my opinion after a win, it almost doesnt hurt to lay down the next three hands with top pair.... call it karma, but thats biggest mistake also,.. i.e - bad calls after pot pickups

ive also noticed, when ur doing bad on one sight... if you have money in more than one, spread ur action around. when im doing bad at one sight i switch for a few days.. if ur a regular player it never hurts to try ur standbys or look for new sites. for instance bodog is kind of always my go back to. start out small a bankroll is made by persistance but also not over night

pretty much my problem I think just bored is much better than garbage play, so if you can disconnect one from another you half way through. I have another thing, when playing for some time I start having some crazy thoughts like "lets see what would happen if I move all - in right now" (no matter what I hold, its just stupid curiosity). It is usually not too long before I find out it was a bad idea.

never had that problem even playing the 200k on sunday. Poker just keeps my attention at all times.

If I start getting bored (like right now I am so card dead been folding for 20 minutes ) I just bring up cardschat and read a few posts

lol

I agree. You obviously have a rebel in the bunch. You need to make an example out of that one.

yeah i have that problem sometimes as well..so what i did is stop getting into a large game that I know will take a good while to play..insted play a small sit n go or play some ring games..also if you still wanna play the bigger games,,find something else to do while your playing..like bloging or watching a show that dont kill all your focus....cause I know that feeling when you lose cause you made a real bad play cause of being bored

i like the multi table idea too, with 4 games going- you have to decide your play faster- which usually means folding anything thats not very worthy to play- hard to get bored when theres always something happening

In the real world - Play with the chips
Best way to keep busy.
Online - Music, web or even watch a movie on the side.

I find myself not paying attention as well and I don't think the best way to do this is to 'distract' yourself with other things on the computer or TV or whatever. I think the best thing is to just try to get over it, isn't that one thing that the PROS have to deal with every day? That getting over the boredom, staying sharp enough to make good plays when others like us get tired and distracted and start slipping up is one of the things that make them professionals.

I think tinhead said it, spend your time wisely, look at what the other people are doing. Pay more attention to the psychological aspect of the game. If you're bored I'm assuming it would be later in a tournament. Try to pick up on the weaker players and put a target on them when its bubble time.

To be honest I'm thinking up new things to do right now while I'm writing so I think I'll go take my own advice and pay attention to my game. :P Cheers.

playing multiple games at a time may work. It's just about disciplin. if you get bored analyse your opponents even more, think about there moves and so on

i think fatigue (boredom) brings out the hubris and stupid poker behaviour. I like Towsts the Door into Summer blog, it reminds me not to think lazy or irrationally hopeful, which we often do when bored. Or sometimes, as Tommay Angelo points out in discussing Quitting (see my thread on his book), we sometimes do dumb things just to get out of a boring situation so we can go do something else. Bad poker.

tourneys are all about patience. just relax listen to some music and wait for your cards. do you think the people in the WSOP or any other cash tourney play them in 1 or 2 hours? Did you know the WSOP lasts for days but they show you on TV 1 hour segs?

Remember you goal is to win money not lose it.

Sweetie,
Congrats on finding a major leak in your game. How to fix it? Well I can't give you a receipe for that but the biggest part of plugging your leaks is admitting you have one!

Poker is a game of patience. That's a huge aspect of playing MTT's. I know it's frustrating when you throw away 20+ hand in a row!!! You start to wonder why the poker gods are so upset!

When I start going on tilt like that. What I do is try to slow my game down a little bit. When it's my turn to act, I breathe deep a few times....look at the rags I was dealt....say, 'rags, throw it'; 'rags, throw it;' 'rags throw it'.....then press the fold button. Every time I do that I feel a little bit better of myself because my reasoning and intellect made the correct decision and I didn't give in to my impulses.

There are quite a number of excellent players, but honestly the person that beats me the most is....me!

The subject of self-mastery is a long and complex topic. Good luck with it.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I have used a lot of your suggestions. One that is working for me now, is looking up stats to keep me busy. I am lasting longer in the tourneys, so something is helping. I am really glad I found cards chat and am grateful for all of you who take the time to post.

i sometimes play rags just coz i get bored and sometime it workes out sometimes it dont i usaly only play it when im brd myself when i start getting brd i haf2 try make myself leave and go back 2 it or i will lose alot

I think this has happened to all of us at one time or another. I always find something else to do while I am playing the tourny. Surf the internet,etc. This seems to help

I find that watching TV or reading the forum or other message boards helps me to not get bored. One of the things that I will do when I get deeper into the tourney, is I put myself in autofold until UTG, BB, SB, Button so that I don't make those dumb plays. I can also take myself out of it if I get AA, KK, QQ.

Good luck with whatever you find for a solution.

I usually just crank up the itunes to keep things exciting, or i multitable. Thats what i usually do anyway, so things don't get to boring. no more than 4 tables tho, because then it gets a little hard to focus.

I find the only way not to get bored is to multitask..play in 2 or 3 tournys at a time or do the bills or check emails..If I just sit and play in 1 tourny I am doomed I get bored and start doing stupid things..when I am patient I am at my best.
Yankeenut23