Knowing When Too Much is Too Much?

What is a good way to tell if you are playing poker too much? This doesn't really have to be about spending too much money, but spending too much time. What do you say?

If it has an effect on anything in your personal life, you might want to take a step back and have a look at how much you are playing, and if you should cut back.

Remember that it is just a game, and it shouldn't be running your life.

When you start to seriously consider turning down invitations for dinners/movies/parties or other social gatherings with friends because it crashes with an online tournament you are planning to play...

Online poker should never take priority over real life stuff, at least not real life stuff you used to enjoy before taking up online poker.

i think it is time to take a break when a bad poker session affects your mood personally...as in ,if you lose alot of your BR in one session, then decdie on to go out with friends like previously planned...it should be kept 100% seperate from personal life,no exceptiond

If it is effecting your home life you definately should step back or slow down a little. Also another one would be if you are losing money playing hands you normally would steer clear of and just dont have interest in playing that day and still play and donk off in all kinds of different ways i.e chasing way more then you should, poor choices, etc.

The correct look from my wife usually lets me know . . .

Black rings around my eyes tell a story!

It has happened to me at least once a year.

My remedy then is to give poker a complete break for a couple of weeks.

Sad, but true.

I struggle with this too, but agree that family, friends, real life comes first. I try to make efforts to play when it can be done without neglecting the other. (Not always successful though!)

For me this isn't really a question I need to be concerned with. I have a poker "schedule" of sorts, my friends and family are aware of it. I stray from the schedule when there is a special event, someone has a problem that should be handled immediately or I need a break.

My kids and family know they come first no matter what, they also know I'm not going to drop from my schedule every time they want me to.

On a side note - we have family night in our house every week, sometimes twice - this is very important for families to do imo.

I'm disabled, so playing poker is my way of getting through the day. I usually play 8 to 10 hours a day. Use to be more. Have hardly any family but I try to go to my great nieces vollyball game, once a week. Most of my social life come from playing. There is just not much you can do on 900 bucks a month. I just love the game and always grind out a little profit each month.
Take care

Kinda of simple, but when I start making careless decisions; also I tend to get sick to my stomach when I play too much

if im not working that day and my wife is....i might play 10 hours ...depending on my chore load to do lol...but could range usually around 1 to 5 hours every day.but sometimesi decide to do a family nite and watch tv or do stuff with family and they get tired of me and say go play ur poker...lol(almost like a smoker trying to quit)

When you're sitting at the dinner table and your wife offers you the last piece of chicken and you think she's bluffing, it's time to reel it in a little.

When your wife threatens to leave you and you say "call"



Snow

As usual with poker.. "IT DEPENDS", lol. It depends on what your motivations & aspirations are. If you goal is to become a winning player then you're obviously going to be needing to put in a decent amount of time BUT at the same time , to actually play optimally it is important to try to maintain a balance in one's life.

As far as 'are you playing too much poker' from a more general perspective goes (ie. the recreational player who's playing to have fun).... hmm... I'd say that if you're having to ask yourself the question "Am I playing too much poker these days?".. .then you probably are (actuallly.. .not just 'probably'... I'd say more like 'for sure' you are).

So... are you playing too much poker?

For myself I found a couple of years ago that I was falling asleep while at meetings & other work-related stuff and as I was drifting off (in a state of half conciousness) I was actually having dreams of seeing cards coming off the virtual deck, watching chipstacks slide across the table and hearing the distinct sound of a re-raise on Fulltilt ("chh-chh-chh"). That was too much (even though at the time I'd argue that it was just about right).

Love it, LMAO, I am on a two week break at the moment, and posts like this make my day.

I can understand the part someone said about wanting to be the winning player that you have to play often. I feel that sometimes, when I am really into playing, that it is all I can think about. A bad beat can stay in the back of my mind for days, and make me into a bad mood during those few days. That's why I was asking. Thanks for the input!

Sorry if I offended you in any way BV, I totally appreciate the way you feel. Time is a healer, take that time to have a rest, read some posts on this forum from those who know, come back and give them hell!

Good Luck

When your wife said :"I will not give you to eat tonight"

haha not cool

you know your playing to much poker when you lose a grand in real money and continue to play, at least thats my friends problem, it could be a gambling problem but i think its a little of both because he still wont stop playing in free roll tourneys and cash games.

Been there done that likely bluff if you ask me.