Staying awake in evening tournaments

The title pretty much speaks for it's self!

Last Friday I played in an 8pm tourny after working 8 hours. After about 4 hours of play I was half asleep which led to me making a few bad decisions and getting knocked out.

What do you guys and gals do to stay awake and alert during a late tourny? They do free coffee and tea at the casino I play at so may even try throwing some of that down my throat next time

Poker is a mental game, but in order to perform your best you need to keep your body in good shape. If you are playing for profit you will want to play on plenty of sleep. Make sure you eat within a few hours before you play. Bring your own snacks if you are grinding a long session. Anyone can show up to a poker table, but its the people who take every edge, every advantage, that profit in the long run.

You even said it yourself. You make bad decisions when your body is not content. Your mind cannot fully focus on poker. Caffeine will not change that. In that situation I would go to bed and come back on a day I dont work.

I don't know about you, but my body isn't the same every day. Some days, I know I can very likely stay alert for longer than on other days. So basically, I play tournaments that are appropriate at the time. For instance, if I feel I'm likely to be tired after X hours, I play games that are unlikely to take that long.

Thanks for the replies!

It's hard because the tournaments I want to play there (£15+5) are on Tuesdays and Fridays and I work 8:45-17:15 Monday to Friday.

I'll try getting a good night's sleep the night before and having a high-carb meal an hour before the next one I enter.

Thanks again

rkj1927 said:

Thanks for the replies!

It's hard because the tournaments I want to play there (£15+5) are on Tuesdays and Fridays and I work 8:45-17:15 Monday to Friday.

I'll try getting a good night's sleep the night before and having a high-carb meal an hour before the next one I enter.

Thanks again

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No No No to the high carb meal!! Carbs are energy. When unused by our bodies it causes our energy levels to crash. If you eat sugar or carbs you will feel good and then soon crash. Instead, eat a meal with protein and not much sugar or carbs. You will feel full longer, which means more focus on poker.

Salads, protein bars, and a 5 hr. energy when you make it to the final table

I work on 9-14 hours a day,and I sometimes sit at the tournament and almost asleep! I admit that not interesting at all to play or to do anything when you have just closed his eyes themselves )

Coffee ,energy drinks, it helps if you're a bum, and nothing delaesh )

r3dt4rget said:

No No No to the high carb meal!! Carbs are energy. When unused by our bodies it causes our energy levels to crash. If you eat sugar or carbs you will feel good and then soon crash. Instead, eat a meal with protein and not much sugar or carbs. You will feel full longer, which means more focus on poker.

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Thanks man, appreciate the advice!

r3dt4rget said:

No No No to the high carb meal!! Carbs are energy. When unused by our bodies it causes our energy levels to crash. If you eat sugar or carbs you will feel good and then soon crash. Instead, eat a meal with protein and not much sugar or carbs. You will feel full longer, which means more focus on poker.

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Absolutely. Any nutrition expert will advise you to consume protein (even with a complex carbohydrate if you wish) for endurance.

Take one coffe and prepare yourself for looong run if u want to earn some money ....i have the same problem like u and its not easy to stay focus so long..
Good luck

The previous post told many good advices. The most important point in my opinion is that you have to be ready to adapt your lifestyle to your poker if you want to be at the top of your game.
If you're planning a late game tournament you have to make sure you're well rested when the time come and that you've eaten enough. Usually coffee and tea can make a good addition to keep you awake but they gotta complement your awareness and not define it cause else you might be too aggressive on your play.

In a late tournament online I turn my speakers very loud so they wake me up when I doze off. At Foxwoods I never fall asleep there's to much action that you have to remember.

For awhile I didn't had a choice but to play late in the night early morning. I made a thread specifically for this. I hope it helps you out as it did me.

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/general-poker-13/early-morning-poker-237287/

developer716 said:

I admit that not interesting at all to play or to do anything when you have just closed his eyes themselves

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But you have good pokerface then

It's hard to play a long session after a full day's work. I'd stick to multitable sit n goes or small fields (180 players or less) when playing in the evening. Save the large field MTTs for Saturdays and/or Sundays.

obvious answer is don't play tired, right? ha ha

I generally never play live tourneys after work. But even when you start the tourney well rested if you are doing real well you'll eventually play "past your prime" the good news is...the other players have been playing just as long. The edge will go with those players who have stamina and strategies for maximizing their energy.

the local "big tourneys" are all 1 day events that start at noon and usually don't reach final table until about 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning...and THAT's when all the big money decisions begin.

I never go play live poker without my "snack bag" all my poker friends know they can rifle through my bag for a quick, high protein snack. I also alternate caffeine with water, and I bring packets of "Emergen-C" which is B vitamins and tastes good to add to your water.

I don't listen to headphones which lull me to sleep...

Thanks for all the advice gents

my thing is youtube! watch something or listen to music I did that last night played a game at 3am lasted 3 hrs took 3rd in a $10 tournament

enjoy it

u have to enjoy it if this is causing some trouble like fall as sleep it isn`t working i suggest playing sng whit less people

An unhealthy amount of this stuff: :cheers:

excitement does not make the right decisions sometimes

No coffee or tea...

Exercise daily, eat real food, sleep 8 hrs
Cut out caffeine entirely,

Drink iced cold water and chew gum to stay alert.


Now me personally? I'm chugging coffee and eating junk food and pulling all nighters... But if you do as I say I 100% guarentee you will see poker improvements as well as life improvements

rkj1927 said:

The title pretty much speaks for it's self!

Last Friday I played in an 8pm tourny after working 8 hours. After about 4 hours of play I was half asleep which led to me making a few bad decisions and getting knocked out.

What do you guys and gals do to stay awake and alert during a late tourny? They do free coffee and tea at the casino I play at so may even try throwing some of that down my throat next time

Click to expand...

If you have a job during the day - at night to sleep.
If you'd like to play - drink coffee and go to bed each time later and later, but do not torture yourself, let it all goes naturally. I did this by changing the schedule - it takes 4 days, but most importantly do not torture yourself. Overview - mode. Strain the body a couple of three days (a week at best) lie down and wake up in a strictly on time and it will start to work as an alarm clock.

Here in the Czech Republic I doing on time špatně.Vzhledem a delay start to the tournament good enough tonight , so much that the times I've played in the morning hodin.Unava 3.4 is a big head and think , and then forms when chyby.Tak is a good tournament , I have to change the sleep time for me to withstand fresh.

Find other tourneys to play for your norm, but if you can't resist the late night one, only allow once a month for those, stay away from caffeine and eat an apple or a banana during a break if you need food and take a brisk walk to the restroom or wherever during every break.