How to avoid boredom?

[Sneaky Feet]

I seem to be fighting boredom lately on the tables. I'm currently playing .01/.02 just trying to learn the game but I'm finding that when the action is really low (which it usually is) I get really bored and make stupid calls. Then I get frustrated and make more stupid calls and end up loosing. I guess that makes me a fish lol. Typically I play TAG (At least I start that way) and I think I have a fair level of comprehension of the game itself and reading bet patterns. My goal is to become proficient enough to make a few extra bucks and pay for vacations and the like. Maybe buy myself and new motorcycle

Do any of you have suggestions for me? I've never tried higher stake tables. Are they all so boring?

 

[BluffMeAllIn]

Hi Sneaky, first I'll send a welcome since you are new to the forum this month. Best first step anyone could make in looking to improve their game IMO.

In regards to "boredom" it is never a good state to be in when playing poker as it leads to situations as you have indicated unless very diciplined. My best suggestion would be to play more tables, just based on perhaps you are only playing 1 at the moment? Don't add too many at a time however but if currently playing 1 then try playing two and see how it helps with the boredom factor, its also a good way to increase winrate due to increased volume if you are a winning player.

I certainly would not suggest playing higher stakes right away if you are just getting involved with online poker, unless of course you have the bankroll to do so and follow a good brm to drop down in stakes etc if you are getting crushed at higher levels.

I'm sure many others would agree that if your talking a single table then "YES" its very boring because can often go a while without getting hands unless your playing the LAG game (which I certainly wouldn't suggest at micros, because many players already play very loose and to combat that the best approach for the limits is TAG). Essentially unless I am more focused on other tasks, like browsing reading and posting on cc, then i usually run at least 4-6 of anything I am playing. Everyone is different however in how many they play and could very based on their current focus of the game so increase tables slowely as long as your winrate is not being too greatly impacted by doing so.

Hope this helps as a suggestion.

 

[Mr Sandbag]

Use the time in between hands to study your opponents and take notes. Knowing player tendencies is extremely valuable, so if you ignore them or fail to use the information available, you'll find it hard to be successful in poker.

 

[trent32la]

If your bored simply start trying multi-tabling....but not too many tables....enough where you can keep up and still profit...micro cash tables can be very boring at times...If you cannot stand playing 1 table you need to adjust to more....I have a buddy who 40-tabled NL2 the other day lol....however start out now playing 2 tables...and see how that goes....remember to also get reads on other players and pay attention to how each one plays...it will be key

 

[SnizzleKicker]

if you wanna play 1 table and you want 2 keep it low stakes you can play rush/fast forward poker on most sites now. This will put you straight into your next hand every time you fold so you always have 2 live cards. You can fold 20 times in 1min to get to a good hand also I think it a lot more fun 2 and a good souloution to bordum

 

[Bowman26]

I agree with just watching the others play and try to learn any tendencies you might be able to pick up or perhaps some different types of play that you witness others doing you might be able to incorporate into you play in certain situations.

Or you could open up a browser and look at some porn

 

[HUSNG Ryan]

If you're not so naturally interested in 6 max or full ring tables, consider playing heads up.

If you've been playing full ring, consider heads up or 6 max. There's more action, it's faster paced, and you're involved in many more decisions over a small period of time than in full ring games.

 

[dj11]

Multi-tabling will certainly cure that boredom.

 

[Vhyre]

Maybe try something like Zone Poker on Bovada, its pretty fast action. Multi-tabling can be fun but but dont play so many at once you cant keep track of the other players.

 

[jj20002]

I play at three tables at time, and have the replay window open to watch the way the opponents reach the showdown (when they do so) and try to take advantage of that, also like to keep open the lobby of the more advanced tourney i´m playing at that moment and watch others leave the tourney before me, so i´m getting close to the itm or laddering up, so it keeps me setting new milestones for those tourneys like 1000-500-250-100 players remaining, 2nd or 3rd break approaching (try to make another break), so those things i do to try to keep my attention in the game, because as you say sometimes the action is too few and is easy to lose the attention and start playing foolish or get bored

 

[DrazaFFT]

mostly what bluff me and mr.sandbag said...

Ill add another thing to it, when you pick a table what's your criteria, you might be picking a to tight table which is a wrong place to play at micros, so look for a table with higher percentage of players in flop and higher average flop and there play TAG, but really make sure that you are playing tag, most of new players thing that they playing tag but they not, they either nitti ore loose passive...

 

[Arjonius]

Playing hands is certainly more fun than not, so it's tempting to add tables or to play a faster version of poker. Just realize that there's a trade- off for being more entertained. You lose or decrease the opportunity to gain information from watching more closely, which also helps improve your reading ability and lets you improve your self-discipline / focus, all at the same time.

It's called *working* on your game for a reason. You get to decide the balance between work and entertainment each time you play, but don't fool yourself that you can have your proverbial cake and eat it too.

 

[Sneaky Feet]

Thanks everyone for your replies I appreciate it. Maybe it's my lack of knowledge, well most likely my lack of knowledge, but it seems the last few tables that I've played on most of my opponents have been playing fairly tight and very conservative in their bets as well. Purhaps this is because they have notes on me and fold a lot of the time when I bet preflop. Sorry if this sounds like I'm being a whiner.

Does this make me tight? The hands that I play in early position are AA KK QQ AK AQ KQ suited or non. Middle position, the above plus QJ JJ 1010. Late position would include suited 109 98 plus 99 88 77.
P
My definition of agressive play is to bluff maybe 3-4 times an hour, preflop bet 3-5 times BB depending on hand and bet 1/3 the pot for a small (draw), 1/2 for medium (1 high pair or low set) or the pot for a made hand.

Thoughts?

 

[Sneaky Feet]

Playing hands is certainly more fun than not, so it's tempting to add tables or to play a faster version of poker. Just realize that there's a trade- off for being more entertained. You lose or decrease the opportunity to gain information from watching more closely, which also helps improve your reading ability and lets you improve your self-discipline / focus, all at the same time.

It's called *working* on your game for a reason. You get to decide the balance between work and entertainment each time you play, but don't fool yourself that you can have your proverbial cake and eat it too.

To this point this is a really broad question but what are some things I be looking for other than betting patterns, position play, limp vs bet? I watch poker on tv and am completely blown away by how the players can read weighed their opponent is sitting on KK or suited J10. Holy! And how?

 

[Sneaky Feet]

mostly what bluff me and mr.sandbag said...

Ill add another thing to it, when you pick a table what's your criteria, you might be picking a to tight table which is a wrong place to play at micros, so look for a table with higher percentage of players in flop and higher average flop and there play TAG, but really make sure that you are playing tag, most of new players thing that they playing tag but they not, they either nitti ore loose passive...

Table criteria is pretty much play were the computer sends me and see how I fair. I very seldom change tables unless I lose my stack (a whole 1.60 buy in!)

Should I be more selective? My reasoning behind not changing tables is that I want to learn how to play every type of player. Not nessicarily to walk away with the most money. Don't get me wrong, I don't like loosing but I would rather learn how to play these guys at lower stakes than move up and lose more because I've avoided this type of player.

On a side note, I am learning that you have to play certain players certain ways. That's a plus lol

 

[packernation85]

When I first started playing I also found it very boring. Try not to play poker non-stop at first. It takes a lot of mental conditioning to play poker for hours on end, and keep your focus. Hope this helps

 

[Arjonius]

To this point this is a really broad question but what are some things I be looking for other than betting patterns, position play, limp vs bet? I watch poker on tv and am completely blown away by how the players can read weighed their opponent is sitting on KK or suited J10. Holy! And how?

A lot of what you can look for is player-dependent. For instance, say you notice that players A and B both limp a lot. Do they limp from all seats or more from certain ones? Maybe A limps more than B from EP and vice versa from LP. Do they limp around equally often but with different ranges? Maybe A limps more suited connectors while A tends more toward weak aces.

There are also tendencies to watch for after the flop. Who c-bets, how often, and with what parts of their ranges? Who likes to float one street with a draw or a second pair-type hand but folds to a second barrel? Who tends to bet their draws more often? Who raises them?

These are just examples. There are lots of other things. The more you watch for and the more play patterns you're able to spot, the more you will move toward being able to make narrower reads, sometimes even exact holdings.

 

[Kimpel17]

It usually helps to play multiple tables at one time, especially at lower limits. Not only are you experiencing more hands but if you are bored at one table you can just play at another!

 

[Sneaky Feet]

So yesterday I decided to do some studying. I sat out at a couple tables to see what the play was like, who was doing what and if I could pick up on any hands that villains were playing. I'm happy to say I did! I sat at one table and played a few rounds but didn't play many hands because my range never came up but I was able to pick up on one player who likes to slow play (did this twice with pocket aces) a couple players that were pretty tight and turned out they were playing multi tables and I was able to pin point 3 hands that other players had. One had JJ another QQ and another AK. I had them narrowed down between a couple possibilities by the turn and was confident by the river. I thought that was pretty cool.

Again I want to say thank you for everyone's suggestions. I'm finding then very helpful. I'm sure they will help turn today's villains into tomorrow's victims

 

[dj11]

So yesterday I decided to do some studying. I sat out at a couple tables to see what the play was like, who was doing what and if I could pick up on any hands that villains were playing. I'm happy to say I did! I sat at one table and played a few rounds but didn't play many hands because my range never came up but I was able to pick up on one player who likes to slow play (did this twice with pocket aces) a couple players that were pretty tight and turned out they were playing multi tables and I was able to pin point 3 hands that other players had. One had JJ another QQ and another AK. I had them narrowed down between a couple possibilities by the turn and was confident by the river. I thought that was pretty cool.

Again I want to say thank you for everyone's suggestions. I'm finding then very helpful. I'm sure they will help turn today's villains into tomorrow's victims

And you took notes right?

 

[JusSumguy]

I find boredom reassuring. I try to stay in the bored zone.

If I don't feel bored, I know I'm playing too many hands.

-

 

[Sneaky Feet]

And you took notes right?

Unfortunately no. I usually play on my tablet which doesn't allow me to tag players with information so I'm going to invest in a little black book to keep all my notes in. Either that or I'll have to start playing on my lap top. I like the black book idea it seems more portable. Plus the people around me can think I'm a spy.... Or just a weird guy with a really small black book lol

 

[dj11]

Unfortunately no. I usually play on my tablet which doesn't allow me to tag players with information so I'm going to invest in a little black book to keep all my notes in. Either that or I'll have to start playing on my lap top. I like the black book idea it seems more portable. Plus the people around me can think I'm a spy.... Or just a weird guy with a really small black book lol

Another reason, IMHO, that playing on a tablet is a terrible idea.

 

[redcross]

Work on playing more than one table at a time and that helps with not getting bored. You see more hands and thus more playable good hands so you don't end up losing money playing junk hands.

 

[aznman08]

Another option (depending on the website) is to try fast fold poker, pokerstars/Bovada offer it. Mainly you can fold a bad hand and it moves right into another table with a new hand dealt