So I'm new, putting together my strategy over time, picking up info here and there. Spending just about as much time reading as I do playing.

I'm in NOLA looking for apartments, and thought that tonight I'd play some poker.
But stopped myself, since it is already 10:30pm here.

And here's why: I won't be playing past 2-3am. Recently, I've noticed that I am making better and better decisions as the night goes on, and therefore making more money later in the night. In fact, the last 5 times I've played, I was about even or so for 4 hours before I broke out and started building a stack. One night I was even for 8 hours before I raked in $1,100 net over the next 8 hours. It's because as time goes on, I understand my opponents more and more, and dare I say, learn how to exploit some of them. (I'm only 250 hours in, so I'm a total newb)

Unfortunately, I get an itch to play, and decide to go for a few and see what happens. Do others get that same itch? I think I have a new rule for myself. Unless I will play for 5 hours, I will not even bother.

Two reasons:
1: I get better the longer I study my opponents
2: Planning to leave early leads to impatient play

Just rambling, ignore if you think this is dumb. Looking to see if others have input.

I too now won't go to play unless I have 5-6 hours minimum.

Half hour drive each way BUT i would rather have some time to get in lot of hands.

Yes, it's all one long life session but i play better when i can observe the Villains in action.

There are a number of benefits to a long session. Time at a table is very important because every table has a different style of play and you can impact that style if you want to. It is a huge disadvantage if you sit at a table where the standard open is $35 and you assume it is $12. Until you observe and adjust you don't know how wide people are calling pre, and it is difficult to range opponents. You also need to practice good table selection (probably the top thing that differentiates the highest winners from grinders) and that can only be done if you've had some observation time. Also helps to know how people get their chips. Did the big stack just buy in deep or did he start with $100 and ran it up by running good? Speaks to confidence.

Basically, if I can only go for an hour or two ill still go sometimes but I know I am going for entertainment and some gamble, not for a serious session. I'd say you need a min of 4-5 hours for a serious session.

I'm the opposite. For the first few hours I do pay attention and adjust and all those good things. After that I'm just too tired to focus that hard and kind of autopilot.

I find long sessions are still profitable because I think everyone else deteriorates worse than I do. Especially recfish who will chase their losses -- if I'm playing at 2am and there is a guy with 300bb but he had 350bb an hour ago, more often than not that 300bb will find its way to the rest of the table.

But getting a bead on players after 8 hours? I disagree with that. I get a bead on them in 30 minutes. It comes off after time.

I agree very much with knowing you have a short session causing impatience though. You will play a lot better when you give yourself the freedom to decide how long you want to play. That goes both ways -- bad to force yourself to play 8 hours and then take a hit 15 minutes in and want to go home

Questions:
1. How long can you play before you're worn out? Poker is work.
2. How does your Circadian rhythm work out? My brain shimmies apart on the 4's. At 4am, and 4pm, I'm worthless and need to be taking a nap, not playing poker.
3. When is "shift change"? In vegas, shift change is at 8am, that's when the tourists go to bed and the little old men come to the poker room. Where I play now, shift change is at 2am, that's when the redneck is finally too drunk to form his lips around the word "Bud"; the soul brother looks up to see his woman, dressed all fine, standing there with her hands on her hips; and the crazy LAGgy Asian insomniacs come out to play (who are these people? What do they do?) Keep in mind, at shift change you gotta start all over, getting reads and building a table image. If you're within an hour of quitting anyway, now's a good time to lock it in.

Long as I pay due regard to those questions, yes, the longer the session the better. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, where by "poor" I mean "drunk."

@DK Barrel: I wish I could get good reads in 30 mins... not there yet. I can maybe get decent ranges on players, but it takes a while to find bet sizing tells, can I bluff them and how, are they a chaser, over-valuer/station, sherif, what does a donk mean, over-bet... so on so forth. I actually hate getting good hands early on, cuz I'm flying blind. Now, I don't mind AA on the button, but 10-10 in MP... uggg

@AbqDave: Lol never thought of it as a shift change... but damn those get me. Nothing like playing 16 hours, at the end of which you can 3-bet w/ AQ, have a shorty shove, call, and be dominating him. Follow that with the morning shift change at 7am, where AQ is at best a 3-bet light, if not just a horrible play. After 17 hours, its hard to get up and leave, you almost figure you'll spend your life in that chair. Need to work on that too.

I've played until I flopped trips, and at showdown the dealer sends the money to the V, I ask "What the hell man??" Dealer, "You had a 5... you lost"
I'd say being able to see is on the list too. ...I didn't have trips... :/

Assume they're loose-passive, value bet a very narrow range, are afraid of suckouts, call postflop a bit wider than they should, very common traits like that. These are going to hold true often enough and when they don't it should be obvious quickly. Nah we don't know much about their post flop aggression traits but this gives us plenty to work with and those situations don't come up too often.

Exception, if it looks like OMC, assume it's OMC.

lol. LAGgy Asians, my specialty.

Shift change is huge IMO. I normally play from 2-3am until the morning crew shows up. I think the last hour or so is the most profitable. And doubly so if the game gets shorthanded.

My own play goes downhill after about 4-5 hours despite taking breaks, going for walks, etc. I would guess my hourly would be the highest in sessions of around 3 hours.

I try to watch every hand and put my opponents on ranges, keep track of pot and bet sizing, look for sizing and physical tells. Honestly, the apparent ability of others to do this in long sessions and for 40 hours, week in week out, is mindblowing to me.

Well i wouldnt say i watch every hand in a 12 hour session, cant even do that for 30 mins. I hate when i space, then notice a pot of 200+... **** i missed something! Haha i think it probably takes me 2 hours to get what a good attentive play gets in 30 mins... ADD and such. If i'm lucky enough to have a table where my opponents stick around 3+ hours... Oooohh yeah. Im gunna get ya.

I think you're ready to start your own Poker Goals and Challenges thread in that forum. That's the place for these type of musings.

Locked.