For the ones out there that play poker as a hobby and not as a job, how long do you play? I just started out in poker and yesterday I played one tournament for almost 3:30 hours.
I didn't know it would take that much time, but I'm thinking that this should be very standard because in that time I just played around 130 hands, and this are just a few hands right?
And besides poker what other hobbies do you have? Or is just poker?
Hey John,
I work full time but I try and play maybe around on average an hour a day. This is why i play cash games rather than MTTs because like you said they take a long time.
How did you finish in the tournament?
As for other hobbies, I've just started learning forex thanks to poker strategy's new site Tradimo.
How about yourself? any other hobbies?
Long session in MTT's is very common, this is why I don't play them so much. I love them but just don't have to time to sit there a grind them 
This is why I play cash, I will usually sit down for a good 1-3hours for a session, every 1-2 days at least (Try to at least) but there has been time I'd sit for much longer or have 2 sessions in a day, sometimes I turn of after 10 minutes because I'm just not feeling it.
If you prefer to play MTT's over cash but the times put you off, maybe you could try SNG's 
Hey guys!
thanks for all the replies!
@3prswins
In that particular tournament I finished 4th place but it was a freeroll tournament hence I'm pretty sure nobody was trying so hard to win. (188 entrants).
Great tip about this tradimo, I'm bookmarking it!
My other hobbies! I do photography, in fact 2010 I just worked around photography, I love videogames too and reading (mostly novels) and writing but I am not as good as I would like to.
My full time work is about computer programming which I really like too.
I did like the tournament but since I'm just starting (around 15 days) my girl freaked a little out and she thought that I was going to spend all my life in front of the computer, it changed after I show her how to play hehe, but still, even having two 3 hours session in a week sounds a lot to me.
I think I rather play cash games... but I don't know now, because you mention SNG's and I thought that SNG's were basically the same than tournaments, I guess I'll have to do a little investigation!
See you at the tables guys!
"My full time work is about computer programming which I really like too."
Hehe fellow programmer, nice to meet you! I'm learning/doing programming as well...
" it changed after I show her how to play hehe, but still, even having two 3 hours session in a week sounds a lot to me."
Mate, by playing 6hr/week (= 24hr per month) you aren't going to get really far into poker.. I'm having the same problem myself, but it's the sad nature of poker..
By playing 24hr/month, even if you were to play 8 tables optimally (meaning cash games), which is hard at first, that's around 600h/hr, totaling ~14.400 hands per month, which IMO isn't really that lot to counter the variance and see profits soon..
Not trying to demotivate you, just want to suggest you that if you want to ever make some money out of this "hobby", you should be putting as many hrs as you can.. 
Good luck!
I find it hard to balance gf and poker sometimes, but as she doesn't yet live with me I just play when she's not here lol :).
Cool that you're a programmer, I've been looking into it too. Started learning recently to trade forex because you can basically code bots to trade your strategies, still a complete novice atm but hopefully it will sink in :).
Try a bit of cash and sng, see which you prefer and which works best for your lifestyle ♦.
My poker hours have recently been reduced to 0-5 hours per week and so many other things have filled my life. I work full time. Play guitar, banjo, ukulele, drums and piano (all bad-averagely ♦ ) have started to take a really keen interest in particle physics and astronomy but am still a noob on these subjects so dont quiz me lol.
Also started learning Spanish around 3 weeks ago which is coming along nicely and something i've wanted to do for a long time but never tried until now is computer programming, have no idea where to start tbh maybe you could offer some tips? I have just started reading some very basics on C# (only started reading today so i am a total noob)
So yeah i used to play a lot of poker and do other things when i was bored of it but it's flipped around in the last month or so and now poker is really just something i do when im getting bored or tired of other things and find myself playing less and less each week.
If you are playing for a hobby just keep playing whenever you feel like it and quit when its pissing you off that way you should minimize any losses you might incur as a beginner. Keep studying the material here and you will soon be making some nice money on the side i'm sure
Originally posted by ExternalUseOnly
My poker hours have recently been reduced to 0-5 hours per week and so many other things have filled my life. I work full time. Play guitar, banjo, ukulele, drums and piano (all bad-averagely ♦ ) have started to take a really keen interest in particle physics and astronomy but am still a noob on these subjects so dont quiz me lol.Also started learning Spanish around 3 weeks ago which is coming along nicely and something i've wanted to do for a long time but never tried until now is computer programming, have no idea where to start tbh maybe you could offer some tips? I have just started reading some very basics on C# (only started reading today so i am a total noob)
So yeah i used to play a lot of poker and do other things when i was bored of it but it's flipped around in the last month or so and now poker is really just something i do when im getting bored or tired of other things and find myself playing less and less each week.
If you are playing for a hobby just keep playing whenever you feel like it and quit when its pissing you off that way you should minimize any losses you might incur as a beginner. Keep studying the material here and you will soon be making some nice money on the side i'm sure
Sounds like you've got a lot of projects going on, be careful you don't overdo it :).
Try this out for programming. The course has finished but the video lectures are still there, nice and simple.
Also, I started learning German through Duolingo I've stopped now because I had so much going on but I found it a really good format for learning foreign languages.
Have fun
Im trying not to overdo it haha
I also use duolingo for Spanish can't recommend it enough to be honest its a great way to learn. At leasy it is for me. Thanks for the programming link will have a look later on
Originally posted by ExternalUseOnly
Im trying not to overdo it hahaI also use duolingo for Spanish can't recommend it enough to be honest its a great way to learn. At leasy it is for me. Thanks for the programming link will have a look later on
thanks for talking about duolingo just went and checked it out its pretty awsome layout im also jus starting to learn spanish.
awesome
Im still having a little trouble remembering the different variations of each word for I you we they he she etc but its coming along well. Did you know much/any spanish before you tried it?
I used to play sparsely, in the last week or two since I've really gotten into it I've been playing maybe 4 hours/day.
Probably once I've been playing longer it'll go down a bit and I'll be playing once or twice a week, 4 hours on the days that I play.
Other hobbies, I've been drawing a webcomic for years that I'm going to end a month from now, and after that maybe try writing a novel. I'm into movies, music, video games (As a fan), I'm looking to get more into basketball and tennis (As a local-league level player).
Also I've been thinking about some for-fun computer AI programs. I did natural language processing stuff for my Masters thesis and I'm thinking of expanding on that for fun. Plus I'd love to be able to design a program that plays Poker. It'd start off with pure Bayesian analysis and once that worked I'd introduce a neural network component, something that might be capable of classifying the behavior of individual opponents.
As some might already I am also programmer and findign it hard to have enough time for poker.
But also the big problem is - there still is time for poker, but if usign all of it - the I am not sure will I see anything with my eyes when I will be 40 ♦
I play cash games , but really would love play MTTs as well to have a chance to gamble a big prize.
I was watchign moveis and tv shows, but now I cut them down and watch them rarely, to avoid the screen. Instead of them - I listen to comedy radio. ANd was considering - listening audio books for movies replacement.
Also I go sometimes to play table tennis, pool, various board games when friends have time. Also tried skiing recenly after many years of not doing that and it was fun.
Would also like playing other computer games, but not doing that now too much, just dreaming when I will make decent money from poker, I could work half time at the job so less screen, less hurt for eyes.
NOt having gf currenly so easier to find time for poker.
And by the way - if there is no live coachings, I play about one hour per day, but last months I do it even less than that, because studying poker more.
Originally posted by SPeedFANat1c
As some might already I am also programmer and findign it hard to have enough time for poker.But also the big problem is - there still is time for poker, but if usign all of it - the I am not sure will I see anything with my eyes when I will be 40 ♦
I play cash games , but really would love play MTTs as well to have a chance to gamble a big prize.
I was watchign moveis and tv shows, but now I cut them down and watch them rarely, to avoid the screen. Instead of them - I listen to comedy radio. ANd was considering - listening audio books for movies replacement.
Also I go sometimes to play table tennis, pool, various board games when friends have time. Also tried skiing recenly after many years of not doing that and it was fun.
Would also like playing other computer games, but not doing that now too much, just dreaming when I will make decent money from poker, I could work half time at the job so less screen, less hurt for eyes.
NOt having gf currenly so easier to find time for poker.
And by the way - if there is no live coachings, I play about one hour per day, but last months I do it even less than that, because studying poker more.
probably not a typical example but I am hitting 40 and I have used a computer for about 10-15 /day for the last 12 -15 years and I still have 20/20 eye sight (or maybe 20/19). i am also a programmer btw
probably not a typical example but I am hitting 40 and I have used a computer for about 10-15 /day for the last 12 -15 years and I still have 20/20 eye sight (or maybe 20/19). i am also a programmer btw
have no idea what those numbers mean. But as I understood you have good eyes.
How did you keep good eyes, any advice? You use vitamins often?
Originally posted by SPeedFANat1c
probably not a typical example but I am hitting 40 and I have used a computer for about 10-15 /day for the last 12 -15 years and I still have 20/20 eye sight (or maybe 20/19). i am also a programmer btw
have no idea what those numbers mean. But as I understood you have good eyes.
How did you keep good eyes, any advice? You use vitamins often?
20/20 means perfect eyesight (in the UK they give you a rating out of 20 - or sometimes 10 - for each eye)
hmm luck I guess touch wood, it will stay that way
so, lot's of programmers! haha nice to meet you up there guys, glad to see that is not me who is looking for some extra hobbies and not just side projects about more programming, which I like too, but these days I just need a break of the work and some other projects that couldn't make it work (iPhone/Android game which I never found an artist to work with)
About the poker programming, yeah, I have been thinking that there are a couple of utilities that I would be able to do for the iPhone/Android but I'm waitiging to learn much more because if I start doing now I'm pretty sure I will left out a lot of things since I'm just getting the grip of the things.
And I'm loving this duolingo page! I was thinking on learning french a few weeks ago I even started to learn a few words which is very fun.
My native language is spanish so I will be glad to send/receive poker related mail to help practice any pokerstrategy fellow!
And glad to see this is a great community!
