How do you warm up for a session?

Originally posted by ThatGuyMatt

Originally posted by keoghh
Go to toilet, its a killer having to make a mad dash mid session ♦

!!! Can't believe I forgot this one, nothing worse than needing to pee

Then coming back and see you missed AA
That's what pee bottles (or containers of any kind) exist for. They're not a joke, they're a necessity.

Alas I only meditate before a session: reviewing hands is too tilting, especially my own.

I hate it when I'm in the middle of an sng session and I gotta take a leak!

It's so horrible!! And I can't make a quick dash because I do two screens lol

So I gotta hold it in an every second it gets more uncomfortable.

Regarding the warm up, I've been reviewing my games and watching dome youtube poker videos to warm myself up.

It works!

Take Care,

Maythany

i do 10 squats

Well just prepare your mental game...

Or the below works very well too

Originally posted by ragney
Well just prepare your mental game...

Or the below works very well too
excessive masturbation :coolface:]

for all the followers -

Originally posted by BOBOsvk
i do 10 squats

Are you sure that 10 squats arent to much? ♦

I like to pick some HH's or hands that I have marked for review that went to showdown . Obviously make sure the known hole cards are not exposed when replaying the hand.

Then using equilab try to narrow villains range from 100% of hands to very few hands or even a single hand. The idea is that the hole cards shown by villains at showdown should be in the range of hands selected. If not, or if villain takes some crazy line then you can make some quality notes...bonus!

Personally I find this really helps to get me thinking in terms of ranges when playing. I don't always do this but when I have warmed up in this way it really improves my game.

hope this helps

Originally posted by muel294
I like to pick some HH's or hands that I have marked for review that went to showdown . Obviously make sure the known hole cards are not exposed when replaying the hand.

Thanks Muel, that's a good one. I will add it to the list of my daily study routines.

~ walk the dog (empties mind of 'clutter' and 'blows cobwebs' away!)

~ make tea (sometimes have lucozade or similar) (prepare snacks if playing long mtts)

~ make some 'roll-up' cigarettes (JUST tobacco!) ♦

~ check news on poker sites etc. (sometimes read articles/watch vids)

~ review hand histories and formulate a rough plan of what aspect(s) of my game I want to focus on improving in the following session

~ currently looking into meditation techniques etc., so will hope to incorporate some of these soon.

blast some music and make a coffe

During the week I have my tea and pretty much get straight into the tables so I can have a decent session before tiredness sets in. Weekends are a little different.

Because my computer takes even longer than I do to get going on a morning I head downstairs in my dressing room and switch the my computer on. While it's booting up I head for the toilet and have a pee. I then head for the kitchen and get some food out to cook for breakfast. I quickly nip back to my computer to log in and then go back upstairs to throw on a creased t-shirt and some jeans that may or may not need a wash but then, meh, I'm going to wear them anyway.

I go back into the kitchen, put a teabag in a cup and switch the kettle on. Rather than waiting for it to boil, I go into my front room and open up HEM and Stars. This is where the problems start; I'm now on autopilot. As soon as Stars is open I get eight S&Gs on the go immediately (or as close to eight as I can, depending on traffic) and start grinding. As soon as the first four tables are open I hear the click of the kettle and I'm immediately annoyed with myself for forgetting to make a cup of tea before starting my session AGAIN.

I then realise that I'm hungry too. I've left bacon on the bench and it needs really needs to be put in a pan, smothered in sauce, slapped between two slices of bread and poured into my face. Unfortunately I'm now stuck with a growling stomach and some very bad cards. It's tempting to take the laptop to the kitchen and play while cooking but experience tells me that I'm going to be eating cremated breakfast if I focus properly on poker or a very expensive breakfast if focus properly on the slice of pig sitting in the pan.

There has to be proper concentration on the session so I try to put my thirst and hunger to the back of my mind. I get as far as the 25-50 blinds when I realise that I'm also absolutely desperate for a crap. I try to ignore it but my gut is very insistent. By the time the blinds are ready to go up I'm ready to get up too. There's a distinct turtle's head situation and I'm not likely to be able to hold on for another five minutes, let alone at least half an hour of S&Gs. I pick up the laptop and race for the toilet, inevitably being dealt playable hands on at least three tables as I'm on the move. The toilet is occupied. Fortunately we have another so I turn around and waddle towards that one instead.

I take my place on the throne just in time and, fortunately for me, there's a lull in the hands. There must be action on all the tables; I can just relax a little. On one of the tables I can see I have 1100 chips, the blinds are about to go up to 75/150 and I'm in the blinds in two hands. The guy in the hijack position is taking an age to make a decision and... oh! A rolling bar appear on the screen with the title, 'Network Status'. Oh bollocks! I've gone beyond the range of the wifi.

Frantically, I push the laptop as close as I can to the toilet door and, leaning from the bowl to the far end of the room, I start the troubleshooter. By the time I reconnect I've missed a stack of hands and I also have to wave goodbye to AQs and QQ because I don't hit 'I'm Back' on time. That's no big deal compared to the fact that I now also have to spend several minutes 'going about my business' while stretching to the other end of the bathroom to play or fold hands. Once I'm finally finished with my real life gutshot I rapidly flush, wash my hands, dry them and head back to my living room while still attempting to play something that resembles competent poker. I've heard of working on leaks in your game but this is ridiculous.

I'm now short handed on the tables I haven't busted out of. While I've been performing toilet acrobatics my wife has been busy herself. I've no sooner plonked myself back down on my chair in the front room when she walks through the door. She looks at me, hunched over the laptop, unshowered, wearing a creased t-shirt and dirty jeans. She puts a delicious bacon sandwich and cup of tea down in front of me and mocks me for being a fairly useless human being, completely unable to sort myself out on a morning.

When all the tables are done I eat the sandwich, drink the tea, shower, brush my teeth, maybe have a shave and change into some clean clothes. This is the point when I'm really ready to play poker and one day I might actually learn my lesson.

That was hilarious!

"Turtle head" "real life gutshot"

Best of luck!
--VS

Originally posted by StartlingGrope
This is the point when I'm really ready to play poker and one day I might actually learn my lesson.

Nice read. And quite interesting from educational point of view. Kind of a peculiar scenario for "HOW NOT TO" or "25 most common mistakes" guide

0. Get a cup of water
1. Sit on my chair
2. Turn PC, then HEM and Stars
3. Turn on Mozart playlist
4. Play

Keep it simple

1. Go to toilet
2. Bring, food, water etc.
3. Close everything on pc non related to poker
4. Phone on silent and put it away, so I can't see someones calling, texting.
5. No music, complete silence.

Goal is to become non human with no social life, interests, only poker at the moment.

Originally posted by Fiskantes
0. Get a cup of water
1. Sit on my chair
2. Turn PC, then HEM and Stars
3. Turn on Mozart playlist
4. Play

Keep it simple

I'm really please to hear somebody actually say this. There is so much written about correct preparation for a poker session. I've never had any problem with just sitting down and zoning in and I'm glad I'm not alone.

Originally posted by StartlingGrope
I'm really please to hear somebody actually say this. There is so much written about correct preparation for a poker session. I've never had any problem with just sitting down and zoning in and I'm glad I'm not alone.

The fact that somebody is doing the same way as you do, says almost nothing about the correctness of this behavior.

The point is to understand, develop and adopt the most +EV way of starting your session. And the best way is of course(as with anything else) to try and find out by yourself. Here we just sharing ideas...

It's well known nowadays that when level of players' technical skills become close, the Psychological and "around the table" aspects starts to play a huge role. All professional sports people use this technique, why Don't I ?

If a 10 minutes meditation prior to start will save me couple BB/100 - two hands up! ♠_biggrin:

If setting a timer prior to session to Buzzz every 1.5 hours and require me to stand up and have a 5 minutes walk around the house - will make my negative sessions to happen two times less likely and reduce my tilt - Oh man, I am surely up for it!

If Warming up can help me to work on my "Call river raise too often" leak right during the play and this will save me hours of my time in the long run - Well done. Woohooo!! screw them all, I want this in my skill set. ♠_cool:

You can consider WarmUp as a tool same as HEM, notes on players, Equilab or CREV. The goal is to increase your edge and $/hour and also bring more joy and comfort into the grinding process.

good luck ya all.

I like to have sex before a big MTT...

Preferably with somebody else...

sleeping well the previous day. i find that really hard and when i get it going for some time i usually get on a good streak