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Poker: talking about volume

Poker: talking about volume
To obtain satisfactory results in this sport, it is necessary to spend hours and hours grinding.
by Academia   |   comments 0
Monday, April 6 2020

Poker is a mind game, this is uncontroversial. It mixes mathematics, psychology, logic, it is a game of and about people. Being well psychologically is essential for a satisfactory performance. As volume is necessary, to beat field, variance and rake, it is necessary that we spend as much time as possible at the tables.

I know players who don't like long sessions, but me, and some of the biggest winners in this sport, know that it basically comes down to hours and more hours at the table, and a lot of hands played. In short, you will only make real money in the long run by imposing volume. If, on the one hand, it is wrong to set financial goals, such as earning so much per day, week or month, since we cannot control the outcome of our sessions, on the other hand it is very interesting to establish a minimum number of hands played per day, week and month. For tournament players, the minimum number of games also appears to be useful.

Therefore, if we are going to spend so many hours playing, it is necessary that our mindset is adjusted and accustomed. It is useless to establish playing 12 hours a day, if you were used to 3 hours. It is useless to establish 10k/hands week if you play a thousand hands in that period. Committing to concrete goals that can be achieved is the first step towards winning planning. Gradually increase the number of hands played and hours dedicated to grind. Remember that studying and debating hands is part of the process, being the most important tool for your evolution as a player. Hiring a coach, without a doubt, is the fastest way to evolve in this game. It is the type of investment that pays off quickly, in a few sections.

If our focus is online poker, increasing the number of tables is also a valuable way to increase our volume. Me, in particular, never play less than three tables simultaneously. Start by playing one, then open the second, and as you feel comfortable, more and more tables. But don't forget an important detail: never let the number of tables interfere with the quality of your game. Likewise, if you feel that you are not playing your A-Game because of the grind time, stop. Not playing when we are not in our best condition is certainly a way to increase winrate in the long run. I myself, sometimes, and after hours of sitting, realize that I am not playing in an acceptable way. I close the tables and close on time.

In live poker, there are not many options, it is basically sitting at the table and playing our A-Game as long as we can. The advantage I see here, is the fact that the field live is softer, which certainly wears us out less mentally. I got used to doing sessions of 12, 14, 16 and even more than 20 hours. I hardly sit at a live poker table if I don't have full time available to play for many hours. Believe me, playing with a predetermined time is a great way to have a bad session and lose money, for several reasons that I will talk about in a future article.

So if you want to be on the select list of poker winners, get ready to play many hands and hours. Imposing volume is as important as mastering the most basic concepts of our sport.

Daniel Dornelles