One bit of poker strategy that could definitely use a little more coverage is the concept of time management. After all, you don’t hear too many people talking about how long a person should stay at a certain limit, how long a player should continue on before logging out during a losing session, or when a person should quit after a huge winning session.
But just because you don’t hear people talking a whole lot about time management in poker does not mean that it’s not important. In fact, knowing how to effectively manage your time in poker is a crucial skill for those who want to become great players.
How long can you stay focused?
Forget all of your grand illusions about being able to grind for 12 hours a day, and just concentrate on your past for a second. What is the longest poker session where you were able to stay focused the whole time while still hauling in a profit? Better yet, think about what your average session is where you can play comfortably without getting bored or distracted.
It’s very important that you be honest with yourself here because there are too many poker players who lie to themselves when answering this question. If you are a semi-professional player who can focus clearly for 4 straight hours, then this number will give you a good idea as to how long you should play during a big winning session or a bad day where the cards just aren’t falling your way.
Likewise, a recreational player who has a full-time job might only be able to play for 1 or 2 hours a day before losing concentration. Whatever the case may be with you, make sure to stick with your average session as a guideline because playing too long can force some very poor decisions.
How long to stay at a certain limit
Another concept of time management is knowing how much time to spend at a certain limit before moving up. For instance, if you are a $2/$4 Limit Hold’em player, and are hoping to move up to $3/$6 Limit Hold’em, you will need to look at your life.
For instance, if you have a 9 – 5 job and can dedicate two hours a day to the game, you should spend at least 4 months at the $2/$4 limit before moving up. On the other hand, if you’re someone who has saved up enough money and has made the decision to become a semi-professional player, you can dedicate more time to learning the game and thus can probably move up within two months.
A very useful guiding principle is to play shorter hours if you are losing and have a poor image but play longer sessions if you’re winning and have good control of the table. In the old days, this was called “taking it off”. Phil Ivey is known for doing this well. So was the late great Chip Reese.