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Tips for Pulling an Online Poker All Nighter
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
By Shawn Perry
PartTime Poker
As a newer online poker player, you're probably about to have this experience: one night the cards are running good, the action is fast, you decide to make a late-night pot of coffee and then presto! It's 8am. If you're someone who has been playing for a bit, that scenario probably sounds just a bit too familiar.
All-nighters are certainly "fun" [in a slightly masochistic sense]. On the positive side, 30 hours of continuous play is bound to teach something to even the most unobservant of players. 30 hours also affords you a chance to build some truly monstrous stacks on small buyin NL and PL tables [the benefits and drawbacks of such stacks are topics we'll cover later]. But, the downside: a CNN article reports that "people who drive after being awake for 17 to 19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent" An article from WebMD reports that "Regardless of the brain's attempt to overcome sleep deprivation, a sleep-deprived person cannot perform mental tasks as well as someone who is well-rested."
So basically, you're drunk and stupid. Sounds like a money-winning combo to me! But regardless, some will still play through the night. Here are some tips for a smoother ride.
1) Stay hydrated: drink a lot of water. Constant water drinking. The dehydration that comes from staying awake and drinking mass amounts of coffee has a very real, very negative effect on your brain. Plus, water is one of the best was to stay awake.
2) Don't drink any alcohol, or perhaps more to the point, any more alcohol. It only makes you stupider and dehydrates you further.
3) Keep perspective. Even though it is a long session, it is still just one session. DO NOT play to catch up when you get down [loosening up, moving to higher limits, etc]. It can be frustrating to play 30 hours and lose money when you were up at one point, but over the course of your poker 'career', you will more than likely play thousands of hours where you lose. 30 are no worse just because it comes in one chunk.
Good luck with it and remember: you can always sleep now and play tomorrow
