Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Playing Online SNGs--Time Management Issues


I'm playing only SNGs now, so that I can reduce variance and live within my bankroll.  I'm having to change the way that I manage my time, including when I play.

I don't want to wait 15 minutes or more for a SNG to fill up, and the times where there isn't a long wait present a small window of opportunity.  SNGs don't start filling up quickly (in Black Friday time) until after 6 P.M., and on weekdays, they slow down around 8 or 9 P.M.  On weekends they might or might not be fairly steady until around midnight.

When I was playing MTTs the selection wasn't great, but at least I knew when I could play.  MTTs are almost always scheduled tournaments, so I didn't have to wait, or guess, to find out when I can get a game started.

I'm a natural night person, and it has been said that being serious about poker means that you're going to be working nights and weekends, so that fine with me.  But for now the MTTs that I used to play starting at 10 or 11 P.M. aren't a good option, and it's almost impossible to find a SNG running that late on a weeknight.

Before this it was already complicated enough figuring out when to play, because the busiest times on a poker site are usually late Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon.  So sometimes I go to church on Sunday morning, and sometimes I don't.  Part of me thinks that I should be going to church more often.  The other part says that I have to work when I can make the most money, just like anyone else, and I shouldn't feel guilty about it.  Either way I have to sleep sometime during the weekend.

I'm going to church about half the time right now, but since even on Saturday the SNGs usually don't run much past midnight, I might start attending more often.  I'm already making other adjustments.

I was never a good multitabler.  I know I could be decent if I worked at  it, but there would definitely be a learning curve.  When I'm trying to build a bankroll is not the time to learn a new skill.  [break here to play a SNG which took 18 minutes to get all nine players.]  But it's better to register for the next one before the one I'm playing finishes, and be playing two tables part of the time,  rather than having ten or more minutes of down time.

The first state-regulated poker site is scheduled for Nevada sometime in March.  The sites that are available now definitely need some serious competition.

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