How much time do you take off?

[ponyboy]

Lately I have been playing VERY poorly. Part luck getting no cards, mostly skill making some really stupid plays. I think I have a lot on my mind other than doing well at poker this month. I've decided I'm going to just take some time off and leave poker for a small while after a 400% profit over three months. Not bad in my books. I'm going to focus on my business and see if I can get that up 400% in the next month - that would be awesome.

My question is do you ever take a long break from poker and if so, how long?

[a500lbgorilla]

3 days. That's long enough for me to want to play aggressively again.

-'rilla

[Estrop]

A good nights sleep refreshes the mind.

[mouteut]

A walk to the bathroom is enough for me

More seriously i don't have to take huge breaks but after 4-6 hour i sometimes begin to tilt/get unlucky and then getting off 2-3 hours helps.

[CrunchyNuts]

I just took a week off and so far it's served to refocus me pretty well. Now to see if that actually helps =)

[outphase]

I've been running bad for a week and I've taken several days off already and I don't intend on playing online again until my head is back in the game.

[A10Chief]

I sat out for almost two weeks, mostly because I wanted to wait until payday so I could bump my bankroll to a better level than it was at so I could play more comfortably. But since coming back, I have been up pretty big. I think after awhile you start thinking so much that you overthink the game. Taking a break helped me step back and refocus on the important parts. Plus it gave me a chance to start re-reading SSH.

[aokrongly]

the answer for me is UNTIL I FEEL MY MIND AND GAME ARE RIGHT, and I can play the hand in front of me, not my memories of previous beats, hopes and dreams, etc. Just the hand in front of me.

Here's a tool that works if you know what you're doing wrong but keep doing it anyway. Put it into a declarative statement and write it down 100 times. Not 99. 100 all at one time. I do it. Here are two examples where I saw issues and made up a fix and wrote it out:

I will not call large bets when i now my Good Hands are beat.

Careful play is not weak.

Your's will obviously be different. But you have to WORK YOUR SOLUTION, not just take time off and hope that the world becomes a better place.

[underminedsk]

It varies. Ive been playing online for 2 months now, and Ive taken two seven-day breaks where I comepletely uninstalled the software from my computer so I wouldn't even be tempted to play. I take these week breaks after more than -600xbb downswings (or tiltswings ) to make sure I dont bleed away even more money trying to win it back. Ive also taken several 2-3 day shorter breaks if I felt my game wasnt at 100%.

I HIGHLY reccomend breaks for people who feel they aren't the top of their game. It does wonders.

[Ltrain]

A day is usually enough to clear my head. If you have poker tracker, look at the hands that beat you. Usually, after I review this and see the ridiculous calls someone made that hit on a miracle, I am motivated enough jump back in and get my money back.

[Miffed22001]

I go for a good jog, have a cup of coffee. Feel good and play again.
(the music and a suitable scrutiny of my hand/hands that i lost while running are enough motivation to go back and play again.

[storm75m]

I go for a good jog, have a cup of coffee. Feel good and play again.
(the music and a suitable scrutiny of my hand/hands that i lost while running are enough motivation to go back and play again.

Doing something physical is highly underestimated IMO. Focus on an old hobby, work on your B-Ball game, get laid, get outside and smell the roses. I've only taken one week long break that really helped. But if I've taken a few bad beatings in a row, I quit for the day and do something else PHYSICAL (don't sit around and watch TV, cause you know all those hands will still be racing through your head), and the next day I have a clean slate. I love what AOK said about writing down your leaks 100 times. I don't do that exactly, but I have a full page of tips and mental notes that I wrote for myself that I re-read over and over again when things get hairy.