Head Games: I’m Burned Out on Poker. What Now?

The Pros: Sam Trickett, Alex Fitzgerald, Tripp Kirk, and David Benefield

Craig Tapscott: What are a few telltale signs that you’re becoming burned out by too many endless days and weeks of playing poker?

Sam Trickett: It’s a hard one to answer because I feel it’s different for every player. But for me personally, I know when I’m ready for a break because I start feeling frustrated at minor little things like being card dead and losing small pots. I feel you should always be able to accept and expect bad luck and move on as quickly as possible.

Alex Fitzgerald: The first sign I’m getting burned out is that many of my decisions become automatic. I’m not looking at recent hands with my opponent, I’m not checking statistics, I’m not thinking about how the game is going – I’m just taking the ABC lines in hands. Many players play this way all the time, but I think such an unfeeling and unthinking game is a real sign you should take time off. In my life I get more withdrawn and quiet when I’m doing badly in poker, but I think that’s much better than being in a bad mood with my family or complaining to anyone about bad beats. I just try to smile with people who love me and not talk about cards, find something else constructive to do that will help me relax, and eventually I feel fine again. 

Tripp Kirk: First of all, it takes a lot of poker for me to get burned out. I enjoy the game so much 99 percent of the time, but if I go a few weeks of playing tourneys every day I can get burned out. A few of the signs that I am starting to get burned out are overall laziness and getting visibly frustrated at the table. One of the things I have found is that when I am not fired up about playing, I talk myself into showing up at the very last minute in order to skip the early, boring levels of a tournament. This isn’t ideal since a lot of amateur players will give away more chips than they should in these levels.

David Benefield: Poker burnout can come up in any number of ways unique to the individual. For me, I tend to get frustrated easier. The bad beats feel like they are always coming, and I have the attitude that no matter how good I get it in, my opponent will still win the pot. Burnout results in an overall negative attitude towards poker, which cannot be beneficial for my game. Tilt does not always mean just going all-in every hand or spewing off like crazy. Anything that pulls me away from playing my A-game is tilt, and if I have the attitude that I will lose a lot of pots, it is messing with how my subconscious affects my decision making and will hurt my bottom line. The largest indicator for me is when I begin to make decisions automatically without really thinking about every possibility. I play my best poker when I analyze each situation individually. I try to ask myself why I am making this bet, why I am betting this size, why I am taking so long to do it? When I just start making moves without considering every possibility, I play less than optimally and I consider this tilt.

Craig Tapscott: What’s the best advice you have for players when they start to feel burned out by poker, mentally and physically?

Sam Trickett: For me personally when I feel exhausted or burnt out I like to spend time away from poker people and chill with my girlfriend and family. I’m lucky to have such a good bunch of friends because they help me forget all about downswings, exhaustion, etcetera. I think it’s always good to have short breaks when you’re on a downswing or feeling tired because after your short break you can see it as a fresh start and go from there! I would like to bet that I play less than most other pros and only ever play when I feel fresh and ready to play. My best advice is not to force the action and only play when you’re feeling confident and fresh.

Alex Fitzgerald: When you start to feel burned out it’s best to get as far away from the tables or computer as possible. You’re exercising your mind as a poker player, which means you need to treat it like any other muscle. Once you start feeling pain from doing a singular repetitive motion with any body part, it usually helps to stretch that muscle back in the opposite direction. Poker is a very sedentary and generally left-brained activity. To achieve balance in our life we will then need to be physically active and use our right brains. I really like running through a park and breathing some fresh air to get exercise. To exercise the right side of my brain I try to write creatively or have a good non-business conversation with my friends outside of the poker industry.

Tripp Kirk: During a stretch such as the WSOP, where you are playing a tournament almost every day, I think the best way to keep from getting burned out is to make sure to have balance in your life. Most importantly, get away from poker when you can. This includes getting out of the casino after busting out of a tournament and being sure to schedule days off to do other things, such as spending a day at the pool. Many of the younger players are friends with a lot of the other players, so when they bust out of a tourney there is always someone deep in a tourney to go rail. I think it’s important to schedule days where you don’t enter a casino or play a hand of poker. Also, in my first few trips to Vegas, I was so excited about playing poker that I wouldn’t get but four to six hours of sleep and wasn’t eating but maybe one meal a day. I quickly found out that I couldn’t play my best when my body was on the verge of shutting down from lack of food and sleep. To sum it up, I would say to avoid getting burned out, you should maintain as balanced and as healthy a lifestyle as possible while remembering that there is more to do in Las Vegas than play poker.

David Benefield: The majority of the advice I hear for dealing with burnout goes something like, “Take a nice break, go to the beach or something.” Well, I do not like taking a long break when I am losing. The break will not be enjoyable or relaxing because I will be concerned about my recent losses. This is probably not an optimal attitude, but I digress. What works best for me are short breaks centered on physical activity. These give my brain an opportunity to rest while giving my body a chance to improve itself. Boxing works phenomenally well for dealing with burnout. It allows me a perfect outlet to release whatever frustration I am dealing with and, at least temporarily, forget my poker woes. You do not have to enjoy fighting to benefit from boxing training. Just getting out there and learning how to move your body, throw a proper punch, and control your emotions under duress is a massively rewarding experience. Even less extreme, taking a walk around the casino for five or ten minutes helps to curtail the frustration from losing a big pot. ♠