PokerWorks

You'll have to excuse me if I seem a little tired, cranky or downright pissy. Six months straight of 3 a.m. feedings will do that to you. I have noticed that it's not the screaming or the diapers or the lack of free time that will get to you when you're raising twins and a toddler.

It's the grind. I suppose it's all of it, and yet it's not one thing.

Poker can be the same way. It's not the suck outs that get to you, or the coolers, or staring at Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet, Poker Stars or Bodog for hours and getting dealt crap, crap and more crap.

It's all of it.

Poker is a game with heart-pumping moments of exhilaration and hours of the kind of dullness that leads you to peel the wrappers off your beer bottles. There will be many times that the grind of poker will get to you, especially if you take the game seriously and play for hours a week.

Here are some tips for battling the grind:

• Change things up - You can't play all Hold 'Em, all the time, and expect to stay sharp, or at the very least, you can't play Hold 'Em cash games all the time and expect to stay sharp. So mix it up. I make sure to play at least one big MTT a week to take a break from my cash games, and I try to play a little Omaha now and then. The point is to have fun on those nights. And the point of that is to prevent the grind from creeping into my poker game.
• Experiment with different levels - I'm not advocating you move up a level just to cure your boredom. In fact that's a sure way to lose money. But I am advocating that you move up if you feel the grind of your game wearing you down. It's possible that you're ready for a higher level and you're just bored with the current level, sort of like a 4th grade student always getting into trouble because he really belongs in the sixth grade. Just make sure you're bankrolled for it.
And sometimes moving down a level has the same effect. I sometimes like to play .5/.10 just because I feel comfortable playing like a complete maniac at those levels. I love playing lots of hands at those levels and trying to tilt the rocks. Why not? I've had it done to me many times.
• Play shorter sessions - How many times have I advocated this for avoiding tilt and keeping your focus? The same rule applies here. If you play short, focused sessions, the chances of the grind catching up to you decrease.
• Better yet, take breaks of a least a couple days - Breaks are good for poker even if it is a recreational game for most of us. It's a recreation that requires lots of concentration, good thought and a little luck. That gets tiring after a while. You're just asking for the grind to get you if you don't take breaks from it all.
• Be wary of the AwFugIts - When you get a little bored of poker, or a little frustrated, sometimes bad calls can start to creep in your game. You might just be curious what other players have and "pay to see it." You might call just because you are tired of folding. You might just say "Aw, Fug It" and call just because.

Just go to bed instead.

Now if only my twins would let me do the same.