Any poker player worth his salt will tell you that they depend on patience, discipline, emotional control, and judgment to succeed. The ability to make good decisions is unquestionably the number one weapon in the any good player's arsenal. In a game where your edge is always small, no matter your skill level, you need every edge you can get.

Sleep deprivation is a common problem that affects more than a quarter of adults, and I would venture to guess more than one-half of the young poker-playing population. It interferes with memory, energy levels, mental abilities, and emotional mood, all of which are important to your success. <READMORE>

Fatigue affects our emotional moods, causing stress, anxiety, depression, negative thinking, and anger. Tired people are often grumpy and easily frustrated. I'm sure that you could see where that could affect your poker game! Social problems such as road rage have been linked to sleep deprivation. Therefore, the onset of tilt could very likely come along much more quickly when you have not had enough sleep.

Insufficient rest works against your brain's natural ability to solve problems. Your thoughts become increasingly cloudy as you stay awake. This could affect you when you are trying to determine what your opponent's bet means, or how much to value bet.

Sleep assists you in organizing and recovering memories. After you learn something new, sleep solidifies the learning in your brain. If you are trying to improve as you go, getting proper sleep can help you build on your previous experiences at a quicker rate. This is also true for short-term memory, as you may pick up others' betting patterns faster when you are alert.

If you are a multitabler, the effects of fatigue are especially dangerous as your reaction time slows.

The effect of exhaustion on alertness and energy may be bigger than you would assume: Several studies have shown that an alert driver with a blood-alcohol level of .05 drives better than someone who hasn't slept in sixteen hours or more. You wouldn't play drunk (I hope), so playing tired should also be out of the question!

Some facts about sleep:

- Adults should have at least six hours of sleep to function well enough to perform, and eight hours is what is necessary for optimal performance.

- If you are less than twenty years old, you should have nine hours of sleep.

- The parts of the brain that control your decision-making and emotions slow down drastically during sleep, allowing top-notch performance when alert. REM sleep (your dream state) is extremely important to keep your spirits up.

- Lack of sleep has been linked in studies to increased risk-taking, poor judgment, and poor decision making, as well as poor job performance, poor school performance, and poor sports performance.

- Lack of sleep has been linked in studies to obesity, diabetes, illness in general, high blood pressure, and heart disease. When in conjunction with the adverse health effects of a sedentary lifestyle (i.e. sitting in front of a computer playing poker all day), these effects multiply.

- The use of an alarm clock or any loud sound wreaks havoc on your body the next day if you are awakened during a deep sleep period.

Tips for increasing profitability:

- Have a routine if you are a pro cash game player and stick to it. If you are a recreational player, set a bedtime and stick to it unless the game is abnormally good.

- If playing a tournament, estimate the time the tournament will finish and estimate how alert you will be at that time. Thoughts such as "Well, if I get THAT far, who cares how I feel at that point!" use faulty logic and cause you to be tired at the final table when it matters most, eating into your ultimate profitablility!

- Avoid "one more lap" syndrome, where you take one last lap around the table several times before sleeping.

- Don't use an alarm clock unless you absolutely must. Whenever possible, allow yourself to wake up when you naturally would.

- Good exercise and physical health promotes good sleep. If it's possible to exercise when you wake up, it's the best way to attain alertness quickly.

- Avoid Energy Drinks, such as Red Bull, and coffee, unless there is an emergency (you must finish a tournament alert, etc.). Keep in mind that for every increase in energy that these drinks provide, there is a "come-down" period where your drowsiness will get worse! In addition, it is possible to become dependant on these drinks, causing fatigue when you don't take them.

- If you find yourself being grumpy because of lack of sleep, stop playing as soon as you can.

- If you are going to play tired anyway, play fewer tables than you normally would.

Sweet dreams! See you at the tables!

Jennifear

Jennifear is a proud Contributing Writer for Pocketfives.com and a Presto Award Winner. She teaches private poker lessons, and you can find the details at Jennifear.com. A discount on these lessons is available by supporting pocketfives.com by joining a poker site through one of their links.
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