Pointers on staying focused during long grinds?

I'm sure you guys have experienced it. You've playing at an advantage (obviously, or else why would you sit and grind?), and you are down a healthy amount, with no hope in sight of hitting something. You aren't particularly "upset" per se, after all you do understand the feast or famine nature of video poker, and it is inevitable that you will hit a bad streak.

But still, it becomes a complete drag, more boring than watching paint dry. Still, you want to stay focused and grind out your advantage.

Do you guys have any tips when it comes to staying focused during these long grinds? I've noticed taking a quick 10 -15 minute break, getting up and walking around can be very nice. Also, don't drink. It gets you all happy and buzzed, but makes you tired and lethargic as you start to sober up at your machine, especially if you like the thick, dark beer. Even talking to someone and socializing a tad can add some fun back into the game.

I'll usually take a quick break (5 min) like you mentioned to help get the blood flowing and try to think of why I'm there and why I'm playing the play. I'll often do some math in my head about my current EV, what my expectation is on the play, how many SD's I'm down =P, etc, etc. Other than that, remind yourself you're making money playing a game and on "some" level try to enjoy playing the game.

Lastly, if you're tired, upset, bored, or anything else that actually affects your play (hands per hour, quality of play, etc) you should stop playing and come back another day when you're refreshed and focused.

I limit my sessions to under two hours . This way it's not as much of a drag . I also limit the bankroll that I bring with me so in the event of heavy losses I have no more money to lose . This works very well for me but I could see where that would not work for a real pro . I will cross that bridge when I reach it .

You just got to get mean... plum mad dog mean! I play very long sessions but I've been able to do that since Atari and Pong. That is to say I can look at screens for 8 to 12 hours at a time with little break time. Don't drink too much liquid or you'll be running to the bathroom a lot. Recently my age is catching up to me and I don't put in the 12 to 16 hour sessions anymore. One thing you can do to break things up in Vegas is play at multiple Casinos and play different games. Only put in a few hours at each. Downtown can be nice since you just walk next door or you can take a 20 min drive to another place to get your mind right. If you live here it can be easy to just take a loss and get em next time. Take a couple days off and wait for a point day or promo as well. You should spread your play around to all the shops anyways since almost all have something playable!

Don't forget even when you are losing you are winning every time you keep earning points. The more points the better the mail, cash back and comps. Be careful in some places cause too much coin in can cause you problems as well. So you lose for a week but you earn 100k in points. Next week you get all your money back and break even but earn another 100k in points... 200k in points for your time. Think about how much coin in and points you earned not about how much cash you won or lost.

Just Hulk smash the machines if you are losing too much.

Quote: AxelWolf

Just Hulk smash the machines if you are losing too much.

I like this ... funny, for sure! Believe it or not I've known players who have kicked machines and had money spit out. After having that happen they always would kick machines now and again. Not that it worked every time but they couldn't stop after that free money came out. Now when the Bellagio first opened up there were some machines where you would put in 100 cash and cash out the coins and the credits would stay on the machine. I still try this at times but that was on coin machines not tito.

Quote: monet0412

I like this ... funny, for sure! Believe it or not I've known players who have kicked machines and had money spit out. After having that happen they always would kick machines now and again. Not that it worked every time but they couldn't stop after that free money came out. Now when the Bellagio first opened up there were some machines where you would put in 100 cash and cash out the coins and the credits would stay on the machine. I still try this at times but that was on coin machines not tito.

It's to my understanding they had to grab the bill at the last second and pull it out for this to work.

I'm not sure what the legalities of that would be.

Quote: AxelWolf

It's to my understanding they had to grab the bill at the last second and pull it out for this to work.

I'm not sure what the legalities of that would be.

Wasn't there some sort of glitch years ago on either Williams or WMS machines where people were inserting bills and pulling them back out fast before the machine sucked it in completely and still got the credits for it? I may not have described it right, but it was something along those lines.