Daily goals

Lately I’ve been reflecting on daily goals in poker.
Things like X games per day, Y profit per session or I must hit today’s volume.
I realized that, for me, these targets sometimes create more pressure than focus.
Instead of playing hand by hand, my mind starts racing ahead. When that happens, decision quality drops, even if motivation is high.

How do you structure your daily goals?

I recommend that you set realistically achievable goals.

I think it’s not advisable to get used to structuring daily goals around money, but rather around processes and decisions, because short-term financial results have a lot of variance. The approach is closer to that of an athlete or a professional trader (playing two 90-minute sessions without distractions, focusing on BB vs BTN defense, marking all questionable hands, stopping if tilt is detected, and reviewing 10 key hands afterward)

For me, daily goals are more volume- and decision-based right now. In cash games my target is around 300 hands per day, and I try to focus on making good decisions rather than short-term results.
To be honest, it’s still not easy to fully get rid of the “gambler mindset” and chasing losses, but I’m actively working on it and I can see progress. For me, sticking to the process matters more than the outcome of a single session.

LuTsu said:

Lately I’ve been reflecting on daily goals in poker.
Things like X games per day, Y profit per session or I must hit today’s volume.
I realized that, for me, these targets sometimes create more pressure than focus.
Instead of playing hand by hand, my mind starts racing ahead. When that happens, decision quality drops, even if motivation is high.

How do you structure your daily goals?

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Try setting yourself quarterly or annual profit targets. And don't divide them up into each day you play, as this is simply irrelevant in poker. Don't complicate your life.

I’ve moved away from outcome-based daily goals for the same reason. Instead of X hands or Y profit, I focus on process goals: play my A-game, make the best decision each hand, and quit when focus drops.
If I set anything measurable, it’s soft targets like one quality session or review a few hands afterward. That keeps pressure low, improves decision-making, and ironically leads to better long-term results.