When is the best time to play poker (=more profitable?)

Greetings everyone 👋! I have a very interesting question and will be happy to hear member's thoughts about it.

When is the best time to play poker online during the week? What I mean is that during the weekdays you have less people playing and it might be more comfortable, because the level of people is higher (probably) and the game is more predictable. But on the other hand we have weekends, when a lot of amateurs are playing. And that's good, because there is more money in the game on that days, more tables, bigger prizepools etc, so you can earn more (probably).

Simple math (or not so simple?) :
more people playing = more amateurs playing (not playing very good) = more opportunities to win their money.
OR
less people playing = more predictable and comfortable game = more chances to get to the prizes.

That's an interesting situation both for cash games and tournaments. I don't have my answer yet. What do you think?

Hello!
I'm most attracted to weekends as there are more players playing and tournaments can always offer higher guarantees.
But there are also disadvantages. The dispersion in such cases is very high.

There is also another reason why I play on weekends. The most interesting tournaments take place in the evening for most countries, at a time when we already have night. That's why I can't afford to play on weekdays.

I think you should play when you have a good night's sleep, rest and are fully ready to play so that you are not distracted by business and strangers and things how many people do not matter if you are a patient player

Game volume is very important to me, but the best time is morning on my local time.

I believe you have to test, to see which one you feel more comfortable playing. It depends on each person's game strategy. Both during the week and on weekends, I believe you need different strategies. On the weekends because there are more amateurs, you will see more hands winning with possibilities that you don't see as often as during the week, hands like K2 and K3, making two pair, or 93 or 27 making three of a kind or making a full house and even a few all-in pretty absurd. So those players who tend to only play high and premium cards really realize that the highest card is not the best hand, which makes the game very unpredictable.

You may be in an optimal state to play only during certain hours and they do not always coincide with the peak of gaming traffic. In European rooms, traffic usually starts to rise at 21:00 and stays at a good level for about 4-5 hours. On PokerStars you will find the most players from 21:00 to 01:15. It's the same on the MicroGaming and 888Poker networks. But at PartyPoker traffic appears a little later - from 22:00 to 02:00. This marathon is closed by iPoker, where players pull up at 23:15 and actively play until 02:45. Be guided by this time if you play in these rooms.

For me it doesn't matter the day and time, or if there are more or less players, if I'm not committed to any homework or work I play, but only freerolls.

Gallarado777 DiegoRamos lalinha dreamer13 Gritz18​

Thanks everyone for the response and your thoughts!

I have an update about this little thing:

I know a player who is playing the morning session on european time. And that's his conscious choice, because when he played in the evenings, he said that there are too many people playing and how can you get to the prizes when it's 5000 people in the tournament? And he started to play in the morning, when the buy-in price is higher and guarantee is smaller, but there is like 100-200 players in the tournament. And he says that there is much better chance to get to the prizes then. That's an interesting opinion I suppose, because when I see those tournaments with 33$ buy-in and 2000$ guarantee in the morning and 4.40$ buy-in and 12000$ guarantee I feel confused . So probably I need totry them out. Just would be painfull to not get to the prizes in such tournaments

I think weekdays cause there is less variance, but if you are a pro I think weekends are good for busting the fishes, but the most important is to try and figure out the most where you play well.

ipagan said:

Greetings everyone 👋! I have a very interesting question and will be happy to hear member's thoughts about it.

When is the best time to play poker online during the week? What I mean is that during the weekdays you have less people playing and it might be more comfortable, because the level of people is higher (probably) and the game is more predictable. But on the other hand we have weekends, when a lot of amateurs are playing. And that's good, because there is more money in the game on that days, more tables, bigger prizepools etc, so you can earn more (probably).

Simple math (or not so simple?) :
more people playing = more amateurs playing (not playing very good) = more opportunities to win their money.
OR
less people playing = more predictable and comfortable game = more chances to get to the prizes.

That's an interesting situation both for cash games and tournaments. I don't have my answer yet. What do you think?

Click to expand...

Definitely, than less opponents than more chances on success. Simple maths is works good in any sphere.
But plays against amateurs is also a good plan. But do people remain stupid when it comes to losing money? You should have to conduct this experiment yourself.

I tend to play on tables where there are 2 - 3 recreational players. All pros table should be avoided.

A massive part of this question also relates to you personally and when you prefer to play in yourself.

If you enjoy playing in the morning, or simply have time to dedicate to poker that morning, and find you can focus well at that time of day, then maybe that is the best time to play, for you.
There is no point deciding to play evenings if you have to rush from work, try to cook and eat, and play poker all at once, and can't fully focus. Compare this to an afternoon when you are off work and you can plan your day etc. You will be much more relaxed and therefore should play better poker.

I think it is a mistake to look for short cuts such as, this time of day is easier so I should play then, the reality is, if you continue to improve, and work on your game you should be able to adapt to a smaller or larger field or playing against better or more recreational players.

If you want to reduce variance tho, then of course you should choose the smaller fields. There are still plenty of smaller buy ins all day long on Stars and GG for example.

An interesting thought despite what I said above: I do actually feel that cashing in the Sunday Storm is relatively easy when compared to field size in other games. This may support the theory of playing when more recreational players play despite the big fields. Especially if you qualified via a satty, then the profits can be quite solid, even without making any very deep runs. This belief is based on a relatively small sample size of entries. One part of this is that due to the massive field size, once in the money its fairly easy to ladder up 3/4 spots as so many players bust in a very short space of time. Not suggesting this is the best way to play it, but just simply that is is repeatedly possible in my opinion. Annoyingly my best performance of 120th ish was in a half price Storm, so my prize was also 'half price'

Weekends for me are the days when I can play quieter!

I only play on weekends since I work all week and since poker is not my main income I have to manage my time

ipagan said:

Greetings everyone 👋! I have a very interesting question and will be happy to hear member's thoughts about it.

When is the best time to play poker online during the week? What I mean is that during the weekdays you have less people playing and it might be more comfortable, because the level of people is higher (probably) and the game is more predictable. But on the other hand we have weekends, when a lot of amateurs are playing. And that's good, because there is more money in the game on that days, more tables, bigger prizepools etc, so you can earn more (probably).

Simple math (or not so simple?) :
more people playing = more amateurs playing (not playing very good) = more opportunities to win their money.
OR
less people playing = more predictable and comfortable game = more chances to get to the prizes.

That's an interesting situation both for cash games and tournaments. I don't have my answer yet. What do you think?

Click to expand...

Your idea of the quality of players on weekends is not entirely correct. Because on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, all the regulars sip. If you are confident at your limit, then you need to play these days, when you still need to update your best cash) I speak exclusively on MMT, I don’t play in other forms of poker and have no right to argue)

I think that every day can be the right time to play poker, but the weekends are more, it is up to each person to choose the time of day that suits him/her best.

I like to play at night and for a week. I get better results in these periods. I don't know why, but it's during these periods that luck reconciles with my playing technique. I really like!

It should be understood that with a small number of players, the number of prizes is lower. Therefore, it is obvious that it is more difficult to get into prizes. But the amount of winnings is higher. Well, if you want to win prizes with a small win, then it's better to play on weekends, then there are more chances.

Fish are always and everywhere. You just need to know how to find them.

I always prefer to play on weekends when more beginners players are on the tables. Of course, bad beats will happen more often, but the chances of winning big pots are higher.

for me I think early morning when players are asleep and less tables in tournaments, i think that profitable and the price pool are huge.

during the week, I think the best time to play is from 12pm to 8pm, for two reasons, there are a lot of people playing and a lot of amateurs

I think the best time is Fridays and Saturdays between 3 PM and mid night. In this time are many people online and play poker. That is the chance...!!

SpanRmonka said:

An interesting thought despite what I said above: I do actually feel that cashing in the Sunday Storm is relatively easy when compared to field size in other games. This may support the theory of playing when more recreational players play despite the big fields. Especially if you qualified via a satty, then the profits can be quite solid, even without making any very deep runs. This belief is based on a relatively small sample size of entries. One part of this is that due to the massive field size, once in the money its fairly easy to ladder up 3/4 spots as so many players bust in a very short space of time. Not suggesting this is the best way to play it, but just simply that is is repeatedly possible in my opinion. Annoyingly my best performance of 120th ish was in a half price Storm, so my prize was also 'half price'

Click to expand...

And that is a very interesting thought, thank you. I still can't say, that I do prefer playing on larger fields and I understand that if you improve your game, then you will handle any situation. But, for example, we can say the same about rooms. I know, that good high limit cash players prefer playing on GGPoker or PokerKing (Americas Cardroom) just simply because the field of players is weaker from their perspective. I can feel it too, because when I play one room I get to the prize much more often, then on PS. Same tournaments, same time, but on one room I get to the prizes much more often. Why? I feel that it's easier to play there 🤷‍♂️

Of course if I will play good enough, then I will get to the prizes on any room etc. But why should I spend time playing the harder field? All we want to earn playing poker, and the simple math that cash players appeal - that if you want to win money, you want to play with weaker players that you, because if you will play better players, then they will win money from you. That's why cash player try to find "good" table and not playing "regwars".

Everything is not that simple of course. But I'm trying to understand what suites better to me and hear more skilled players opinions.

When is the best time to play in Poker?!. Hm... As for Me, this can be any Time, because I don't know personally, when Luck turn on Me your Face!..
This means, by my opinion, necessary to play at any Time, when you feel in a Good form, as physically, so and mentality! That's all!