Best time to play poker?

[SyKoChiller]

Best Time of Day to Play

In my short online poker history I have started to notice some trends regarding the time of day I am playing. In the morning hours, say 8am till around 3pm, I do very well and rarely ever leave a table down. Then in the evening hours; 2pm-ish until after 7pm, sometimes even until 10pm, I just get murdered. My straights all get busted, nut flushes fall to boats and just about every sort in between like my kicker is smaller. Then after mid-night things seem to reset and my flushes and straights are crushing pairs and such until I have to quit to sleep. Repeat. My time zone is GMT +/- 5:00
Any thoughts/comments on why (Besides it having to do with the players online at those times) or similar experiences to share?

 

[OpenTheCan]

when it comes to tournaments there are always more people that play at night. cash is always good.

 

[PLAYINBIG]

Most sites available to USA, have their larger week day tourneys in the evenings to fit in theUSA east coast /USA west coast players so that it not too early or too late for each coast to play together & it draws in more traffic.So I would say evening is best for bigger money tourneys.

 

[Blown01Cobra]

I play in the evenings. 6ish to 9pm central except Fridays I play all day long. I would agree there is more traffic in evenings, but I wouldn't say it affects my game. There's still just 9 players tops at a table and I've never felt like competition changes.

 

[ph0n3_j4ck]

Show some hand histories. Not sure it is the time of day that really matters. Unless it is the fact that the time of day means that there are more good players on, otherwise you can avoid a lot of bad situations. (busted straights, flushes, etc.)

 

[Poker Orifice]

There's still just 9 players tops at a table and I've never felt like competition changes.

Unless it is the fact that the time of day means that there are more good players on

There's definitely some differences at different times of the day.
It's pretty basic if you think about it > more recreational players will be on after 4pm. (so maybe more US donks on after 4pm ET, more EURO/UK donks between 12noon - 6pm (ET)). Some networks have more Euros on them, others have more US players, etc., etc.

 

[cloverlines]

I usually found it better to play late nights to early morning. I like it better because you have less distractions.

 

[ScottishMatt]

I seem to find that the biggest fish are always on late at night to early in the morning.

 

[starting_at_the_bottom]

4pm-11pm is prime time

 

[SyKoChiller]

I will post some hand histories in the very near future. I would love to get some feedback from other serious players on my play. Look for them in the next few days.

 

[SyKoChiller]

I just hope I'm not the little fish who's feasting on guppies at night and being eaten by the real sharks during the day!

 

[IntenseHeat]

I enjoy MTTs. I had been in the habit of playing $5.00 + .50 touneys at 4AM and 6AM EST. I find myself playing against alot of Italians in those particular tourneys with it being around midday there. I have just recently began playing in the primetime versions of those tourneys at 9PM, 10:30PM and 11:30PM EST. I notice a very distinct difference in playing styles between the evenening tourneys, which tend to have more Americans in them, and the early morning ones that have players from a wider range of locations. Depending on your style of play and the style of player you do best against you might prefer playing at certain times.

 

[gotchips]

i play both mourning and night thed only thing i would think is the amount of traffic

 

[Poker Orifice]

4pm-11pm is prime time

this ^ (& a bit later on weekends).

Keep in mind, what parts of the world this '4pm to 11pm' is & depending on what site you're on, you'll be able to hit up more than one prime time (ie. I live PT time zone (ET - 3) so at 12noon my time it is 8pm over in the UK (so prime time on sites that are not US friendly are obviously different).

 

[XXPXXP]

week end is prime time to play
and always big games and satellites on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

[bullishwwd]

Could be that you are possibility more "fresh and sharper" mentally earlier in the day and you may well become both "tired and bored" (happens to me) the more you play on a given day.

But, there is certainly a difference in the "quality of opponents" at different times of the day so I'd suggest you 'track' your play vs the different times.

Play more when there are more "fish" and play less when Poker Orifice is logged-on.

 

[reaper60]

For myself during the evening hours during the week I do fairly well. During the day on weekends seem's to be my worst times, maybe this is because of the weekend warrior's that don't play during the week.

 

[forvenz]

in the nights!

 

[ScottieDuncan]

I think the same. Early am games have less players as do late at night ones, on the multis. I think that less talented players play at these times, too

 

[buzzmania]

i prefer the late hours .12:00 midnight to around 6or 7 am central time usa. .like said above less distractions..but on weekends i will usually play anytime being i have a wide range of hours to play unlike during the week when on work call.

 

[dj11]

The better question might be ;

What time of day do you play your best game?

During each day we all have rhythms of highs and lows. These are caused by all sorts of input from spouses to food to sleep to the weather. But you should learn to get familiar with how you perform throughout the day. By your post it looks like you have a decent start to understanding this.

For instance, I think I perform pretty well in my late mornings. Shame that my favorite game ($2 HORSE on Merge) happens in the early morning. Then I go into a low spot in the mid afternoon time, which happens to be early evening for the East Coast players, when many say things should be ripe against the rec's (recreational players).

Figuring out your own rhythms is not as easy as consulting a biorhythm chart.

Hopefully you sleep well, and your diet works well for you.

 

[Porcupinetree7]

As an experiment, I played in a 5:00 a.m. tourney at carbon central US time and noticed a distinct difference in playing style. There were virtually no raises pre-flop, and just a ton of limping.

 

[Cooking]

Considering GMT time, my best time to play is definitely around 3:00-6:00 AM. All my biggest profits came when I was playing during this period.

 

[banjovian]

im on eastern time zone, so for me late nite is premium donkey feasting. day time seems more grindy

 

[bezobrazny]

The best play you will give when you are focused on the game

In my short online poker history I have started to notice some trends regarding the time of day I am playing. In the morning hours, say 8am till around 3pm, I do very well and rarely ever leave a table down. Then in the evening hours; 2pm-ish until after 7pm, sometimes even until 10pm, I just get murdered. My straights all get busted, nut flushes fall to boats and just about every sort in between like my kicker is smaller. Then after mid-night things seem to reset and my flushes and straights are crushing pairs and such until I have to quit to sleep. Repeat. My time zone is GMT +/- 5:00
Any thoughts/comments on why (Besides it having to do with the players online at those times) or similar experiences to share?

Lots of people in the evening hours, bunch of cash all over and you my friend concentrated and in the 'zone', that's a true recepie for online gaming and money taking. When you feel bad, tired and no organised you should take a brake, sit-out and come back later.