Do You Play Differently When You’re Tired?

[Houbi37]

I’ve noticed that when I’m tired, my poker decisions get way worse.
I start calling more, bluffing in bad spots, and missing obvious value bets.
Sometimes I tell myself “just one quick session” and it turns into donating chips 😅
Do you avoid playing when you’re tired, or do you think experience can compensate for low energy?
Curious how others handle this.

 

[romerim]

Haha, I go through this all the time 😅
When I’m tired, my game totally drops: I call hands I shouldn’t, bluff at the wrong time, and miss obvious value bets. Nowadays, I try not to play when I’m like that, because experience doesn’t make up for a tired brain 😬 But I confess that it's difficult sometimes, especially when that urge to play hits.

 

[s0ftdumps]

Big time. missed patterns. misclicks. full donks. don't be tired

 

[EiXT]

I had the same experience.

I've had burn outs because I used to play non-stop when I was mentally exhausted, thinking if I kept playing something will change - but nope.
Instead, I made waaaaaaaay more mistakes and learned nothing valuable except take breaks when tired lol.

 

[Rachidao]

Yes, if I am tired i begin to play very lose to end fast

 

[lyki67]

Definitely YES. I don't start to play if I feel tired... and if I'm already in game and feel tired, I don't start another tournaments or sit&gos.

 

[ElTigre]

I’ve noticed that I definitely play differently when I’m tired — and not in a good way.

For me, the biggest change is in decision quality. When I’m well-rested, I’m much more patient and I think through ranges, bet sizing, and opponent tendencies more carefully. But when I’m tired, I tend to default to autopilot. I play more mechanically instead of actually analyzing the situation.

Another big leak is emotional control. Fatigue makes it harder to handle bad beats or coolers. Spots that I would normally shrug off start to feel frustrating, and that’s usually when small mistakes start stacking up.

I also find that I bluff less creatively when I’m tired. It’s like my brain chooses the “safe” option instead of the optimal one. Sometimes that means missing profitable aggression spots.

Because of that, I’ve started setting a personal rule: if I feel mentally drained, I either shorten the session or skip it entirely. The EV of playing tired just isn’t worth it long term.

Curious how others handle this — do you push through fatigue, or do you have strict stop rules when you’re not at 100%?

 

[bullishwwd]

Totally agree with all of you.
Best to have the discipline to take a "rain check" on playing poker when tired. Otherwise, you are strickly leaving the results to mostly luck, and, we have all done that at least a time or two in the past. That is why, at my age, I prefer to play earlier in the day instead of late at night and prefer shorter tounaments like a one table SnG versus longer MTTs.

 

[Kaaskop63]

Sometimes when i m tired i go allin when ihave bad cards.then i am bored

 

[john_entony]

Yes, I often make mistakes when I'm tired. I usually make too easy calls on the board, not according to the mathematical odds of my hand. I'm also more prone to TILT.

 

[choprav]

Aye don't play when youre tired- its just a waste of money!

 

[pltelles]

For sure, I lose patience, try to anticipate the moves, and end up wanting to resolve the tournament at the beginning, which almost always ends badly.

 

[flattershay]

Definitely. Making bad decisions, don't thinking much about hands and doing stupid plays. So I try to avoid playing when I'm tired.

 

[sibkaz]

All these descriptions are about me! ))) I used to think it was tilt and that I had to overcome it ))) I usually fought to the bitter end! ) Now I'm trying to reform myself )... I played, walked around, took the dog for a walk... then played again, and the feeling that I was playing wrong disappeared ) I'm slowly building up my bankroll. .. I created a folder on my computer where I save a screenshot of the screen at the end of the day, so I can remember and not spend too much ) As my friend wrote, you can play for 5% of your bankroll at a time... I win some, I lose some... so far I'm in the black... The main mistake is managing your bankroll... )

 

[ArmiSoo7]

I can tell, that 90% of time, I just fell a sleep. I do not believe , that you can win tournament and be full focus, when you are tired. It is even worst than drink and play poker.😄

 

[Tadi]

Of course you will make more bad decisions when you are tired, it happens to me too, and it is best to break with the game. It's easy to say and hard to respect because I guess you like to play as much as I do. That's certainly a mistake.

 

[dompoker]

It's definitely different, playing tired, regrets are not 100%. The best thing is to rest and leave the game for another time.

 

[CaioRJ]

Everyone plays differently on Tilt.
My advice is, avoid playing in those situations, you'll lose money.

 

[Roller]

100% yes and that’s exactly why I try not to play tired.
When I’m tired, a few leaks show up immediately

 

[Smile4834]

Yes, I do it all the time

 

[Kerasuss28]

I’ve noticed that when I’m tired, my poker decisions get way worse.
I start calling more, bluffing in bad spots, and missing obvious value bets.
Sometimes I tell myself “just one quick session” and it turns into donating chips 😅
Do you avoid playing when you’re tired, or do you think experience can compensate for low energy?
Curious how others handle this.

No diffrence, play 90% bad, 10 % ft 😂🍀🍀🍀

 

[schtiuky]

off course you are different when tiered or hungry

 

[Jyco]

When you start a session feeling very tired, the difference in your decisions is noticeable almost immediately. I’ve had moments where I’m playing in ways I don’t even understand myself, making too many calls that I shouldn’t and trying bluffs with hands that have no real potential. It’s a type of poker I know is poorly played, but when you’re exhausted, in that moment it almost feels like you don’t care.

 

[BrunoFabri01]

Whenever possible, I avoid playing when I'm tired, because I start making some plays that I wouldn't normally make.

 

[antonis32123]

When I'm retired I do not play , almost never . In the past I had such moments , being tired , being in the middle of a big tourney , I wanted so much to sleep but I couldn't stop playing . This sucked . The results when I was tired were awful. Very easily I could shove after a bad hand , very easily I could get frustrated . Now I don't drink coffee , so that's a big problem , I cannot drpent on coffee to wake me up like in the past .