How to Spend More Time in the Poker Zone

How do you deal with the boredom that can sometimes accompany poker? Learn how to eliminate stagnation and maximise your time in the poker zone.

Do you ever have poker sessions that seem to drag on forever? Or do you have worries that you’ll be stuck at your current stakes for the rest of your natural-born days?

So, how do you deal with the boredom (and sometimes anxiety) that can sometimes accompany poker?

The answer is somewhat nuanced, like all things related to the human condition, but surprisingly simple.

We will get into how to deal with boredom and anxiety. In the meantime, here’s some research on flow states that came from leading flow researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: In his words, flow is “a state where people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.
“The experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

So, to experience optimal human performance, we need to experience maximum engagement and maximum enjoyment. If we are totally engaged, we are in the zone and focused.