Poker session routine: the warm-up before, the cool-down after

Most players take care of their study and improvise the rest. They open their tables as they get home from work, play until fatigue or a bad beat decides for them, then close everything without writing anything down. A session routine is five minutes before you play and two minutes after. Short enough to keep every evening, regular enough to change what you play.

Why a routine changes your sessions

Your level is not decided at the table alone. It depends on the state you sit down in, on what you decided to watch and on what you keep once the session is over. Without a routine, those three moments are left to chance. With one, you arrive knowing where you stand, you spot sooner the moment you drift off, and every session teaches you something about the next one.

It is the same idea as an athlete's warm-up: nobody asks a runner to sprint cold. The mental game in poker is prepared the same way.

The 5-minute warm-up

Four steps, in this order. None is mandatory: an incomplete warm-up is better than no warm-up.

1. How you feel. Note your mood and your energy on a simple scale. A tired or upset evening does not forbid you to play, but it deserves a shorter session and more attention.
2. A few hands to warm up. A short review of your ranges or of a few spots. The goal is not to learn, it is to get the right reflexes going again.
3. What you watch tonight. Two or three precise intentions, taken from your known leaks and your A game: "I don't call 3-bets out of position with medium hands", "I take a break after a big lost pot". Keep your C game warning signs in mind too.
4. Your budget. The max buy-in your bankroll rules allow, and what you allow yourself to lose tonight before stopping: your stop-loss.

For focus, the free focus plan helps you prepare your setting: phone, breaks, number of tables.

During the session: spotting your C game signs

While you play, the routine keeps quiet. The only job is to notice the moment your level changes. Everyone has their signs: you click faster, you open one more table, you replay the lost hand in your head, you check your balance between hands. Knowing them in advance is what lets you see them when they come. The free tool Know your A game helps you list them.

When a sign lights up, you have three options: a break of a few minutes, fewer tables, or the end of the session. All three are better than carrying on as if nothing happened. That is often where tilt is decided.

The 2-minute cool-down

Right after the session, before moving on to something else:

• Your level, slice by slice. How you played from start to finish, and when it changed.
• What made it change. A bad beat, a cooler, fatigue, boredom, a big win. The trigger matters more than the result.
• Your intentions. Kept or not, and the leaks that came back.
• Your result. Win or loss, and whether you kept to your budget. The number goes into your bankroll tracking.
• One sentence. What you want to remember for next time.

Your play comes before your result, on purpose. A winning evening in C game is still an evening in C game, and a losing evening in A game is still a good session.

Your level of play changes during the session: log the session in slices

Saying "I played my B game tonight" flattens everything. In reality, you often played very well for two hours, then badly for the last half hour. The simplest way is to split the session into ten slices of equal length and give each one a level.

After a few weeks, the slices speak: the share of your time spent in A game, your average result by level, and the triggers that come back. If "fatigue" comes back at the end of every session, the answer is not technical: it is a shorter session.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a poker warm-up last?

Five minutes is enough. A short warm-up holds every evening, a half-hour one ends up being skipped. An incomplete routine is better than no routine.

What should I do in the cool-down after a session?

Log your level from start to finish, what made it change, the intentions you kept or not, your result and one sentence to remember. Two minutes, right after closing your tables.

How do I know whether I play my A game or my C game?

By knowing your signs in advance: clicking faster, opening one more table, replaying a lost hand in your head. When one of them shows up, your level is dropping.

Should I stop my session when I slip into C game?

Not necessarily, but you have to do something: a break, fewer tables or the end of the session. Carrying on as if nothing happened is the only bad option.

Why log my level before my result?

Because the result of a session depends a lot on luck, and your level much less. Your level is what you can work on, session after session.