We recently released Poker Analytics 4 and wanted to tell you more about its breakthrough conditioning reports.
In this major version, we’ve added a new set of reports so you can really rock how you prepare for the game. You probably already know that having a healthy lifestyle is important, but now we’re bringing you the tools to optimize how you roll.
We’ve developed four new reports around 3 themes:
- Sleep
- Session duration
- Physical activity
Since iOS8, Apple has given apps a way to exchange various types of data in the Health app. Some apps can write data, like how long you train, and some can read that data for different uses. Poker Analytics can read your sleep and physical activity data that has been recorded by other trackers.
To exploit this data, we’ve built a new engine that correlates your results with these different sources. We’re now able to show your average results depending on the duration of your sleep, sessions and physical activities, as well as the calories you’ve burned.
Sleep
We all know how sleep is important, but what you might not know is that you have a significant win rate drop when you sleep less than 7 hours.
Some of those days, you’ll probably feel good enough to play, and nobody will stop you from doing that. However, while playing, if you’re aware that you perform less in average, you’ll have an easier time to stop your session as soon as the first signs of fatigue will appear, and you’ll be able to get away from a game that might quickly become unprofitable.
Session duration
When you play a tournament, you’re not in control of the duration of your session. Actually, the longer, the better. In cash games, most of the time, it’s the opposite: the longer, the worse, except when you find yourself in a very good game. We all get tired after a certain point and it’s very important to know when to stop. Just last week, Daniel Negreanu reminded us how important it is not to play tired.
Getting tired means thinking less, being less aware at what is going on at the table, and being more subject to tilt. We all want to avoid that. So learning when to stop is a key factor for success. You might think you can play consistently 8 hours at a table, whereas your win rate starts declining after 6 hours. Even if your average profit stays the same when you play 6 hours or 8, it means playing those two extra hours isn’t achieving anything for you. We all love to play, but getting off the table an hour early can get far more profitable than continue playing.
This extra time can be used in various ways that will make your future sessions more profitable. You can take it to study your game and review your hands, you can go out exercise, actually you can use it to do whatever you like outside poker.
Playing a little bit less can also have two positive impacts on you. On one side, you’ll be less tired therefore less subject to tilt. Tilt can have many sources, whether it’s a mistake, a bad beat, or losing to a weak player. The more you play, the more chances you have to get badly affected. And on the other side, it can simply keep your hunger for the game and avoid lassitude.
Physical activity
The goal of the conditioning reports is to make you avoid playing tired, which can be costly. However, having some physical activity before playing can either have a positive or negative impact.
On one hand, having a small workout, or simply having a walk can improve your well-being, clear your mind and in the end make you play better poker. On the other hand, playing soccer for two hours or having a long run can really tire you out and instantly make you a losing player.
It’s important to learn where you stand in order to avoid long term mistakes. To learn more about yourself, we’re bringing in two reports: duration and calories. With these, you’ll be able to know whether you should or should not play after exercising, and maybe help you plan you day differently: light activity before playing and more tiresome sports after playing.
We hope these new kinds of reports will really help you in your preparation and make a big difference on your long term results. We’re always eager to hear from you so please tell us what you’ve learned after using them!