Its my dream to play online for a living or even make just enough to cover bills each month. Ive been trying for a few years now with ups and downs (mostly downs). I have been trying a new strategy where I limit my time playing each session (for example, say 6 times a day, 30 minutes each) to protect my profit and for preventing me from doing too much damage if I go on tilt. So far its been working better for me. I usually play fixed limit but I tried to go to NL because FL has to many chasers and they seem to hit. Ill wait for the best hands and hit but be beat my some idiot chasing a flush with 2 9 suited. NL has less of that but it doesnt really work with my time limited plan so Im going back to limit.

Does anyone else use a time limiting strategy to increase or protect profits? If so what else do you do that I don't?

I prefer to play on Pokerstars but i gave Fulltilt a try, and will stick with Pokerstars. More players and it seems fairer.

I'd say my style is mildly aggressive. I wait for good hands but i usually play mid level connectors, like 8 7, 10 9. In FL i play blinds between 3/6 and 10/20, depends what the bankroll looks like. Really all I look for during a session is 50-100 bucks.

Limiting your time to specifications won't work in my opinion.
Sometimes you go on rolls and you need them for big wins, its all self management rather than time management

I agree that setting time limits isn't a good idea. You'll prevent yourself from going on massive killing sprees (figurative). Be able to honestly evaluate your play, and if you're not playing well, that's when you stop.

Originally Posted by luffy932

I agree that setting time limits isn't a good idea. You'll prevent yourself from going on massive killing sprees (figurative). Be able to honestly evaluate your play, and if you're not playing well, that's when you stop.

I disagree with you and the above poster. Of course it all comes down to playing style and what works best for each person but imo limiting session time works for me. Big wins are great but I'm fine with slowing building up my bankroll. And best of all is limiting your time prevents you from doing too much damage when going on tilt, nothing worse than losing a weeks profits in a few hours.

One negative from my method is that I tend to play tighter, which limits my chances of taking down a big pot on a mid level straight for example, but big wins arent the point.

I may even limit myself to only 15 mins a session since it often seems like the magic happens not long after I take a seat at a table.

You're assuming that the longer you play, the more you're going to lose. That shouldn't be the case at all if you have professional aspirations. As far as limiting your tilt by restricting your play time, simply don't tilt lol. If you're in a super juicy game and your set gets run down by an inside straight draw, are you really going to walk away from a potential gold mine because you're afraid to tilt / lose more, and your 15 minute buzzer sounded?

the longer you play you will lose money, thats a fact. bad beats will happen and anyone that thinks you will continuously make a steady profit playing 24/7 is mad (i'm talking cash tables, not tourneys). You could play for 8hrs and be up less than a hundred but you might have been up that only ten minutes into the game, so why not just take the profit for the moment?

You seem to lack the general grasp of how you make money in this game, playing 15min at a time isn't it. Over time your beats even out (roughly) and if you can only concentrate for 15mins then you're struggling.
It's going to take 10mins to get any idea who plays in what style, how 15min sessions are going to exploit anyone I have no idea.
Proffesional is a long way off sir...

"You could play for 8hrs and be up less than a hundred but you might have been up that only ten minutes into the game, so why not just take the profit for the moment?"

This statement highlights the flaws in your reasoning, you are missing the average nature of winning money at poker.

Imagine having a free throw shooting competition against Mark Price (best percentage in history) If you each only took one, there's a solid chance you could tie him. Now if you were to shoot 100 each, you'd have next to no chance.
In the long run, the best player is going to come out ahead. If you play for tiny stretches at a time, you're just handicapping yourself.

i think there is some misinterpretation of what my method is but instead of explaining right now I will just try it out soon and update you all on my progress good or bad.