What time is it?

Over the last few days I have been looking back at how I do at various times of the days and I am definitely noticing a trend. My game seems to suffer either late at night or right after work. (not too surprising) I can see the effect of this in 3 places: limping in on questionable draws, continuing semi-bluffs after several calls, and misreading the board (not seeing the flush that beats my two pair, etc.) The last of these is clearly the most troubling and costly. I continue betting into someone who is sitting pretty on the nuts. Interestingly this does not seem to happen in tournament play.

The other problem is that I see myself trying to continue my plays later and later as I try to recoup earlier losses, not wanting to leave on such a low note. This, of course, leads to more and more questionable play.

On the other side of the coin, it looks like my best play comes at off hours. A few weeks ago, I came back from a business trip in Europe and was jet lagged so I kept waking up at 4-5 AM and playing for a while before work. These games and some of my other off hour games seem to be some of my best play. I find myself playing tighter and more willing to wait out for the good cards. Though I also think that a good portion of this "better" play is the poor play of some of the others who are up at some of these hours.

All in all, I need to make it more of a point to make sure I am at my best before continuing my play and being aware of the time. Also, I must learn to accept a bad day for what it is and move on to play another day.