Poker Players' Preferences: Music, Silence, or Series?

Poker players have diverse preferences when it comes to background noise during their gaming sessions. Some find music essential, while others prefer silence or even series. Here’s what some of the top players have to say:

Oleg Wh1teBaron, a well-known player, prefers techno music during his sessions. He has specific playlists for different situations, such as a "fartova" song for final tables and a playlist for serious downswings. "Music during a session is evil, especially if it has words. Someday I will become a professional and play without noise," he says, but for now, he enjoys his techno tunes.

Anton sandr1x, on the other hand, plays in silence to maximize concentration. He believes that music competes with poker for mental resources, leading to less effective play. "I play in silence, at MAXIMUM concentration. Because I can't afford otherwise – music starts competing with poker for mental resources, as a result, you play less and worse," he explains.

Nikita Ebaaa11 uses music as therapy after sessions and has specific tracks for important final tables. He mentions that he can listen to the same track for 8-12 hours without issues. "I play important final tables under music. Here are the most auristic tracks for me," he shares, highlighting his favorite tracks that he has been listening to since 2020.

Sergey Radeo_ prefers silence during sessions, finding that even instrumental music can be distracting. "Silence is our poker friend. At the tables, I want to hear not music, but the voices of sizing, boards, and ranges of the opponent!" he states.

Sergey yx0 listens to music with guitar riffs and good vocals, and enjoys отечественный панк-рок and contemporary classical music. He also mentions enjoying specific bands like "Йорш" and "Тараканы". "I prefer to play with music. In the morning I prefer the radio "Record" with their morning hosts. If I play at another time, I choose music with a predominance of guitar riffs and good vocals. Recently, I have actively subscribed to domestic punk rock, preferably from the early 2000s, something like "Йорш" or "Тараканы". I also discovered contemporaries – "План Ломоносова", on them I would like to stop in more detail," he shares.

Andrey zgirovsky prefers silence during intense games but listens to familiar, non-intrusive music during relaxed sessions. "I definitely don’t play under YouTube or series, it’s too distracting. Usually, in the hands, there is a lot to think about, and if the hand reached for YouTube – this is a sign that you need to take a break or stop the session," he explains.

Fedya Lorem started playing under series but now uses a Spotify playlist to help focus. "When I just started, I played under series – at the same time I played 20+ tables (I remember the meme from the blog Forheili, where he has 12 windows with House). Now I play mostly under my usual Spotify playlist. I try to pick tracks so that I want to open up a little less than usual. I am sure that an ordinary person in silence plays better, but in my head because of ADHD, thoughts are constantly raging, and music helps to shut them up a little," he shares.

Jura Joke703 initially played with music but now prefers silence for better concentration and decision-making. "At the beginning of my poker path, when I was beating PLO50-100-200, zoom200 and even when I started playing PLO500, I always listened to music. And YouTube sinned. The stronger I became, the more factors I had to analyze, the more complex the strategy became, the more I noticed that I simply lacked concentration and time. Knowledge affecting decision-making has become too much, and all of them had to be taken into account during the hand. First, I listened to music, and when a difficult moment arose – I put it on pause. Then I stopped listening altogether," he explains.