|
|
#1
10-04-2006, 03:00 PM
|
|||
|
|||
Walking with the Max
How do you walk away a winner? It’s something I find hard to do. Or at least it’s hard to walk away with your maximum win.
For example, you play 1.00/2.00 limit Hold Em; you go up fifty bucks, winning a couple hands in a row. Can you stop then or do you have to lose a few hands before you stop? I’d venture to guess that we all have to lose a few rounds first, get verification that the hot streak is over. Unfortunately, that verification sometimes comes in the form of losing back a good portion of our winnings. It’s really horrible when you lose back all or most .of it, wind up finishing your session in the negative column. What’s the best way to walk away with your maximum win? If you go up a few BB—other than at the very start of a session—do you get more conservative in your hand selection, attempt to ensure that you finish as a winner? 
|
|
#2
10-04-2006, 03:17 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: Walking with the Max
Welcome to the forums. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Without trying to offend, your comments here make it sound very much like you're a gambler, versus a poker player. Yeah, yeah, poker is still gambling, but it is in fact a game of skill. And you need to recognize that first of all, and then take the necessary steps required to turn yourself into a good player (reading these forums is a great first step). One of the first things you need to do is divorce yourself from your results. Sure, it's great to turn in a huge winning session, but it's also very possible to play absolutely perfect poker and still end up a loser during the session. It won't happen often, but it will happen. So your primary (in a perfect world only) concern should be playing your best game--not winning X amount of dollars or quitting because you've run up some chips. Remember...a "session" is in itself something of an illusion. You should be striving to maximize your profits in the near-mythical "long term", which is done solely by making as few mistakes as possible during each session. The easiest way to achieve this is to play your sessions for a set amount of hours or hands, and as much as possible to ignore how much you are up or down during that period. You can obviously cut your session short for a variety of reasons...maybe the game(s) just aren't very good, maybe you take some bad beats & feel yourself tilting, maybe your gf is getting sick of waiting to go out. [ QUOTE ] If you go up a few BB—other than at the very start of a session—do you get more conservative in your hand selection, attempt to ensure that you finish as a winner? [/ QUOTE ] If you find yourself doing this, then yes, you need to end your session. Not in order to "maximize your win", but rather because you're just not playing good poker anymore. In an ideal world where we don't need sleep or social interaction or anything like that, you would "maximize your win" by playing for as long as you possibly can while still maintaining your edge against your opponents (making fewer mistakes on average than they are).
|
|
#3
10-04-2006, 03:28 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: Walking with the Max
[ QUOTE ]
How do you walk away a winner? It’s something I find hard to do. Or at least it’s hard to walk away with your maximum win. For example, you play 1.00/2.00 limit Hold Em; you go up fifty bucks, winning a couple hands in a row. Can you stop then or do you have to lose a few hands before you stop? I’d venture to guess that we all have to lose a few rounds first, get verification that the hot streak is over. Unfortunately, that verification sometimes comes in the form of losing back a good portion of our winnings. It’s really horrible when you lose back all or most .of it, wind up finishing your session in the negative column. What’s the best way to walk away with your maximum win? If you go up a few BB—other than at the very start of a session—do you get more conservative in your hand selection, attempt to ensure that you finish as a winner? [/ QUOTE ] I like one of David Sklasnky's old phrases: "If the game is good, stick toothpicks in your eye lids to stay!" Basically, if the game is a good game to sit it, I'll try and stay regardless of winning or losing streaks. But absent that, I try to go by a time limit myself. I play mostly live at a casino, so if I plan to play for 6 hours, then I'll leave somewhere around that 6 hour mark. If I just had 4 bad beats in a row, and I'm at the 5 hour mark - maybe I'll take off early. If I'm at the 6 hour mark but two really drunk, loose, weak players just sat down to my right, then maybe I'll stay another hour to see what happens. But for the most part, I try not to let the emotional response of how well my luck is running control my decisions of whether or not to stay in the game. There are times that I have left a good game because I have been up a fair bit. But it's usually when I go on a ridiculously good run. My second time playing at a new level of limits once, I had a fantastic run and was up 85 big bets after only 2 hours and 45 minutes. So I left. I should have stayed, since the game was great because the players were horrible, but I was in a feel good mood and didn't want it to end. And again, a few weeks ago, I went on a sick heater and won 50 big bets in my first 2 hours at the table. So I got up and left. I won't deny that there is something psychological about booking a great win and then leaving for the day. But most of the time, if the game is good and you have an edge, it pays to stay in it.
|
|
#6
10-04-2006, 10:37 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Re: Walking with the Max
Walk away only if you feel you've lost your edge at the table, if you don't think there's positive expectation for you anymore (and there's so much that contributes to this...player changes, table dynamics, bad beats, tilt etc etc. )
|
 |
| Thread Tools | |
| Display Modes | |
|
|
Linear Mode
