Stop playing when you are up

[Unknown Soldier]

whenever emtions come into the game you should quit. Quitting is a good option at that point. An even better one is to learn to control those emtotions.

That's the bottom line.

[SplawnDarts]

[ QUOTE ]

If everyone jumped off the roof would you? It is exactly opposite of quiting while you are on tilt. When you are on tilt you are playing bad, when you are up the assumption is you are playing well (or getting smacked in the face with the deck) quiting in the former is a great idea, in the later is a leak. There are situations when it isn't a bad leak; like when your PT session tracker is all red and you really want to book a win, but it is still a leak.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it's exactly the same as quitting when you're on tilt. Both are scenarios that happen to most if not all players, and where it's useless to just advise "don't do it" because it's not under conscious control.

In both scenarios, unconscious psych factors suggest you're not playing your best, so you quit and try again when those factors aren't in play. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

[Black winter day]

I personally do the same thing as OP and i don't think it's a leak.
If i quit being up decent amount of money, i feel good, pleased with the result obviously and the next session i am feeling confident and play well.

If i stay and win a little more, that wouldn't make such a difference.But if i lose, i feel agitated and start blaming myself that i didn't leave when i wanted to.It seems like every time i stay "to bust that fish, cause it's a shame to waste this opportunity", i double someone else up and meanwhile fish loses his stack to other players, leave and i play for another 4 hours just trying to making it back to where i was.


I also found out that i start to play a little scared wanting to keep that win (in subconsciousness, perhaps, but it still exists) so i end up losing a lot more frequently than winning.

Also, i play deep stacked poker much worse that the standard 100-150BB poker, cause my style of play is TAG, not LAG and i don't feel comfortable felting for like 250BB without the nuts.

All those reasons is why i leave when i am up an amount that satisfies me.Is it a leak?
It would be if i kept playing the same game after being up a lot.
Since i play worse because of the factors i mentioned, i think, setting a stop win is a good thing.

[Unknown Soldier]

learn to control your emotions BWD

[Black winter day]

[ QUOTE ]
learn to control your emotions BWD

[/ QUOTE ]

Lol, easy to say.
I am not emotionless robot.
I learned to cope with tilt pretty well by now, but i still leave whenever i am tilted, cause my play detoriorates.
Same thing with leaving while up a lot in pretty short period of time.

If you detach your emotions completely while playing, you are obviously achieved some level i'll probably never reach.

But on the other hand, i love poker because of the emotions it brings me, whether it's excitment, satisfaction, thrill, joy, and sometimes even anger and sadness.

[Unknown Soldier]

i know, I just think saying it bluntly get's the point accross better

[ QUOTE ]
but i still leave whenever i am tilted, cause my play detoriorates.

[/ QUOTE ]

good, but my point it that if you control your emotions there will be no need to leave. Easier said then done I know.

These are the 2 conclusions from the topic:

1: stop playing when emotions enter into it, whether that's from being afraid to loose or tilt or whatever.

2: learn to control these emotions so you don't have to quit. Completely detaching your emotions will be near impossible for nearly all of us, but learning to control them is the key. For example say whenever you lost any amount of money, even 1bb you went on tilt and played recklessly. Now, this only happens when you lose 20bbs. It's an improvement, but you should strive for more. Crude example I know, but you get my point.

we should all be striving for number 2, but 1 is the last resort.

[Dima2000123]

There has to be some value in spending time between the sessions knowing that you raked in a lot of money last time you played, as opposed to knowing that you donked off most of your winnings in the last hour, especially if you're still new to the game and lack emotional detachment and confidence that you're a winning player. If I win a huge pot at about the point where I start thinking about wrapping it up for the day, then I usually leave shortly afterwards and have a high for the next two weeks until the next time I play. Being emotionally positive, as long as you don't get over-confident, has to be +EV unless you're a robot.

[Splossy]

I think if you are building your bankroll then it's a perfectly valid approach. It makes no sense mathematically but makes sense psychologically.

[AlienBoy]

Poker is not just math - the psychology is also very important. I leave after an extraordinary hand, or a hat trick of good hands, when I'm up.

Why? not for the reasons you might think.

When I just drag in a huge pot, or 3 big pots in a row (hat trick), my endorphin levels have skyrocketed. I feel invincible, and this is going to affect my play. Screw it. Leave, take a break, calm down, get a hooker, hang with some friends, watch TV. FORGET that you just stacked 3 people at once.

Return to the tables rested, and after you've come down from the "drug" of the endorphin rush.

AB

[Vince.]

I also tend to leave games after I'm up 2 or 3 buyins. This causes me to somtimes have very short sessions, and it causes me to only play long sessions when I'm stuck or breakeven on the day because I'm either trying to make back what I lost for the day or book a win. After I'm up a couple buyins I feel scared to lose what I've made and usually end up quitting soon after. It seems to change my game for the worse usually so it's probably better that I stop, even if I'm in a good game. This is definetly something I need to improve in my game.