What would you do?
 

So a few weeks ago I was playing 2/5 NL live.

After the first several hours I was up like 1.5k. I was hitting a lot of sets and getting paid off. You really can't ask for more than that. Part of me told me I should go home, but the other part told me the game is good and you are running good. Plus I was kinda planning on staying downtown because I wanted to go out later and I was downtown and didn't want to drive back home and back again. Bad reasoning, I suppose.

Anyway, a before I knew it the following hand came up:

A solid, ABC player to my immmediate right raised UTG to $40. I decided to call with Jd10d. A loose-weak-chaser guy who I am familar with also called from the BB.

Flops comes 8/9/x rainbow. Loose-weak guy bets $100. UTG calls and I call. Turn is another blank. Loose weak guy goes all-in for $175. UTG smooth calls, and I call. I don't improve on the river, and loose ~350 on the hand.

I don't feel I played the hand bad except for maybe calling $40 UTG +1 with Jd10d.

A few hands later I overplayed QQ and was only up ~$400.

I also chased a couple other hands were I was getting good odds but just didn't hit.

So what would you do?

Would you keep playing when you are up big? Do you tighten up a bit or play the same and not worry if you loose it back as long as you are playing correctly.

I'm pretty upset about lossing 1k back, but its not like I was donking it off....

What do you do in situations like this and do you leave a table even if it is profitable and you are playing well?

This is also an internal battle for me...

Re: What would you do?
 

First of all, somewhere in this analysis is a 160BB loss that dropped you down a whole bunch.

Secondly, when you are up big, you run the risk of tightening up too much or playing too damn loose. It depends. If the table is so damn sweet, you should just continue to play TAG and make good decisions. That's all I can tell you. Easier said than done, but bottom line is that you went on a heater and then started to make poor, costly decisions. One of them, btw, was calling UTG+1, because you should know that your "small $40" mistake can only multiply to a bigger 70BB mistake as the hand progresses.

Barry

Re: What would you do?
 

Depending on your bankroll, 1500 can be a huge boost. While others will (rightly I suppose) state that you should never leave a game that you can beat, or one that you have an edge on other players, there is something to be said with booking a solid win.

Other factors which would enter into the equation:

If you leave the table, is there another game that you can get into (is there another casino nearby - such as Vegas' strip)?

Do you play at this game often (I see in the OP you'd been at the table for a while, but if you hit a couple big hands fast next time, it could be counter-productive to pull a hit-n-run if you play against these people often)?

Do you find your starting requirements dropping when sitting with a big stack, and are you more willing to chase straight/flush draws when up? Was your early success the result of you hitting those OESD's?

Personally, I try not to judge the success of a session based on the high-point of my chip stack (except when bringing it to the cashier). I see nothing wrong with booking a winning session, but there's a pitfall to letting the amount of chips in front of you affect your play.

Re: What would you do?
 

The fact that you're up big is enough of a distraction for you to start making poor decisions. If you can put those thoughts to one side and focus purely on the hands, relevant history and relative stack sizes then keep playing. If your big stack is on your mind (like here) quit.

In answer to your question, I usually quit because I like finishing in profit.

Re: What would you do?
 

If the buy-in is $1K, then being up or down one buy-in is nothing to worry about.

If the buy-in is $500, then 2 buy-ins up or down is a little more of a swing, but it is still pretty normal in terms of expected variance for a long session - even if you play well.

So, I suspect you aren't properly bankrolled for this level of play if you are concerned about the swings you had in this particular session.

Re: What would you do?
 

[ QUOTE ]
do you leave a table even if it is profitable and you are playing well

[/ QUOTE ]

WTF??!!!?