Poker Question

ATM · #1 10-10-2007, 09:56 AM

My bankroll just now is $300. I started with $100 and have been playing some steady poker. The other day I was up $40 on one table and then opened up acouple of tables and lost it. So ive decided not to try multitable until I can handle it. But Should I have a plan for when I should leave the table e.g Should I leave the poker for the day if i get up $40-50 and then play the next day?

PantsOnFire · #2 10-10-2007, 10:23 AM

Poker is just one long continuous game interrupted only by sleep and other life activities. When you sit down to play you should have a time limit. Quit when your time limit is up for that session.

There are some reasons to stray from this philosphy and they never involve whether you are up or down. You might leave early if you are not playing your A game. This could be due to distraction, tiredness, tilt or any other reason you are not on top of it. You could also leave if the table is tough and not looking profitable. Although in this case, if you're online, just select a new table. However, do not confuse tough players with bad players who are having good luck.

You might stay longer if you are on your A game and the table is very profitable for you. Even if bad players are having good luck drawing against you, stay because they are making mistakes and this is the game you want to be in.

The number one thing to keep in mind is that your decision should never have anything to do with your current stack or how well you are doing (monetarily). You can be tired or in a tough game and be up but that might mean you are just getting lucky. As well, you could be in a very good game and playing well but be down. This would simply be due to bad luck.

Look at it this way. Your results are always going to swing up and down. This is called variance. You will have streaks of good luck and bad luck equally. However, when you are playing when you shouldn't be, your downswings (over time) will be larger than your upswings. Conversely, when you are playing well in a juicy game, you upswings will be larger than your downswings.

So over the long term, poker being a continuous game, you want to be playing where your upswings will be larger.

As a side note, this also brings into play bankroll management. Just quickly, bankroll management means that you should be playing at a level such that your bankroll can handle the downswings and you won't bust out totally. There is lots of info on how to do that both here and elsewhere.

Johnny Hughes · #3 10-10-2007, 10:38 AM

If you get up and start to go back down, quit when you are at 75 percent of your peak. If you get up 800 and start back down, quit at 600.

JanelleBB7 · #4 10-10-2007, 10:50 AM

As a general rule you should quit when you are one of the following:

1. Tilting
2. Tired
3. Hungry
4. Need to go to the bathroom [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]
5. Broke ( [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] )

PantsOnFire · #5 10-10-2007, 12:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
If you get up and start to go back down, quit when you are at 75 percent of your peak. If you get up 800 and start back down, quit at 600.

[/ QUOTE ]
Say you were playing at a table with 9 other players. They were all filthy rich and this was their first time playing holdem. They play every hand and don't bet but only call and never raise. They don't know the hand rankings.

When you get up in this game, are you going to quit when they get lucky and you drop 25% of your profit on a few hands? Say you lost half your winnings when you went all-in with AA and got called by 72off and lost that showdown. Is it quitting time now?

SaErDnaW · #6 10-10-2007, 01:05 PM

Just play as long as you have an edge. Stop play when more important things come up. Yes there are things more important than poker...

Stop when you are playing bad or when you have played long enough assuming you have a time limit. Don´t stop because of your results.

iRockPoker03 · #7 10-10-2007, 01:12 PM

play when the games are good and your playing well

(where your highest profit should come from)

Johnny Hughes · #8 10-10-2007, 01:55 PM

Every thing in poker is it depends. I fit my hours at the table to the two worst players. I will stay longer if it is good. Nowadays, I usually quit when I start thinking about if I ought to quit. I played poker for a living long ago. Now it is not so important. It is also easier to find a game so you can quit and play tomorrow.

jtd00123 · #9 10-10-2007, 03:38 PM

Leave for a little. Cool off if you are on tilt. Come back when you are ready.