Strategy for when to quit a game

[Nick D]

I've had this problem for a while as well..when do I get up? The reason I even ask that question to begin with is because I always seem to (or used to, that is) start playing loosely when I double my chip stack. What I used to do is color up my chips so that it appeared as though I had less to play with, and it used to help in that area.

Now I play well enough that that sort of stuff doesn't matter, but still being basically a new player, I basically don't have any type of bankroll (I know, absolutely idiotic). So I keep playing when I know I have the edge (which is generally always at the limits I play), but if one or two suckouts occur, I can't just buy in for another 20BB. I don't know if this is helping anyone..
I guess what I'm trying to say is don't make the same mistakes that I have. You'll want to have enough money in your bankroll so that if you start to get down, you don't ferociously play to get back to even. Also, when you start to get up in the money, don't play more loosely (a real noob strategy, I must admit, but worth the mention I think) just because you have a few extra chips to throw around. You might be doing it unconsciously.

[mutiger91]

Nick,

You're talking about winners tilt and it's very real. I find it's easier to recognize live. I love guys on winners tilt. They tend to do one of 2 things

1) Play weak hands preflop, call raises and fold to flop bets.
2) Sometimes they get really cocky and start pushing some chips around. (You can't be a chip bully in a cash game if all players are properly bankrolled. The one exception might be deep stack vs. deep stack, but you're still playing with fire.)

My approach at the table is pretty simplistic. I always want to know who I'm trying to take money from. You're never really going to get a lot of money from a good player unless its a cooler hand. I decide if a player is good / average or weak. I use myself as average, because I think you need to grade this on a curve.

Generally you want to have 2 players at the table you think you can outplay (or it could be one really bad one...especially if they are changing the flow of the game). In either case, you might consider how many chips they have. If they can't make a meaningful change in your stack, they don't really count (unless you think they will buy back in).

There have been several nights where I was up and still playing well, but the fish left and I knew the remaining players were all regulars and mostly strong players. In this situation, it just makes sense to bank the profit (or look for a table change). Usually I walk.

By the way, if you can't spot the fish, it's probably you. (Not an original line, but it bears repeating.)

[redfisher]

[ QUOTE ]

There have been several nights where I was up and still playing well, but the fish left and I knew the remaining players were all regulars and mostly strong players. In this situation, it just makes sense to bank the profit (or look for a table change). Usually I walk.



[/ QUOTE ]

This is very true in small card rooms that don't have 24/7 games. The recreational players start fading, get tired, and bolt. The only guys left are the ones who you see all the time grinding it out. Around here they stop serving alcohol at 2 am. If you're still playing then, you need to have a good reason.

[Nick D]

I must tell you. Almost the SAME exact thing happened to me tonight playing at a 3/6 live table. I was up $140 after an hour and 40 minutes and was still playing very tight.

The problem that I can't seem to truly figure out (that is, which one of the following?) is whether or not I am still playing more loosely - which I could swear that I wasn't - or whether or not I was just getting sucked out. I even took break after 2 hours to assess my play and write in my poker assessment journal....

there were a bunch of new people at the table and they all sucked, no doubt... I KNOW I wasn't the fish here, but it always seemed like my hands weren't holding up. When I hold top pair, top kicker and someone rivers two pair on me or runner runner straight to my two pair, either I need to grow some balls and protect my hand with better/more bets, or I'm just unlucky. Tonight it felt as though I was just unlucky because the opponents I was against would not have folded in each case (I can say that with a fair degree of certainty).

I think it probably comes down to the bankroll issue I specified earlier. I could have bought in for more money to handle the ridiculous swings (I finished up by $19 btw), but I was a) tilting from losing to so much crap (probably rivered about 6 different times with unforeseeable hands) or, b) wanted to just cut my "losses" and take my profit.

what "advice" (rather, words of encouragement) do you have for something like that? If you want more information, I could give you a few scenarios of the plays I made to let you know how I was playing. I'm not claiming to be an expert...there were a few notable mistakes I made - I have them written down - but yeah...

Perhaps it just comes down to the simple fact that I can't keep my concentration up for longer than a few hours yet..I dunno. Maybe I need to read more! HAHA.

Thanks guys,
Nick

[Holdfast]

Well, here was my mistake. I went to the poker room late with my friend. We waited two hours to get our seats. I put in $100 and was up over $350 within two hours. However, I had no clue as to when my friend wanted to leave or how he was doing. I was just playing tight & waiting for him to stop by. Eventually, I was just getting tired. It was past 2 AM. I was still playing tight, and was pretty card dead for the last two hours. I really was too tired to play. Then when I got a hand, I made the mistake of going heads up vs the best player at the table (from what others told me, an older cagey grinder...) and got busted. Then I quit. Basically, he had nailed a boat on the flop when I had two pair (KQ). The fellow was nice enough to talk to me about the hand outside (he was then on a smoke break as I was leaving). He basically said not to listen to what the other players say at the table, that he had won a $1600 pot vs one of the players who was giving me advice on him, etc. I was just really tired & made the mistake of being overly agressive on a "decent" hand & wish I had quit the game after a couple of hours. In the three times I have played live, starting with $100, I have been up $500, $150, and $350 within the first two hours. So, perhaps that is a good time limit for me to set. Funny, one guy sitting next to me was wearing sunglasses and a gray sweatshirt (looked like the unibomber) and he was practically sleeping at the table. The dealer had to keep waking him up so he could take action (imagine a comatose player being barely able to flick his mucked cards back to the dealer...). Funny, a dealer also accidentally knocked some of my chips off the table with his elbow. I couldn't find one of my chips all night and it was kind of bugging me. I was on my hands & knees looking for my chips & one of the players said the last chip was up the dealers a... Perhaps that is was a sign that I should have left at that point? lol

Holdfast

[FastPlaySlow]

Quit when you are up three buy-ins, or down two buyins.