Why do I want to quit when Im up a few buy-ins?

[matt85]

Strange thing this.

Sometimes, usually when I'm up 2-3ish stacks (usually 4 tabling) against some soft players (I play Party $100NL btw), I just really want to quit and 'book a win', however when i'm stuck a little I always try to play on until im either breakeven or a little ahead (unless i've recognised im tilting and i'll usually end the session there). Similarly when Ive been playing a while and i'm only up maybe 1/2 buy-in I want to play on until I've done a little better, maybe get it up to a round number somewhere.

This is strange because i'm killing it right now (15ptbb/100 20k hands) now but I just really dont feel like playing all the time.

Can anybody explain this?

[Angrymoog]

It seems fairly straight-forward to me. Nobody likes losing, and it appears you're the same.

The human mind has a tendency to associate winning with doing something right, and losing with the opposite. This is a trait that helped us to learn and eventually develop tools and technologies. However, in p0ker, our results sometimes do not reflect the correctness of our actions.

We naturally want to "book a win", because it is psychological reenforcement that we are playing well. Likewise, we want to continue playing until we have turned a loss into a win, so we wont have to question our ability.

Only by dissociation of our immediate results from our evaluation of our abilities can we begin to focus solely on making the right decision as often as possible.

[Shizzle12345]

I have the opposite, when im winning I nearly always end up winning more. I get more confident and make big laydowns, great calls etc etc. Usually if im up 3 buyins and then down 2 end of the night its due to bad beats. When im up, its +++ev for me to keep playing.

[Reef]

[ QUOTE ]
Nobody likes losing

[/ QUOTE ]

[Angrymoog]

[ QUOTE ]
I have the opposite, when im winning I nearly always end up winning more. I get more confident and make big laydowns, great calls etc etc. Usually if im up 3 buyins and then down 2 end of the night its due to bad beats. When im up, its +++ev for me to keep playing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would say your example falls in line with what I said. You have been able to realize that being up two buys means you are in an +EV situation and you want to continue, despite risking a loss. So your are more worried about playing well, than you are about booking a win.

[onasis16]

Take the 2 buy ins and call it a day

[NickMPK]

If you are playing NL, it is also possible that you are just not comfortable playing with a certain amount of money on the table, or playing with a certain stack depth. In this case, it is totally reasonable, and possibly +EV, to leave a table when your stack reaches a certain size.

Of course, if playing online you can just join another table for the regular buy-in, so you don't necessarily need to quit entirely. Online you can lock up a win and keep playing, something you can't ethically do playing at a casino.

[Shizzle12345]

Bad beats affect me less. Lets say i sit with 4 buyins at a table, and i lose 1 due to someone being lucky, i dont really get pissed off about it somehow.. Maybe its cos i dont view it as my money yet, but as money i just won. Really weird.

[greg nice]

scared money

move down in stakes

[nerdking]

sometimes it's also a good idea to go ahead and rabbithole that cash when your total winnings represent 10% or so of your total bankroll.

I'll also get behind the "book a win" idea.