Preparing to leave a session

[Colts_Fan]

I'll preface this by saying I'm a casual player and really just play for enjoyment. That said, I really value bankroll management and in over three years online I've never had to reload. I primarily play limit games, but my question could apply just as easily for NL players.

Logically (and for simplicity's sake), a player would probably say a session he finishes above break-even is a successful session, and each session leaving at less than that is unsuccessful. For me, the problem I think this has led to is that if I'm preparing to leave a game soon and am close to even, I'll sometimes take an extra chance or two to get above that even mark.

The flip side is that if I'm leaving soon and am above the break-even point, it's almost like "bonus money" and I don't mind taking a chance just for fun. Consequentially, I often end up leaving down a few BBs from where I may have been if I played normally.

Surely the correct thing to do is to strive to play the same whether up or down on a particular session, and each hand should be treated as an independent game for lack of a better word. Unfortunately, that seems to be a hard thought to get through my thick head.

Do any of you come across this problem when you're preparing to leave a session? If this is something you used to contend with and no longer do, what are you doing differently now?

[_Towelie_]

You should view poker as one long session instead of a series of sessions. I recommend that you give yourself a specific start and stop time for playing, and just force yourself to play your best for the entire time regardless of how you've done. Success should be measured by the quality of your play, not how much money you won or lost during a period of time.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

I usually play for a fixed amount of time regardless of results. The only variation might be if the table conditions are very good and I'm still mentally sharp, then I'll stay a little longer, but I'll always set either a time parameter or, stop soon after the conditions change (e.g., bad players leave).

As to what constitutes a good or bad session, that has nothing to do with profit/loss. Did I make good decisions? Were my reads accurate? If not, why not? Positive answers to those questions make it a good session even if I took a big monetary loss, since I have no control over what cards come after I make a decision.

Poker can be very counter-intuitive. Good monetary results do not necessarily mean you played well.