How do I leave table without losing cash?

Hallo, as you can see I am a fairly new player and doing very well with the play money.
I often want to leave when I have made a good profit rather than hang around and lose it. Is there a special time to leave the game or can I just fold and leave without losing my chips? Or do I have to wait for a few games first?
Most of the time I find I have my chips in my balance when I leave, but sometimes I don't.
thanks a lot

Are you playing tournaments, or cash games?

If you're playing a cash game, you should be able to stand up at any time (provided you're not actually involved in a hand at the time) and leave with however much money you've got on the table.

In a tournament though, it's different - the chips you've got in front of you don't represent actual (or even play) money. You paid a certain amount to enter the tournament, and the actual money you receive (if any) depends on the position you finish in the tournament. If you stand up and leave a tournament before it gets to the money, usually your stack will just be blinded off and you won't get any payout.

Thanks fpr answering.
I am just practising with Play money - no tournament or cash
thankyou

Any chips that you have invested in a hand will be lost when you leave a table, So if your BB whatever the Blind is will be lost if you leave before its your turn to act, same as if you bet everything decided you were behind and then left hoping to get your investment back. Any chips you have in your stack and not involved in a pot will be credited to your bankroll, if they are not then its worth trying out a different site.

Yes I realise that I would lose the chips I have played - but what about the ones not played? like say if I have 200 left in hand - and I fold at anytime during the game - when I leave that game the 200 should be in my account right?
Or is there a set of games to be played first?
Sometimes when I leave I seem to have lost the amount in hand.
thanks

If you are in a ring game, get up and go at your pleasure. If you are in a SnG or MTT you can get up and go whenever you want, but you will be leaving your chips on the felt where they will get blinded away.

There is no set number of hands you must play. In fact, there is a way to make money in STT (single Table Tourneys) by just entering, and never playing. If you do this on 4 tables, on probably 3 of those tables, the rest of the field will bust out before you blind out, leaving you in the money. I have watched this many times in play money tourneys.

Think there might be a terminology problem here

A 'cash' game (whether you're using actual money, or play money) is a game that in theory never ends - you just pull up a seat, put a pile of money in front of you, play away and leave whenever you like with the money you have in front of you.

Online, you'll know it's a cash game because you'll be asked how much money you want to put on the table when you first sit down.

A tournament (and I'm including sit and go's under tournaments, because the principle is the same) is a different kind of game.

In a tournament, everybody pays an entry fee to enter the game, and everybody starts with the same amount of chips on the table. They start either at a pre-determined time, or when a pre-determined number of people sign up.

Online, you'll know you're playing in a tournament if you had to sign up for the game in a 'tournament lobby' and pay an entry fee (again, either play or real money).

When you lose all the chips you have on the table, you're out of the tournament (unless it's a rebuy tournament... but don't worry about that for the moment). You win a tournament by being the last person left with chips. All the entry fees go into a prize pool, and prizes go to the top place finishers. In a nine-player sit and go tournament, for example, everybody pays an entry fee and cash prizes go to first, second and third place.

The difference between a tournament and a cash game is that once a tournament has started, you can't take your money back off the table - to win some money, you have to finish in one of the top places. This might be the problem you're having.

Thankyou but I am not playing cash yet or a tournament
I am play Playmoney in Pokercash and in Pot Limit -
I didn't know which one was best to play in to learn
thanks

Actually... forget I ever said 'cash' game. Call them 'ring' games instead. Same thing.

There are play money ring games and play money tournaments. "Ring game" and "tournament" are just names for a game format.

The relevant question is this:

When you sat down at the game, were you asked "how much do you want to buy in for?" or were you told "the entry fee is X play chips - do you want to enter?"

If it was the first one, you're playing a ring game and you should be able to stand up whenever you like.

If it was the second one, you're playing a tournament and you can't get your money back unless you finish near the top.

Thanks, I get it.
So my chips should remain when I fold in the ones I play.
I have to find out what the difference in these are - in the Play Games -
but one thing at a time i supposse

Yep - if you leave the table in a tournament, your chips will stay on the table and get blinded away, and your entry fee won't be refunded

Interesting side note: if enough people get knocked out before all your chips are blinded away, you might still make it into the money. Vinnie Vinh did it at this year's World Series.

Where exactly do you play? If it is a site we all play, sometime when you are about ready to go to a table let us know so somebody can help you find what you want.

You are all so kind!
I play at Pokerstars at the moment and in Australia so times 'might' be a problem but I do stay up most nights lol (am retired)

There are Aussies here - OzExorcist for one. I am retired, too, and am on at all kinds of times. I think most of us have PokerStars access. Note the button after the names. If it is green, we are on-line. Check us out. Private Messages pop up no matter what screen we are looking at.

Woo, more Aussies! Welcome, by the way