Knowing when to quit

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Zer0-0uts

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I players $1-2 no limit last night. I sat down with the max buy in of $60. I played a few hands and took a few hits. I kept my head on straight and managed to avoid tilt. I made all the right moves in all the right places and I turned that $60 into $162.

There was a point in the game that I felt like I should get up and leave. It was a point that I have felt many, many times before when I have been ahead at a table, but I usually never heeded this intuition. Usually I would get this feeling and I would think to myself, "Self, every book I have ever read has always said to get stay when you are doing good, but to leave when things change. " So I have usually stayed. Last night was different though. My game was running good, but I saw the dynamics of the table changing, and I was getting tired. It was 1am for godsake. So I got up and left.

While I was driving home I realized that I finally understood the best time for.me to leave. Like I said, usually when I am killing it I stay and play. I play and I watch my stack shrink. Then I tilt. Then I try to chase what I once had. Then it all goes bad. Last night was different because although I felt like I was doing good I made the decision to leave as soon as I felt the dynamics of the table changing. I didn't wait a few more hands to see if I was right. I just followed my instinct and I walked away with $102 profit.

On the way home I realized I should've left as soon as I got that first thought of, "Maybe now is the time I should leave." After last night I think the key to making money is to follow my instinct and leave as soon as I get, "That feeling." What causes you to leave a table when you are ahead? What are your tell tale indicators that it is time to leave while you are a head?
 
quick

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I think you nailed it. A lot of players stay because "you're supposed to when you're crushing it" and "it's all one big session anyways." But in reality we've got to ,as you said, listen to our minds and keep our mental game sharp. That little voice telling you maybe it's time to leave the table for a bit, I've had that feeling many times online and live. Even IF it's +EV from a game theory perspective to stay longer because you're killing it...once that thought of leaving creeps in it's hard to shake and you might even subtly change your play as a result.

I'm in the midst of pushing myself more online. I was thrilled a few weeks ago to "move up" only to get crushed and move back down....and get crushed some more. Looking over sessions and stats I realized there were distinct moments where I thought "I should leave this table or take a short break" and didn't.

So for me it's usually one of three things that tell me it's time to leave (or least take a break):

1.) I think to myself "I should leave" and this could mean anything from getting bored, hungry, thinking of other things, or noticing my strategy getting off track (i.e.- being TAG and suddenly limping more or missing spots more).

2.) The ATM at my table leaves or the table changes so much that I notice my stack dwindling.

3.) I start making errors due to fatigue.
 
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Dani_California

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I agree with both of you. If you feel like leaving, leave. It doesn't matter what books or other players tell you, we all have to find a way that works best for us. I do that same thing that I try to leave when I get that first feeling to do so. I am even one of those who do "hit and runs" in a cash game and leave straight away if I have been winning a huge pot in the latest hand. I know that some players think it's poor poker etiquette but now it's my money and rules say that I can leave whenever I want to.

I have many bad experiences of staying too long even when I have been winning. Bad beat is getting closer and closer if I have been running well and luck will eventually turn. I have been losing all my winnings too many times with a bad beat when I have stayed too long so I just try to avoid that now and leave when I first get that feeling. Getting tired is also a strong sign that I should stop even though it feels like I am playing my A game cause probably I'm not anymore.
 
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I have similar problems and I implemented the following rule which so far is working for me.
I'm currently playing NL2, I enter with the max buy-in which is 2, either if I win or lose 0.50 I leave the table.
I might join another table immediately but those limits help me manage my mindset, If I have too much money I get careless and start getting much more loose, on the other hand if I loose too much I get angry and tend to shove what I have left in not so favorable situations.
 
bablovod

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you are absolutely right. I think this voice makes everyone get out of the game, but not all listen to him. I myself am one of those people who spit on all orders to exit the table and in the end, my wallet is almost always empty, and I'm depressed
 
vinnie

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$1/$2 with a $60 max buy-in? Geez, I thought it was ridiculous when Florida had the $100 buy-in cap. I was so glad when they got rid of that. I don't know if I would want to play $1/$2 where everyone had 30xbb stacks.

As for leaving, I leave when I feel like I am done playing. Doesn't matter if I am winning or losing. If I feel like I don't want to play, for whatever reason, I just stop. I can always go play again later.
 
Vilgeoforc

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In the stock market there is such a thing as stop-losses. In poker also, you can put your stop losses.
If your session lasts an hour - you have to leave the table in an hour, not a minute later.
Or make stop loss of the player is a fish, which gives you a profit. As soon as he leaves the table, you leave the game.
Or leave the table when double the profit. There were 2 $ - 4$. Lost a buy-in to get out of the game.
 
Drhat63

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Probably 98% of true poker players have felt this, doesn't matter if you play for recreation or for livelihood. It's one of the toughest things to really know, about yourself, and just thinking about it and being conscience of it is a great start to improvement. Cheers to that!
 
CullinanPoker

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I think it helps to set limits... before you sit down tell yourself if I lose this much im done, or if i reach this amount of chips its time to walk.
 
rari458

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The one thing that I've found to be an indicator is whether or not I'm focusing on the game. If I notice that my mind is wandering then it's definitely a bad idea for me to keep playing.
 
jolubman

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No matter where you're at when you get tired or can't focus its time to stop playing.
 
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alexandro

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that is tough, it seems impossible to quit when your loosing, easier to quit when winning
 
Kenzie 96

Kenzie 96

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The one thing that I've found to be an indicator is whether or not I'm focusing on the game. If I notice that my mind is wandering then it's definitely a bad idea for me to keep playing.





This is my go to indicator. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
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mrpolyglott

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I also experienced that very feeling so many times, however in majority of them I ignored it and went on playing that leaded to such big looses for me. Now I try to follow inner voice and double up/fish leave rule (e.g. when I double up I leave or when the fish giving me money leaves I leave as well). Wish u best luck and a proper understanding of your inner voice!:)
 
Stuey

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This is a very important question you’re asking because people get confused between two concepts. One is what normally called money management and one is what I would call “bankroll management”.

Bankroll management is very important. Even if you are a great player, you must have enough of a bankroll to sustain the inevitable losing streaks. And I have never been opposed to that. Quite the contrary, I have been very vociferous proponent of keeping a big enough bankroll to be able to play and sustain losses. The concept that I am always trying to explain to people is the “other” definition of money management.

Money management in most people’s minds means quitting simply because of how you are doing that day, or continuing to play simply because of how you are doing that day. In other words, you are in a game and you have lost x number of bets so you quit, only to come back tomorrow. Well, that is a silly concept because it is all one game. If you are a serious poker player, you are playing by the week, by the month, not by the day. And if you for instance are in a very good poker game, you don’t quit simply because of how you are doing. You quit because the game has gotten worse, you quit because you are tired. These are all proper reasons but not because I am going badly(sic), I’m getting bad cards that day, because I’ve lost a certain amount, or because I’ve won a certain amount. This is simply incorrect. This is not just my opinion, this is simply incorrect.

If you will play in a game where you have the advantage, the more you play, the more you will eventually win. If you play in a game where you have the disadvantage, the more you play the more you will eventually lose. There’s no way of getting around that. If there was such a thing as getting around having a advantage simply by money management, you could go to the crap table and win by money management. In other words by quitting at the right time or not quitting at the right time but you cannot do that.

Money management is a completely spurious idea as far as when you quit or when you don’t quit. The only thing that matters when you are gambling is to gamble when the odds are in your favor, when you are the best player, when you figure to win. And when you are in that situation play as long as you can. When you are not in that situation quit at the first opportunity. That’s really all there is to say. Bankroll management as far as having enough money – that’s different. But money management – no.
 
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