Quitting a session

Appreciate if you guys can help in any way.

Just started to play seriously as I got some time off work. I’m somewhat confident in my game and actually up $6k in my career playing various stakes recreationally. However, I have a hard time quitting a session when I’m up.

For example, I bought in for 300 at the 1/3 game today, and was up 700 after 2hours or so. I couldn’t quit after just playing 2hours as pro players say “put in the hours”. After playing for total of 8 hours, my stack was down to 200.
Thinking I should have quit at that point but couldn’t quit as I was running good.

At what point, do I have to quit my session?

When you start watching TV or picking ya nose while gazing out the window it's probably a good time for a coffee break. Right i'm off for a coffee

Different things work for different people. Keep tabs on what seems to be working for you. You could set a number that works for you as well.

Yeah you really gotta get a feel for when the deck is cooling. Any time I play live I try to take my time and make smart plays but even that might not be enough at times so it's during this period that you should stop. If your playing well and doing what your supposed to do and are still loosing... it's time for a break

Fixing a goal or an objective when you go play can help, like double, triple your buy-in? play 3, 5, 12 hours? and a bit of planning also: rebuys? table change if..?

if you find 1 objective per session, that can give you a hand to put a stop on your game.. the only thing is... to stick on it.. once you've reached it, you have to stop. The most difficult part, I know..!

-TRP-

You can set a time goal or a money goal or some combination of criteria to complete a session but they should all be "soft" rules in my opinion. Another thing to consider, is your game changing with your stack size? Many players get looser and more aggressive as they chip up and if they run good it makes their stack grow even faster. But if they don't then they are right back down to where they started. Are you sure you are not one of these players? Pay attention to how many flops you are seeing when you had the 700, how often you are playing passive vs aggressive. Another thing that influences my session length is the table composition. After the big fish or whale gets busted and does not re-buy maybe they are replaced with a tough grinder / pro. Maybe that's a good time to rack up if you're already past your time or money goals. Or maybe just see if a table change makes sense.

My rule of thumb

My rule of thumb when I'm playing live cash games is to stay in the game as long as I'm playing well but don't get too greedy. Poker pros say a lot of things but just remember that poker is a.) subjective and b.) about making money. If you're comfortable walking away with a $400 profit (I don't see why you wouldn't, that's a week paycheck for some people) then by all means do it and live to fight another day.

Or you could always cash out, take a break, and buy back in later without risking your profit

You have to be brutally honest with yourself when considering quitting a session. It is really easy to rationalize bad play through strange mental gymnastics and delusions.

Are you losing stacks from getting really unlucky as an 80% favorite - again and again? Or are you playing poorly/below par than usual? You have to really know your own character on an intimate level. Look at it objectively, no matter how physically sick you feel from bad run-outs.

This is a question you can receive guidance with here, but the judgement call - to quit or keep on trucking - is something only you can make.

Cash Games

I find it hard to quit cash games when I am both ahead and behind. When I am behind I just want to make my money back and when I am ahead I just want to win more. This is why I need to get better at both cutting my losses and quitting while I'm ahead.

To be honest i think it's a very individual thing i mean i used to be able to grind for 20+ hours many moons ago. But now my attention span for poker is about an hour or two before im wanting to take atleast a 30 min break. Just to have a coffee break or get some fresh air and stretch my legs. My mind starts wandering after about 2 hours and im not going to be playing my A game and that's when the stacks start dwinding going into auto pilot mode.

Sometimes when you're on a downswing, you just need to get up for a few blinds and take a break.

I normally set a time limit, doesn't matter if I'm up or down.

Hey I really appreciate different opinion I didn’t expect get this much reply to be honest. I’ve been playing everyday these days and right now I’m up 350 just playing for 1hour... I’m sure it’s a good thing I’m winning, but can I really quit here??? I wanna put in some hours grinding, but scared losing it all after few hours. And if I quit after just playing 1 hour, what do you do for the rest of the day if your job is playing poker!?

Masa0522 said:

Appreciate if you guys can help in any way.

Just started to play seriously as I got some time off work. I’m somewhat confident in my game and actually up $6k in my career playing various stakes recreationally. However, I have a hard time quitting a session when I’m up.

For example, I bought in for 300 at the 1/3 game today, and was up 700 after 2hours or so. I couldn’t quit after just playing 2hours as pro players say “put in the hours”. After playing for total of 8 hours, my stack was down to 200.
Thinking I should have quit at that point but couldn’t quit as I was running good.

At what point, do I have to quit my session?

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8 hours seems like a bit too long....keeping up your A game for long periods is tough. I personally would prefer shorter sessions, or at least meaningful breaks in longer sessions

Hi,

TRP gave a pretty good advice. Double or triple up and stop the session or do a rest. If you won 3 times your buy in you can play 3 sessions and you are break-even in the worst case.

Take a break, when you feel your game is not on point or if it is just not going anywhere. I take a break every 20 minutes just to stand up, walk around and stretch a bit. It really makes a big difference. Everyone has to find out for themself. I also stop playing for the day when I am down 5 buyins. Everytime I hustled through huge losing days with very solid play, I was still down at the end. That is just my experience.

Ugghh thanks guys I just finished my session my stack was up to 1000 from the initial buy in (which was definitely good enough!!!) I got it in with top pair and a flush draw and the guy makes trips and i lost 400. Finished up 280 but man it’s so difficult to finish at the top point..

If the game is good and you're not playing bad or tilted or tired in anyway then just keep playing. If there is anything at all that might be influencing your play that isn't sound poker theory then you should leave.

I don't know what you mean by "playing seriously" but if you're scared of losing what you've made at the table early on in the session then that is a sign that perhaps you're not ready to play "seriously". That you should be leaving when you win early because you will not be thinking properly later on in the session.

Your bankroll should dictate whether or not you're scared of losing. (you shouldn't be, especially if you're attempting to play poker professionally / as a job)

I like the idea of playing a certain period of time with certain breaks. For example, 40 min game, 15 min coffee break, 40 min game again, etc. I'm talking about cash, of course. And no matter how much you lost or won during this time. Do not think about numbers.

Masa0522 said:

Appreciate if you guys can help in any way.

Just started to play seriously as I got some time off work. I’m somewhat confident in my game and actually up $6k in my career playing various stakes recreationally. However, I have a hard time quitting a session when I’m up.

For example, I bought in for 300 at the 1/3 game today, and was up 700 after 2hours or so. I couldn’t quit after just playing 2hours as pro players say “put in the hours”. After playing for total of 8 hours, my stack was down to 200.
Thinking I should have quit at that point but couldn’t quit as I was running good.

At what point, do I have to quit my session?

Click to expand...

Anytime you’re not playing your A game it’s time to quit. Personally, I have a set time. Example 12-6 if anytime before that I feel like I’m making poor decisions, I will stop. Once the 6 hours is up I will evaluate my play if the table is soft or I’m crushing the game, I will keep playing until I either take a bad beat or make a poor decision.

Basically if things are going your way keep playing and when YOU start making bad decisions, quit.

If u loose u're focus try multiple shorter sessions.

Quitting a Session

It's time to quit when you are no longer playing your A+ game.

If you are playing because "you have to get in the volume" and not because you really want to, that may be a problem.
Also, winning or losing a single session doesn't matter. Speaking of volume, you have to play a lot of hands (and lose a lot of hands) to be a full-time poker player. If you're down after one session, you should think: I'll get 'em in the next one, or the next one, or the next one....

I quit when I notice I'm playing scared or I'm getting too loose and aggressive, or rationalizing bad calls. Or obviously when I think the have dynamic has changed and I'm not at an advantage anymore.

I had a string of sessions where I’d get my stack up a few hundred and then end up leaving the poker room either even or down.
So now I personally go with either 2 or 4hr stop points, depending on how I’m feeling that day. If I get my stack up $200+ then I start a 30 min countdown and play only top 5 starting hands until then. If I win a big pot I will restart that countdown so I’m not just hitting and running.

As my skill develops I will start trying to push my stop points out further. Eventually I would like to become a more semi-pro cash game player.

If you start trying to protect your win and start playing differently may as well just take the money and run instead. If you're playing well and the game is good no reason to leave unless you can't afford the swings of your bankroll. Poker is a long-run game. The swings shouldn't matter if you're playing well, not tired or want to be elsewhere, and properly bankrolled for the stakes.