Should I stop when ahead or buy-in for less?

This has happened to me a few times while playing cash games lose my first buy in quite fast and then buy in and within an hour get up to where I'm up 20 bucks( playing 1/2 nl buying in for 200) playing at the casino that's a 20 min drive so I feel I should stay longer and play but running pretty bad except for the one hand end up losing it all. Should I have just left while ahead realizing what was going to happen or tried to switch tables and buyin for less? Let me know what you think thanks

this doesnt quite make sense to me, you lose 200 then win 20 and think its time to leave?

Man I wish it was only 20 mis drive to play 1/2, its 5.5 hours for me.....

Im guessing its good to have 2 buyins at least if youre going to make the effort to go out, aces get cracked. Buying in short isnt a great idea but if you expect to lose your first buyin fast, why not hang around here and arm yourself with some awesome strategy to beat these guys before throwing good money after bad?

whats the problem, you are running bad? You cant run good unless you keep playing. if you are on tilt thats one thing but if you are running bad no need to leave. The cards don't look better from one session to the next, stick it out and wait for a good run of hands and don't play foolish. probability of good/bad cards is the same every time you play.

So much pseudoscientific bs in this post...

If you're a winning player (meaning your EV is positive on the long run), then keep playing. If you're a losing player (meaning your EV is negative on the long run), then stop playing, unless you're playing for fun and can afford to lose.

Future luck does not depend on previous results. Every hand is an independent proposition, unaffected by previous results (the only thing previous hands matter for is for finding exploitable patterns in your opponents).

If you get the 3h on your third hand, then its going to be a good day.

However, be careful of the 7s on your fifth hand, you may want to book your taxi back straight away.

Always buy in with the max imo! Don't play with scared money, good players will be all over you!!

Also, think you need to look into why you're losing the first buy in so quickly and so often!!

After a couple of orbits you should be able to tell if its a "good game" or "bad game". For instance there are 2 drunks splashing around alot of money and playing every hand ... thats good ... stay.

Table is tight/nitty... guys that are better than you and have postion on you ... bad ... leave or change seats.

Basically the point I'm trying to make is if you are ahead or behind isn't as important as if the table is good or bad.