When to leave live cash game?

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totox

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When to leave live cash game?
I've been playing live lately with decent results so far. But other night I got into some tricky spots and am smacking myself for not cashing out a little earlier. The night was slow and I was down most of evening then a few big hands and suddenly I'm more than doubled up. I definitely had the thoughts of leaving shortly after but the table felt too good to leave. The table was so juicy and so many bad players even I knew I had an edge and I'm just average.

So I stayed, went card dead a bit, lost some chips, got into a tricky spot or two lost some chips, got AA and got no action. Then got coolered turning a nut flush and losing to 22s that hit a boat on turn. I lost at least a BI worth of profit but still left slightly up.
 
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Caryn

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I know EXACTLY what you mean, and can share similar stories too of more than tripling my buy in then losing it all back to bad beats, coolers, etc. I honestly got pretty tilted by it and had to break for a day, but here's the guideline I set for myself:

When I sit at a cash game, I have a reasonable profit goal. It could be 50% of the buy in, or it could be 3x. Whatever YOU are comfortable with. When you hit it, don't walk right away. In my opinion, the right etiquette is to sit for a round of the button and maybe play a few small hands but stay out of anything aggressive. That cooler could be coming!

Once the button has passed again, if you're at your goal... walk. You'll feel better coming back to repeat the next day. (This is how I'm building my baby bankroll up anyways, I think that $100+ profit everyday is more encouraging than going from $500 profit to zeroing out at the end of a shift... which has happened when I break that goal and stick where it feels hot.)
 
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BadluckBubba

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I leave the moment my opponent jams on the flop after I hit top 2 pair, and call, only to watch their complete bluff hit runner runner strait.
 
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dlam

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I always have a set time I'm at the table or have something I'm planning to do and quit just before its my time to post the blind. This keeps me more focus on the game
 
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RakeMyLife

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I always have a set time I'm at the table or have something I'm planning to do and quit just before its my time to post the blind. This keeps me more focus on the game

I follow a similar strategy... I generally plan to leave at a certain hour, and give myself some freedom (like 30-45min early or late) to adjust. Rare exceptions are when I'm up and the table is fishy but deep. I don't sweat losing my profit (on bad beats hopefully) bc in the long run, variance will get u one way or the other. I think about poker as one long session...

My one hard rule is that I will always leave immediately after 2 buy ins lost. Phil Ivey once wrote about a truth in poker that guides this principle... every player at every level of the game plays better when they are winning and plays worse when they are losing. Managing downswings emotionally and practically I think really separates good players and great players.
 
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RakeMyLife

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Curious to hear more about those with profit goals... I've always thought that was tricky. When I've done it in the past, I felt pressured to win every session and/or pressured to leave a good game. Neither of which I am comfortable with!
 
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subsinind

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A good BRM is to set a target with a set time for a session and get out of there asap when the target is reached whether its 1 min or 10 min or 1 hour or until your set time has ended for that session. If you feel you are not in the mood to continue, leave ASAP.

Some days, within 5 mins, I have tripled up and I would be like, I just came here for some entertainment. Lets just stay for atleast couple of hours. But often, I have left busted.

Since, I mainly play live, I normally don't care about BRM and care about entertainment and I just keep playing for hours trying to crush their egos until I bust.
 
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PKRNRS

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When to leave live cash game?
I've been playing live lately with decent results so far. But other night I got into some tricky spots and am smacking myself for not cashing out a little earlier. The night was slow and I was down most of evening then a few big hands and suddenly I'm more than doubled up. I definitely had the thoughts of leaving shortly after but the table felt too good to leave. The table was so juicy and so many bad players even I knew I had an edge and I'm just average.

So I stayed, went card dead a bit, lost some chips, got into a tricky spot or two lost some chips, got AA and got no action. Then got coolered turning a nut flush and losing to 22s that hit a boat on turn. I lost at least a BI worth of profit but still left slightly up.

Your luck....I mean variance can kick in anytime. You're at a table that you have a good feel for but in the end you squeaked out a small profit. Sounds good to me. If you limit your bad sessions in the black then you're golden. If its a really good table I would try to stay as long as I could. Of course your stacks will be up and down as the fish do get lucky. Hang in there and wait for your hands.
 
poliaris747

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You need to have the rules of poker, which in any case does not violate! Set a limit at which you get up from the poker table!
 
paipingprung

paipingprung

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Variance is variance even short term..very difficult when a table is weak and it won't happen for me..from what you described I wouldn't have picked up either.
 
tihomir_kula

tihomir_kula

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In cash games when + leave when double,if possible,when - put a time limit
 
deform fedot

deform fedot

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Luck comes and goes, this variance, call it what you want, but if you start to feel that it refrain from hot acts and finish the game. Sorry for my English
 
TeUnit

TeUnit

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think you leave when you dont feel like you have an edge
 
pokergo666

pokergo666

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Usually after had reached the targeted win rate.
 
quick

quick

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I don't like to set $$$ rules on when to "leave" a table live in terms of 'leave when X up." Why would I want to leave a table that's making me money? You've got to be comfortable and ok with the risk that you might have a big stack, get into a juicy pot ahead by a mile and still lose. It's ok. Online is different of course and I'd leave up online with no qualms.

I do cap myself currently at a hard 2 BI loss during a live session. If I sit down at 1/2 with $200 and lose it, buy in again with $200 and lose it, I go home for the evening. If I feel tilted or too tired after the first loss sometimes I just go home anyways.

I'll also leave if the table breaks and I feel done for the night. Sometimes this means leaving up, sometimes leaving even, sometimes leaving down. I think in this case if I'm up and the table breaks, nothing wrong with booking the win and heading home.

I mean it's really dependent on a lot of variables. I was playing a recent session where I won a few big pots and was more than doubled up. Flopped top set on a board and have someone betting into me, so naturally I'm trying to build a nice big pot. Guy catches a gutshot straight on turn there goes most of the profit. But what am I going to do here? Can't play in fear of losing especially when you're ahead and long term in this spot the set holds up.


I do admit, because I don't play live as much as I want to (only get there about once a week) I tend to sometimes stay too long and see myself getting a little looser. Which means it's time to tighten back up or go home. I'd like to be able to play live at least 3-4 times a week eventually. But definitely like the experience and feel like I want to maximize the time I do have there, which sometimes leads to bleeding off chips for no reason.


So be mindful. If you feel tired or bored and a short break doesn't fix it, go home. If you're playing scared money (you shouldn't be) and are up, go home. If you've bought in more than once and you hit your loss limit for buy ins, go home. But don't leave when doubled up or leave when up "just because" you're up.
 
vandenenden

vandenenden

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I don't generally like putting a time limit on myself or a dollar amount I want to get to, if you play right the whole time you're there you should be leaving with some money in your pocket; that being said if I go absolutely ice cold for like 2-3 hours I'll walk away. If I lose a couple big pots to some fish and I feel myself going on tilt I'll walk away, the last thing you want to do is make a bad situation worse by gambling, save it for another day. Also the reason I dont like having a set time to leave is because is when it gets close to the time and I'm not up very much or I'm down, I don't want to start playing losse in an effort to make some quick cash before I have to go.
 
Omahahahaha

Omahahahaha

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Quit if you are playing poorly.
 
Mikeisanace777

Mikeisanace777

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You should have left! It doesnt matter if the table is terrible or not because even if you 5 x upped it won't account for the many stupid times you decided to stay and lost you profit plus buy in. I can account for 2500 plus dollars of profit I could have left with over time instead i dumped it all back like a fool don't play into that. If your profit is so small then stay grind it our to a reasonable day,or just lower your limits to 3~6 limit if you want to chill drink a beer and hang for awhile.
 
RiversRage

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If I double on online I usually bounce unless i have some juicy fish i think i can continue to profit on.
 
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QA77

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You should leave when you feel like the game is dying and there's no action. Also if you are starting to tilt and making bad decisions. But in general you should decide before the game on how long you want to play and stick to it. So decide you want to play 4 hours and leave when the time is up.
 
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