What is a succesful session?

I've been playing .50/1 limit at full tilt for a while now and was wondering what you figure a successful session is? Do you figure it by the amount of
BB/Hr or just the total money you make over what you sit down with?

Is it successful if you get down say 10bb and make it back up to even at the end of the session. You did not gain any money but did not lose any either?

To me, if you, at the very least, break even over a long peroid of time (i.e. 2 or 3 hours), it's a successful session. It depends what your goals are. If you really don't have any, set at least one that you think is doable. Then, set another goal after you accomplish that goal.

t1riel said:

To me, if you, at the very least, break even over a long peroid of time (i.e. 2 or 3 hours), it's a successful session. It depends what your goals are. If you really don't have any, set at least one that you think is doable. Then, set another goal after you accomplish that goal.

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I agree with this 100% You also have to keep the rake in mind. If you have been at a table for a long time and you break even you are actualy up to some extent. In a .50/1.00 game the rake can be heavy after all is said and done. So I guess my first goal should be to take my own advice and make the rake.

I think I used to set goals for sessions, but it's a really dangerous path to walk down since it may fool you into playing for a shorter or longer time than you should. If you can't catch decent cards, you won't be up that night, and no staying up until 4 a.m. is going to change that. If you sit down at a table with 8 maniacs, you might double your buy-in within 10 minutes. That's no reason to leave the table, on the contrary!

Try not to gauge results over as short a period as one session. But if you notice that you're consistently ending up in the red, try to look at some reasons for why that might happen. The most common reason is playing too loosely pre-flop, followed by playing poor and marginal hands to the river. The amount of money you lose on playing a big hand and losing might seem like a lot, but it's peanuts comparatively.

In a big pot you may lose 5 big bets. A fish at a table loses that much by playing too losely preflop in less than three full rounds of the blinds, by just calling to see the flop. Why do people call a raise preflop with 95s but won't raise the turn when they have an overpair to the board and no reason to expect being behind? Costs as much, but in the latter case they actually have a reason to do it.

Whoops. I think i went off on a tangent.

To me a suscesfull session is when i play 1000 hands, andi win at least 70% of the showdowns and i make atleast 2 times the buy in , for example in a 50./1 $ games , if i sit down with 30 dollars, after 1000 hand i expect to have 70 to 80 ( or maybe more depending of the players ) dollars .

If you do this 5 times in a row ( with means you had 5 suscesfull sessions ) you should have a good enough bankroll to tackle the next level and be confident you mastered the the last level. This could be a good suggestion for moving up games .

t1riel said:

To me, if you, at the very least, break even over a long peroid of time (i.e. 20,000 or 30,000 hands), it's a successful session.

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I fixed this. Seriously, as FP said there are dangers of being influenced by short-term results, as variance can and will strike and may well fool you into believing you're playing worse or (more dangerously) better than you actually are.

Well anytime you walk away a winner is a success, BUT you cant say thats a successfull session, To me its over a period of time that makes you successful, whether it be 4 months or 1 year, how your success in poker is rated is not just 1 or 2 games or 1 or 8 hours,its over a certain period of time. I rate myself over a six month period, did i do good or bad in the last 6 months?? As any pro will tell you,winning 1 game or winning 1 tournament ( even the wsop ) does not make you a pro,or a good player, its how consistent you are that counts.>>>>> buck:hello:

Generally for cash games, BB/100 hands is the usual statistic that carries some idea about how you are playing. Typically at the low-mid limits a 3BB/100 hands is a good ratio. So, this means if you are playing $1/$2, you would be making $6 (3 Big Bets) for every 100 hands you played. However, the # of hands needed to make this number close to your actual BB/100 (and playing level), you need to play tens of thousands of hands. (no joke)

I think a successful session is any one that I don't sucker punch the man next to me for calling with crap, catching, and then taunting.

I look at success as did I make right calls/poker decisions. I may have played a hand right, got my money in when it was good, and still lost the hand. Did you lay down your two pair to a better hand, sniff out the slowplayed set? Those are what I look for. If I am at the top of my game and doing those thing, the money will come. I know it is time to stop when I am not doing theses things. I look at this biweekly.

success

any time you leave a table with more money then you started with you have succeeded!

slost said:

any time you leave a table with more money then you started with you have succeeded!

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Not exactly true, if you play today and Win $500, then play tomorrow and Lose $1000. thats not a sucess, in poker as i said before its> over the long run that counts < you have to be constantly in the money to make it as a pro, i dont mean all the time but i would say over 75% of the time, and maybe the percentage is higher than that.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..buck:hello:

My thanks to everyone who responded, all of that makes a lot of sense. I know poker is a long road with variance and swings. I know i shouldn't pay attention to short term results but it is hard not to when you get up from the table. The information is right there. Also i need to remind myself that if i'm up say 14 dollars after a session, that is still 14/BB which is good depending on how i played. It can just feel like so little after a few hours. and 14/BB is good. Just need to keep working on my perspective.

Question to those who just say the $$$ matters. Which of these two days are better?

When you finish a day and you sat down with $75 at a $2/$10 game ($1,$2 blinds, max bet $10) and you finish with $225. But to make it, you were in big pots and sucked out on the river 3 times to make that money. Is that still a good session?

You go back to the same game with $75 the next day. Get sucked out yourself a couple of times and lay down a set to a bigger set that you just knew he had and saved yourself money in that hand. You played for 4 hours and only walked away with $85 but got no cards and when you had a hand maximized the wins just to stay even?

Tournament senario: I lost all my chips by playing two hand in the frist 3 levels of a tournament. I have AA and raise 3XBB and get reraised to 6BB so I call. Flop is AK4. I bet, he goes all-in, I call. He shows KK and gets quads on the river. Fortunately he had less chips than me so I still had about 500 in chips with the blinds at 30/60. I get JJ and raise 5xBB and get two callers. Flop is A 10 4. One guy raises, I go all-in, one fold, one calls. Shows A 10. and gets an A on the river. Two hands and out of the tournament early enough to go catch the 7 pm movie. Was that a bad tournament?

For me it depends on what I define as being successful.

I play exactly the same game as you (.50/$1 limit) at Holdempoker and I've had the same $20 bankroll for nearly two months now. It goes up, it goes down, and when it either drops or raises back up to $20, that signals to me to end the session.

Now I regard these sessions successful from a poker point of view as I'm gaining practise without losing any money. So, I hope, my game is improving.

On the other hand, as a money maker, I'm a complete failure as I can play for a few hours and not win a penny.

I agree with your point of view, El Viajero. If you're starting out or really still learning, maintenance of bankroll over the rake is a fine objective if you ask me. You get experience, presumably you have fun with your time, and you get better.

If you view poker as a job or a source of regular income, you can't use the same metrics, but if it's a pleasure and a game for you, then I think breaking even -- especially at first -- is a fine aim.

However, on a game-by-game basis that might not work, as you have to win some in your "successful" sessions to make up for sessions where you lose (you won't break even every time).

Beriac said:

(you won't break even every time).

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Ain't that the truth.

To me a Succesful session is:

- When I have a good time playing
- When I learn something about my play or someone else's that will help me later
- When I do not lose my ass
- When I do not go on tilt after losing to a bad hand who gets lucky
- When I play my game right

Success is not how much you make but how much better you get. I like money as much as the rest but you won't always win everytime you play.

P.S.
Anyone else notice the Dito (Ditto) thing is spelled wrong?