How do you decide when it's time to leave?

Is it when you hit x amount? (loss/profit)
Or maybe a certain time or time limit?
Basically what kind of guidelines do you guys set up to know when it's time to cash out (or cut your losses) and just got home?

you leave when the fish leave.

I would say it depends on your individual thought process. For example, I've seen people play really tight and win a huge pot. Them they start to loosen up and gamble more because hey they are up. They end up losing their profit and things go downhill from there. So if you are one of those people you should leave while your ahead and take a break.

It depends on your psychological, how you feel on the day, if you're feeling confident, paying attention to everyone around you, thinking correctly in mathematics. I find it interesting when break even is time to leave, it's better than hanging out with prejudice.

Most players will tell you to stay as long as the table is soft and profitable, but that is only half of it. You should stay as long as the table is soft AND you can keep your focus and play your best.

When I first started, I had trouble concentrating and found myself wanting to cash-in once I built my stack up to a certain point. Over time, I started training myself to stay disciplined and put in a certain amount of hours, regardless of what my chip stack looks like. Don't think of poker session by session - think of it as one long session. The goal is to be profitable over a longer period of time, which requires the ability to play as best you can every time you're at the table.

I stay as long as I feel I'm decently +EV. This covers combinations of a number of factors including but not limited to the ability of the opponents, how I'm playing, my mental / emotional state, etc.

This means there have been times I've continued to play when I knew I wasn't playing my usual level of poker - but the tables were soft enough that I still felt I had a decent edge.

aero87 said:

I would say it depends on your individual thought process. For example, I've seen people play really tight and win a huge pot. Them they start to loosen up and gamble more because hey they are up. They end up losing their profit and things go downhill from there. So if you are one of those people you should leave while your ahead and take a break.

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This is me to a T. I'm still trying to get the hang of betting strategies and what not, but if I'm up I tend chase a lot more than I normally would.

its time to leave based on your stop win and stop loss amount you have created....if you drop 3 buy ins I would leave....and if im winning I tend to play longer if I feel I have edge....just know you need to leave with some profit

i usually leave when i double up my buy in or when i loose half of my buy in, now if im feeling that im concentrated to play more when above mentioned happen i change table but in case i felt that i lost money because i made some stupid decisions i just quit.. Im not saying that it is right thing to do but that is how i feel working best for me

If I am up - I tend to leave the tbl , then go to another tbl and start over with the same buyin, when I am up at that one , again I leave. Now it depends on if a tourney is starting as to whether I go to another tbl !

I always go sit down with a stop-loss amount.

If I lose that amount, I leave.

If I am winning:

I play as long as I am playing my A-game, and there are fish on the table. If I get tired, or feel like I have won enough for the day, I leave.

There is nothing wrong with leaving while you are ahead. Don't be greedy.

Beanfacekilla said:

There is nothing wrong with leaving while you are ahead. Don't be greedy.

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Meh. Whatever you lose when your rungood is over you were gonna lose later anyway -- what matters is making the best EV decisions, which happens when you're playing your A-game and have a great image. THAT'S what makes you money.

If you can't overcome winner's tilt by all means book the win, but otherwise it's silly.

Aleksei said:

Meh. Whatever you lose when your rungood is over you were gonna lose later anyway -- what matters is making the best EV decisions, which happens when you're playing your A-game and have a great image. THAT'S what makes you money.

If you can't overcome winner's tilt by all means book the win, but otherwise it's silly.

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Winner's tilt. LOL. That is so true. People play such crap when they have 4 buy-ins in front of them. They often lose their entire stack by chasing, trying to outplay people, and spewing in many other ways.

Aside from that, I pretty much said the same things you did. As long as I am playing well, I stay.

However, I don't go on "winner's tilt". If anything, I protect my chips when I have a bunch of them.

^Folding too much because you wanna protect your win is a form of winner's tilt.

With a gigantic stack in front of me I'll splash around with speculative stuff often, because I'm deep so I have good implied odds.

aero87 said:

I would say it depends on your individual thought process. For example, I've seen people play really tight and win a huge pot. Them they start to loosen up and gamble more because hey they are up. They end up losing their profit and things go downhill from there. So if you are one of those people you should leave while your ahead and take a break.

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I have been this person, when it happens I try to remember and tighten back up.
If I find myself slipping and profits are shrinking I walk. take a break

Aleksei said:

^Folding too much because you wanna protect your win is a form of winner's tilt.

With a gigantic stack in front of me I'll splash around with speculative stuff often, because I'm deep so I have good implied odds.

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I never said I fold too much. I never even implied it. I said I protect my chips.

Many people just play every hand when they have tons of chips. They chase, spew, etc. Look at them in 45 mins, and they are all in for $57, and get felted. That is what I try to avoid.

I do not spew. I play the same way I did to build the stack initially. I might take a chance here or there on a draw, thinking of the implied odds of stacking someone.

There is nothing wrong with playing conservative when you have 3 buy-ins in front of you. I still get action when I have the goods.

Beanfacekilla said:

I never said I fold too much. I never even implied it. I said I protect my chips.

Many people just play every hand when they have tons of chips. They chase, spew, etc. Look at them in 45 mins, and they are all in for $57, and get felted. That is what I try to avoid.

I do not spew. I play the same way I did to build the stack initially. I might take a chance here or there on a draw, thinking of the implied odds of stacking someone.

There is nothing wrong with playing conservative when you have 3 buy-ins in front of you. I still get action when I have the goods.

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AMEN.

I play until I'm not feeling it anymore. It's hard sometimes to know if your'e playing emotionally, and it's even harder to quit once you know you are. But it's usuallyin your best interest to stop once your angry or upset. On the other hand, if your'e "in the zone" play until your eyes won't stay open

There is no true specific answer to this question. Generally, however, you should leave the table when you are either tilted, or have lost at least 2 buy-ins. If you are tilted, just quit for a while. If you have lost a lot of buy-ins, try to find a table with some fish.

To me when I'm ahead, I usually leave when the fish are gone or if the table dynamic has changed to a tougher table. When I play live, I usually take a walk once in a while when I feel my energy has drained a bit and end up coming back when I feel refreshed or no longer feel like staying at the table.

If you are still alert and playing well, stay. If you feel you are tilting,
losing focus or just plain tired then it’s time to go.

The fish will always be there but they too can get lucky sometimes.

When the fish leave and/or you notice a serious slowdown in the number of new people joining tables. It's just not profitable to stay then in cash games.

WhenIDrink said:

Is it when you hit x amount? (loss/profit)
Or maybe a certain time or time limit?
Basically what kind of guidelines do you guys set up to know when it's time to cash out (or cut your losses) and just got home?

Click to expand...

There is a classic rule out of the game called "40 bet." This rule applies to the game, where the stakes are limited. Regardless of the quality of the game, you need to leave the table after 40 big bets. The exception to the rule can be called only those tables that are particularly successful. Why bet 40 and exit? This rule is designed psychologist who has studied the poker players and behavioral factor in big wins. After 40 bets begin to dominate the excitement and euphoria over common sense and at this point it is so hard to follow the game (as the logic oppressed feelings).