How do you define your exit strategy for a cash game?

[lacroir]

I was not into cash games until recently, but now I'm starting to enjoy it.
But my concern is how to have some rules over my play. I mean, if I sit in with e.g. $0.80 into a $0.01/$0.02 game, how long do you play? Until a given number of hands or until reaching a profit (or going broke)? Also, do you consider withdrawing money from the table once you reach e.g. $1.60 in this example to you secure your previous earnings or continue playing with the $1.60? How do you usually do it?

 

[Station_Master]

Until the game doesnt look good or I have had enough. Whether I am up or down doesnt really matter

 

[JappsPK]

I was not into cash games until recently, but now I'm starting to enjoy it.
But my concern is how to have some rules over my play. I mean, if I sit in with e.g. $0.80 into a $0.01/$0.02 game, how long do you play? Until a given number of hands or until reaching a profit (or going broke)? Also, do you consider withdrawing money from the table once you reach e.g. $1.60 in this example to you secure your previous earnings or continue playing with the $1.60? How do you usually do it?

I just dont like cash games because people can team-up against you. Thats bad.

 

[dreamer13]

This is the feeling that a player gets when he has won decently in the current session, and now he has a fear of losing it all. And this state of mind can make you play too cautiously, causing you to miss out on a lot of profitable situations. One of the most important obstacles that you must overcome in becoming an elite poker player is to understand that the results of one particular session mean nothing .You should always exit the game when you tilt. Even though the results of one particular day are far from an indicator of your long-term win rate, nevertheless, due to a bad losing session, you can start making irrational decisions based only on emotions and anger , which can negatively affect your ability to play.Despite the fact that tilt itself is obviously irrational, sooner or later it can happen to absolutely any player. It's just that elite poker players are better able to control it.

 

[MK_]

I just dont like cash games because people can team-up against you. Thats bad.

..they can do that in tourneys too and unlike cash games you can't leave the table..

 

[Jarud]

Usually if I’m tired and/or tilted and start to make bad decisions, (which is usually when I am stuck) I am improving though; last night I played a 3 hour session and at one point I was down 3 buy ins, the old me would of quit but I battled on because i know I am a winning player, I ended the session in the Green.

 

[lacroir]

@dreamer13 It's bad but I believe you describe my situation perfectly. Thanks for the great explanation and summary. It seems then this is more something that I have to handle properly and not fear of losing in a particular session.

 

[MK_]

I play until the table gets slow or I'm just tired of playing, I think it depends on your br. If you are playing with money you're scared to lose take the profit and leave

 

[Aballinamion]

I was not into cash games until recently, but now I'm starting to enjoy it.
But my concern is how to have some rules over my play. I mean, if I sit in with e.g. $0.80 into a $0.01/$0.02 game, how long do you play? Until a given number of hands or until reaching a profit (or going broke)? Also, do you consider withdrawing money from the table once you reach e.g. $1.60 in this example to you secure your previous earnings or continue playing with the $1.60? How do you usually do it?

Thank you for your interest and question. For cash games we use the big stack strategy, which means we are going to sit having the maximum allowed, a 100 blinds and we are going to set up the option to auto top up our chips when they run out.
When we do seat in the table having 40 blinds (according to your example $ 0,80 cents of dollar), we are expecting to win at maximum more 40 blinds, and unless we got a lucky 3-way pot we aren’t going to make more than that.
We seat in the table having a 100 blinds to concur and win another 100 blinds when the situation shows up.
We also must have a solid bankroll management and have strict rules and discipline to play. If you are a beginner I recommend to open one single table and play something like 1 hour to 3 hours at most per day, having total control of the situation: i.e; if you begin to play and have a plan to continue for the next 2 hours, but when you have played 45 minutes of the game you start to feel nervous, anxious, sad, anger, uncomfortable, and not accepting the negative results, you should close the table and stop playing immediately: we are going to continue playing only when we are in our most elevated state of mind and body, having nothing to disturb, no leaks, nothing wrong with the body or mind.
However, if we have agreed to play for about 2 hours, and the session is not what we expected to be, but we do own bankroll and psychological conditions to continue, we are going to fulfill our plan and only close the table and end the session when the clock reaches the planed 2 hours.
I hope this can help you. If you have anything to add or doubts, please, do not hesitate to post or ask.

 

[zwbb]

From an early position, it is recommended to play only premium hands, but on the button it is permissible to expand the range of opening the hands. The decision to draw the starting hands of ATo-A5o, A9s-A2s, KQo, KJo, KTo, K9s-K6s, QJo-Q8o, QTs-Q6s JTo, J9o, JTs-J7s, T9o, T9s-T6s is affected by the number of players in the hand, the position, the previous actions of the players at the table and the size of the stack.

 

[lacroir]

Thank you for your interest and question. For cash games we use the big stack strategy, which means we are going to sit having the maximum allowed, a 100 blinds and we are going to set up the option to auto top up our chips when they run out.
When we do seat in the table having 40 blinds (according to your example $ 0,80 cents of dollar), we are expecting to win at maximum more 40 blinds, and unless we got a lucky 3-way pot we aren’t going to make more than that.
We seat in the table having a 100 blinds to concur and win another 100 blinds when the situation shows up.
We also must have a solid bankroll management and have strict rules and discipline to play. If you are a beginner I recommend to open one single table and play something like 1 hour to 3 hours at most per day, having total control of the situation: i.e; if you begin to play and have a plan to continue for the next 2 hours, but when you have played 45 minutes of the game you start to feel nervous, anxious, sad, anger, uncomfortable, and not accepting the negative results, you should close the table and stop playing immediately: we are going to continue playing only when we are in our most elevated state of mind and body, having nothing to disturb, no leaks, nothing wrong with the body or mind.
However, if we have agreed to play for about 2 hours, and the session is not what we expected to be, but we do own bankroll and psychological conditions to continue, we are going to fulfill our plan and only close the table and end the session when the clock reaches the planed 2 hours.
I hope this can help you. If you have anything to add or doubts, please, do not hesitate to post or ask.

Thanks for your feedback, really appreciate. That's a good point on having the maximum as a starting stack as in case of bigger raises/all-in I could win more (or of course loose more but don't shouldn't think about that).
Though, currently I was trying to do some kind of bankroll management, and in my current case I have roughly ~$28. This is the reason I opted for the min possible of $0.80 as this is roughly 1/35 of my balance. If I would go with $2.00 it would be 1/14 of my balance which I think is not good for my bankroll.
So, based on your feedback I think I will jump to a $2.00 sit in once I reached around $70.
I know that for STT/SnG/MTT buy-ins this type of bankroll management suits well, so I just hoped it makes sense for cash games as well.

 

[Stringy]

once i've made double the buy in i take out and join back in

 

[steve01991]

if i start with low dollars i would try to double up and if i am losing , half my cash.

 

[makisaa]

I get in with the maximum buy in, because it lets you play more comfortable. Now the exit time must be a recognizable moment of the game, depending from your perception of the conditions. You can understand a face where you don't win anymore or you cannot reverse loses.

 

[Oranaro]

The best is to put 100 BB, as you would win 100BB max when you hit a strong range. But actually, playing 50bb is ok too, as CG players may have difficulties into adapting their play to a short stack, or not even paying attention to the stack.
When to stop? When you feel like you want to. If you're playing online, as it seems (Idk if you can get any 0,02$ live) you can change your table if you think players are stronger than you, or something suspicious' going on. It's not a good thing to leave regarding your results, unless you get emotionally driven. I, myself, play an hour, and then I take a rest, and play again an hour, usually I do 2 sessions of 1 hour, and I leave, sometimes I extand it to 4 hours, or more, when I do have time, and don't feel emotionally driven.

 

[Rockyfour]

FYI short stacking the micros is essentially an unbeatable strategy as you won’t be hitting the rake caps and therefore will be paying full rake which is bad. Also you need to get big stacks in as a big favourite to overcome the rake. Obviously unable to do that if ur a short stack.

 

[Recreationalplayer]

I am uncomfortable playing stacks with 250BB + and end up cashing out.

 

[markdias]

I'm very cautious, I tend to wait for position and good hands in the beginning!

 

[Dailon Arroyo Blandon]

I play at the 0.10/0.25 cash tables every day... and without going into much detail I have a strategy defined in 3 stages: 1- In the first stage I defined the ranges of the hands that I will play in early, middle positions Button and blinds. 2- Define a personalized HUD that provides me with the statistical information I need about my opponents... 3- I call this stage the "Dynamic Stage" since according to the information provided by my HUD I define whether I should be cautious or aggressive against the opponent that is playing at that moment... The truth is that my strategy has more details but in general terms it is like that... and of course the application of a strict discipline

 

[eletor2020]

By playing microlimits you can only gain experience in the game. Sometimes there are people who play so badly that it's very unpredictable to make a profit.

 

[liuouhgkres]

Simple. If I feel like I'm not playing to my best ability I get out.

 

[Tadi]

I was not into cash games until recently, but now I'm starting to enjoy it.
But my concern is how to have some rules over my play. I mean, if I sit in with e.g. $0.80 into a $0.01/$0.02 game, how long do you play? Until a given number of hands or until reaching a profit (or going broke)? Also, do you consider withdrawing money from the table once you reach e.g. $1.60 in this example to you secure your previous earnings or continue playing with the $1.60? How do you usually do it?

When I play with 40 BB (or $0.80) I usually have a little money in the bank and I will leave the table with $1.60 +-, then sit down again at another table with $0.80. I often won playing this way, and sometimes regretted leaving the previous table. In any case, if we have little money, we should leave the table on time. I had the opportunity to see a player who started with $0.80 win $5 and in the end lost everything.

 

[wavetune]

I don't have special rules to withdraw money if I have reached a certain amount or play strictly on time (2 hours a day, for example) but in cash games there is a line that you need to feel and leave the table on time or stop playing, for me, after a good start when raised money, these are several unsuccessful distributions or bad beats in a row

 

[TeUnit]

When you no longer feel you have an edge or if you are tired of playing.