Waiting for the Blinds before Sitting Out

[x2ski]

This has probably been asked before (maybe even by me), but I am wondering how many of you wait for the Blinds to come back around to you before sitting out or leaving the table altogether.

The reason I ask is that I now have a newborn in the house and, although my wife is home to help, she will need my assistance from time to time while I'm playing.

So to all you mathematical geniuses out there, how much would I be losing in the long-run if an emergency comes up that requires me to sit out immediately? Since I have already paid for the orbit that I am now sitting out mid-way through (sometimes even on the Button [OMFG that would suck!], I assume I am losing expectation from the hands owed me.

I figure there are a lot of ins, a lot of outs and a lot of what-have-yous involved, but there must be some average loss over time that can be figured out.

I guess this would also apply to a bad table. Are you better off leaving immediately once you determine the table to suck or should you still wait for the Blinds? I am assuming the latter.

Thanks for your help

[mantasm]

You can figure out your expectation per hand per position in the position tab in pokertracker and go from there.

[TimM]

I always wait for the blinds before sitting out. One exception would be if I have to make a bathroom run, and I'm sitting out on three tables and only have a couple of hands on the fourth. But I take care of these things before my sessions, and the possibility may only come up like once a month maybe.

Even if the table is bad, you can always tighten up and play only premium hands for the rest of the orbit. It costs you nothing to wait for one of these if the alternative is sitting out.

If you want to see what you are losing, just go to the Position Stats tab in PT, and add up the BB Won per hand for each position remaining. My guess is that no amount can be worth pissing off the wife though. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Rosie5]

if you're playing low stakes, it won't be enough to matter. if you're playing high stakes, use 1/5th of a buyin to get a laptop

if you're playing the middle stakes, sell your baby on the black market and buy one

check the software board, maybe there's a program to help you out

I wait as long as my hands have a positive expectation. that is, if I'm playing well and I'm only stopping because it's time to go to dinner, or to party, or to play some ultimate, then yes I always wait.

if I start to tilt, or I'm playing like crap, or my image sucks and I can't catch cards to adjust, then why play the additional hands with additional -EV on top of the sunk cost of the blinds.

[Guthrie]

I unclick "auto post" on all tables when I get the button, then shut them down as they come around. Sometimes I'll dump out of the last one a hand or two early.

I never had any, but I'd think a newborn would be worth a few bets of missed opportunity no matter what.

[autobet]

No big deal to sit out a hand or two early. Most your value comes from the blinds themselves and late position.

If you leave on the buttom, maybe you can get back after missing a few hands and not loose all the hands.

[Kevin]

Constant issue in our household. I think my wife has a secret monitor set up - so that she can see that I just paid the blinds and then say "Are you going to put the boys to bed?" One time, after serious debate, I tried to explain to her the whole idea of expectation per hand, etc. I showed her that I, on average, make $.13 per hand - so she goes into her drawer, gets $1.04 in change, dumps it on my lap and says - Here - now will you put the kids to bed?

After that incident, I find myself a little more proactive when it is around 8:30-9:00 and it is getting close to blind time.

Good luck with the new born +EV

[edge]

I always wait for the blinds. If I didn't play 6-max, there's no doubt in my mind that I would have soiled my pants multiple times. I drink a lot of water while I play.

[Catt]

[ QUOTE ]
One time, after serious debate, I tried to explain to her the whole idea of expectation per hand, etc. I showed her that I, on average, make $.13 per hand - so she goes into her drawer, gets $1.04 in change, dumps it on my lap and says - Here - now will you put the kids to bed?

[/ QUOTE ]

Your wife is very wise.

[trainslayer]

I suspect that the +EV you get around the house will far outweigh any -EV you take at the tables. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[bcubed72]

This is an interesting question that ties in w/ some calculations I made. Back about 7 mo. ago when I was just putting together a hold 'em strategy, I took a look at the EV charts at PokerRoom. I calculated all the hands with a positive EV for purposes of refining my starting hands requirements. While doing that, I also multiplied each EV by its probability to determine the net EV of one orbit (assuming you are an average player post flop and that the games you play are similar in difficulty to those or PokerRoom).
The stats are as follows:
1. Irrespective of position, your average EV for a hand not in the blinds is + 0.0595 BB/hand. This comes out to + $0.12 for a hand not in the blinds.
2. Playing optimally in the blinds results in a net loss: -$0.32 (-0.162BB) in the little blind and -$0.41 (-0.204BB) in the big blind.
Therefore, the AVERAGE loss due to sitting out a non-blind hand is as stated above. Realize that you will lose more than average from a late position, and less from early position. However, assuming that you are only playing +EV hands out of the blinds, you lose some money in every non-blind hand.
Finally, although it is a bit off topic, note that a player with average skills can turn a profit simply by playing only +EV hands: +0.0595*8-0.204-0.162= +0.11 BB/orbit or about $1.21 /hr given the $1/2 example. Even more could be made by altering play according to position, but that is too much work for me and besides I now have a grasp for which hands to play and further data gathering is unnecesary.
Hope this helps.

[dogmeat]

Forget the idea of waiting on the blinds for the next five years - there will be many times you have to get up NOW. However, it's not worth sweating. Trust me, as a father with a four year old.

Also, I don't like the first few spots UTG anyway, and if you play NL, the blinds don't mean very much.

Dogmeat /images/graemlins/spade.gif