Re: Stop Loss- When to quit a Session
 

Nice post...

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It's extremely hard to know when you are playing your best Poker. You don't have a coach or partner to critique you.

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It's not extremely hard if you learn how to analyze hands, know the reasoning/justification/value behind any play you make and are brutally honest with yourself about your own play/mindset regardless of the game you're in. The last one can be the toughest.

Fact is, most players are too lazy to develop those attributes.

b

Re: Stop Loss- When to quit a Session
 

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Nice post...

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It's extremely hard to know when you are playing your best Poker. You don't have a coach or partner to critique you.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not extremely hard if you learn how to analyze hands, know the reasoning/justification/value behind any play you make and are brutally honest with yourself about your own play/mindset regardless of the game you're in. The last one can be the toughest.

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I think it is hardest to do this when you are winning, because it is quite easy to feel that there is no need to do so.

Re: Stop Loss- When to quit a Session
 

It is rather simmple. If you are a winning player, you should theoretically never stop playing. However, if you're game starts to slip, it is possible that you are no longer a winning player at that limit playing the way you are playing. That is when you should stop, as playing is no longer profitable.

Re: Stop Loss- When to quit a Session
 

I only stop when I feel like I'm not playing well. You have to be honest with yourself. If you get tired you should stop too, but never stop just cause you on bad streak, if you playing well that won't last forever and if you got good bankroll management then you should be able to afford the swing without sweating it too much

Re: Stop Loss- When to quit a Session
 

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It's not extremely hard if you learn how to analyze hands, know the reasoning/justification/value behind any play you make and are brutally honest with yourself about your own play/mindset regardless of the game you're in. The last one can be the toughest.

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I agree completely, except I think we have different definitions of "hard." Most things are easy if you know what you're doing all the time and are brutally honest.

To me the problem is the same factors that make you play badly, make you misestimate your ability. If you get the idea that everyone at the table is better than you, you get scared. You fold a lot of hands, and tell yourself that you were wise to do it. Most of the time you never see the cards to prove you were wrong. It might take an hour of play to get convincing evidence that you're folding too much; and you might have given away three or four pots, including one big one, by then.

Or you can get mad and play too loose. If you steal a few small pots and get lucky in a big one, you can feel invulnerable. You tell yourself you own the table and know when the other players are going to fold, that you've got them all scared. You can make money playing like this for an hour, then give back three times that much in one hand (in no limit, anyway).

Re: Stop Loss- When to quit a Session
 

I'm not sure our definition of hard is that different.

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If you get the idea that everyone at the table is better than you, you get scared. You fold a lot of hands,

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You should leave the table immediately. Why stay?

Alot of what you're saying in your post is having emotions(and ego) dictate play. If you have a strong game, and experience and the knowledge of the game backing you, emotions aren't going to tell you how loose or tight to play.

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You fold a lot of hands, and tell yourself that you were wise to do it. Most of the time you never see the cards to prove you were wrong.

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What does this mean? This looks like hindsight thinking. There are times you will be folding for hours(plural) at a time. In that time, you may fold numerous winning hands. Essentially, watching your rush go by. That doesn't mean you should've been playing. If you know the solid theory behind your folds and can back it up, there shouldn't be any question about needing to see the cards to prove you were wrong.


To me, what you're describing is a weak player that doesn't likely know the game that well so they rely on feel and how they are 'running'. They lack the attributes that I described. Which, imo, makes them losing players in the long run.

One big test about how good someone is is how they play during the bad sessions/swings.

b