[EStreet20]

All of the replies so far have been good. I'm not too crazy about the "quit while ahead" one but that's only because a more experienced player know not to quit when he/she is playing optimally at a good table, however for a beginner that idea may hold a little value. I'd re-word it to say stop playing after the time that you're usually ahead (for right now an hour as you said) either just sit out a few orbits or sign off and take a break or call it a day. At this point evaluate how you are doing emotionally, physically etc. I think that as you play longer you'll find that you are able to maintain a "good poker" level of concentration longer. Then you can take breaks at longer intervals. There is of course the possibility that your losses have been due to normal variance. But I'd say since you say it happens after a period of time in individual sessions it very well could be to poor concentration, fatigue etc etc.

I actually remember my growth process in this regard. When I first started I could play for hgours on end. Then when it became more routine I was cutting my sessions short due to being bored as hell/tired and everything else. After I developed the discipline to sit a little longer I simply began playing optimally for longer periods of time. Thus, I still cut my sessions whenever I feel myself "drifting out" but I feel that it takes longer to get to that point on average.

The other possibility is that you are a bad/novice player with a negative expectation and you are actually getting AHEAD in your sessions (or weeks, months) because of variance and then the normal distribution of hands combined with your mistakes causes you to dump money. No one will be able to determine if this is the cause or not without PT stats, hand posts etc. Either way continue to read and study the game while also working on disciplining yourself mentally and you should improve.

Good luck,
Matt