[shoeman]

Since I have a 9-5 job and a pregnant wife, finding a good chunk of time to play is difficult. So, if I'm playing on a Friday night and quickly go down 5-6 buy-ins, I find it nearly impossible to justify a break. I look at it this way....I know I can beat this game, I have in the past, fire up a few more games and make this money back. I may even move up a level.(not good)

If I take a break 1) I may not get a good chunk of time to play for another day or two and 2) when I do play again, I'll still know that I'm down 5-6 buy-ins and still be pissed about it.

I guess my point is this, a break is only useful if your game has changed for the worse due to your current bad streak. Otherwise, it's just wasted time do other such activities as sleep, watch TV, etc. Of course, if you are knowingly playing a different game due to a bad streak, a break is necessary. I suppose how long of a break depends on how long it takes you calm down. I usually know I need a break when the dog runs upstairs to hide. Maybe I'll take 1 hour off for each item I throw across the room or a full day if I break something. At this point in my poker life, I really can't see how taking more than a day or two is useful. I'm sure plenty will disagree?? Anybody?

Actually, I find it easier to quite playing after going on a good run. Now that I think about it, this is probably the opposite of what I should be doing. Why would I quite when I'm on a good streak?

Not to hijack this thread but I have a question... Is there anybody else out there who would sooner quit playing when they were on a good streak rather than take a break when on a bad streak? I really don't think this makes sense.