Playing less during a down swing, smart or stupid?

[Warren Whitmore]

If you are not game selective and you are running badly it could very well mean that you are playing below the level of you competition plus rake.
If you are game selective play on and your actual win rate will regress to your theoretical one.

[cpk]

If you have lost confidence in your abilities or are no longer having much fun, then yes, it's time to take a break. You cannot play your best game when you feel like this, and not playing your best game combined with bad cards is a recipe for financial disaster.

[itsmesteve]

havent read the posts, but i'm sure this has been said. if you're playing the same as you always do, there's no reason to stop, if you're tilting, pushing too much, playing differently to compensate, then take a break.
today i dropped 90+BB and played a ton, until about a 1/2 hour ago when i found myself playing too loose and decided to call it a night. up until that point though, i think i was playing fine.
i plan on jumping back in tomorrow, just keeping an eye on my play.

good luck w/ the variance!
-steve

[MortalWombatDotCom]

i feel sorry for professional poker players. the rest of us can play when we feel like it and not play when we don't feel like it.

the only reasons i can think of not to take a break when you are losing money:

you play better when you are losing.

your game improves more quickly when you are losing.

you are unhappy when you don't play.

poker is a source of income without which you can't live.

personally, i KNOW i play poorly when i am running cold, and i KNOW i shake it off in spans on the order of hours but not minutes, so if i am on a bad day, i leave, and if i am in a bad week, i play short sessions and take days off and play NL tournaments.

YMMV.

[BusterStacks]

[ QUOTE ]
i feel sorry for professional poker players. the rest of us can play when we feel like it and not play when we don't feel like it.

[/ QUOTE ]

*sigh* this is so true. don't ever take it for granted. I am playing now because I HAVE to...

[steamboatin]

I am a recreational player. If I win okay, if I lose but played well, that's okay also. When I am not playing well, that's not okay.