When to leave the poker table?

[john smith]

When do you guys leave the poker table? Do you set a certain time or a certain amount of money you have won/lost as the time to leave?

I seem to have trouble finding a good time to stop... for example today I played live 2/4, won about $120 in 3 hours, but 2 hours later I walked out with only a $40 profit... which is great for 5 hours of 2/4, but it'd be nice if I could have walked out when I had most of my money...

[goofball]

the time to leave is when:

-you have something more important to do
-for you to stay in your current game would be -EV
-a hot blond cocktail waitress has offered to take you back to her place (this could be considered part of reason 1, or reason 2)

[Arm187r]

how often does the last reason happen? Maybe i'm playing in the wrong rooms [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Russ McGinley]

[ QUOTE ]
When do you guys leave the poker table? Do you set a certain time or a certain amount of money you have won/lost as the time to leave?

I seem to have trouble finding a good time to stop... for example today I played live 2/4, won about $120 in 3 hours, but 2 hours later I walked out with only a $40 profit... which is great for 5 hours of 2/4, but it'd be nice if I could have walked out when I had most of my money...

[/ QUOTE ]

I leave when I have something else I need to do or when I feel tired. Once I left because they don't let you play with invisible chips. I usually get tired after about 8 hours but I rarely play that long. Another good time to leave is after a tough beat, like AA v K5 or something. If you are winning and playing good and the game is good and you have nowhere to be for the immediate future, keep playing until one of those circumstances presents itself.

[Myrtle]

The time to leave the table is when.........

.......you're not playing your optimum game.

.......the table composition changes to a situation where you believe it is no longer +EV for you to remain there.

.....your hungry, tired, bored or otherwise in a state of mind where you cannot make good decisions.

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

1) Anytime the game is -EV. This can be due to fatigue, tilt, tough players, drunkeness, hunger, sexual frustration, etc.

2) Anytime you run out of those little round clay thingys with the numbers on them, and have no more rectangular green thingys with numbers on them to trade for more round clay thingys, you should just go home.

[mojorisin24]

I think a lot of it depends on your financial situation. If times are a bit tight but you're playing well and up a pretty good amount, maybe you should leave then and pocket the money. Otherwise, I think the standard guidelines apply: if you're tired, if you take an exceptionally bad beat and feel yourself going on tilt, you're hungry, or you feel like taking a break.

[DrewOnTilt]

Here's why I left the Taj yesterday even though I was up and the game was good:

-I had not won a pot in 2 hours except for the blinds once
-My winnings had dwindled to 1/3 of what I had been up at my high
-I took 2 bad beats out of 3 hands
-I looked down at my cards and Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] looked very good from UTG.

Other reasons to leave, in addition to what has already been mentioned by others:
-You are not having fun any more
-You are no longer able to run over the table
-The pots have shrunk in size
-You are on tilt! Ok, this was already mentioned, but it bears repeating

[TM1212]

I don't think you should expect to profit from a 2/4 game for very long, and profit seems to be the reason you want to leave the table.

In a good run, you can make a nice sum of money at this limit, but over the long haul, its almost impossible to beat. The rake and tokes takes to much from your pots at this limit and you don’t see enough hands to compensate. I don't think a financial situation should really effect how you play, or how long you play at the 2-4 limit tables. If it is... maybe you should consider not playing. Don’t get me wrong there was a time I played 2-4 to gain experience, but look to move up if you want to profit.

Back to your question... When to live the poker table? When your not playing your top game due to any reason previously listed, fatigue, hunger, there closing, or you have plans.

[Dharzhak]

[ QUOTE ]
When do you guys leave the poker table? Do you set a certain time or a certain amount of money you have won/lost as the time to leave?

[/ QUOTE ]
I play $10-20 HE at MCC and $5-20 spread limit 7 card stud when they deal it. My rules for leaving the table, as agreed upon by me and my wife, were determined after I went to the casino after work on Friday afternoon and left at 10:30 am Saturday morning. Needless to say, the only thing that kept me alive was coming home with a healthy profit. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Anyway, my rules are:
1) Up over $200 when I have to leave the "must move" game to go to the main $10-20 table due to a vacancy there and I'm next on the list.
2) (Weekdays) Up over $200 and I'm getting a run of cold cards.
3) Six hours of play.
4) Out of cash on hand and knowing that returning from the walk of shame (aka withdrawing from the ATM) will do me no good. (Note: I have made that walk *ONE* time in two years and to a good result. I was on the business end of a very long streak of cold cards and I decided, correctly, that I could fight through it.)

These rules have led to an average rate of slightly less than 2.5 BB/hr and a wife much less inclined towards homicide.

Regards,
Noal