Question of when to quit

2+2 Junkie · #1 05-06-2005, 10:38 AM

Last night I had a session of 600 hands and a -70BB swing. One of those truly great nights where I had about 12% VPIP total for the session, and when I did get some cards, bad things happened. We have all been there, where we hit our flush on the turn, max it with a fish who has two pair, and they get the boat. Get your boat on the turn, they get a bigger boat on the river. Straights busted by flushes, flushes busted by boats, boats busted by bigger boats. It's going to happen, it just sucks when it does. Freaking river was killing me. Now that I have ranted I will get to my question. At what point in a session do you quit? It seems when I start the downtrend, it is an indication on how the night will go. Last night I was playing good poker for the most part, just not getting cards. If I had quit early, I would have saved myself some money. So, is there a rule/suggestion as to how many BB's you go down in a session before you quit? Thanks for the advice.

jrz1972 · #2 05-06-2005, 10:43 AM

When I catch myself jumping out of my chair and pacing around the room in response to the latest river suckout, I know it's time for me to quit for the day.

Another sign that it's time to quit is when I pick up KK or QQ and immediately lament the money I'm about to lose.

Octopus · #3 05-06-2005, 10:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
So, is there a rule/suggestion as to how many BB's you go down in a session before you quit? Thanks for the advice.

[/ QUOTE ]

No. But look carefully at your play and make sure you are not tilting. Also look at your opponents play and see that you can still see mistakes. If both of these are met, by all means keep playing.

2+2 Junkie · #4 05-06-2005, 10:53 AM

[ QUOTE ]
When I catch myself jumping out of my chair and pacing around the room in response to the latest river suckout, I know it's time for me to quit for the day.

Another sign that it's time to quit is when I pick up KK or QQ and immediately lament the money I'm about to lose.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's funny, when I got those hands last night, I was thinking of the ways that I would lose. But I didn't want to do the fishy thing of, just call all the way to the river because when I get sucked out on, it will be less painful. Good insight though.

Isura · #5 05-06-2005, 11:01 AM

I usually keep playing if a) the games is still good, b) I'm not tired and still focused, c) my girlfriend is not getting on my case to go do something with her.

aK13 · #6 05-06-2005, 11:01 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
When I catch myself jumping out of my chair and pacing around the room in response to the latest river suckout, I know it's time for me to quit for the day.

Another sign that it's time to quit is when I pick up KK or QQ and immediately lament the money I'm about to lose.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's funny, when I got those hands last night, I was thinking of the ways that I would lose. But I didn't want to do the fishy thing of, just call all the way to the river because when I get sucked out on, it will be less painful. Good insight though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Even when you're running decent, when there are 4-5 players in a capped preflop pot when you've got AA, I'm always fairly certain I'm getting cracked.

dozer · #7 05-06-2005, 11:04 AM

If you are continuing to play to break even for the day, and you are mad at the fish and want to make back the money that was rightfully yours then,you should probably quit for the day.

If you are continuing to play because your session is not over and you feel that your table is too profitable to leave, then don't quit yet.

So leave because you are tired or if you planned on playing a 500 hands session, never leave because you are up in money, and never continue to play longer then you would usually play because you are losing money and want to have a winning session.

Octopus · #8 05-06-2005, 11:08 AM

[ QUOTE ]
That's funny, when I got those hands last night, I was thinking of the ways that I would lose. But I didn't want to do the fishy thing of, just call all the way to the river because when I get sucked out on, it will be less painful. Good insight though.

[/ QUOTE ]

When it occurs to me to "just call all the way to the river because when I get sucked out on, it will be less painful", I interpret that as a sign of tilt and I quit.

droolie · #9 05-06-2005, 11:19 AM

It's all about your frame of mind. The cards won't continue any specific way due to prior results. Just because you've been running bad does not mean you will continue to run bad or vise versa. As soon as your negative thoughts lead to your play deteriorating in any way you should stop playing until you can return with a positive attitude.

I had a session the other night that I think should help as an example. I like to play at least four tables at a time and the swings can happen much faster. For some reason I am a chronic balance checker and always like to know how I'm doing in a particular session. I think it's an ego thing as I usually win and I like to stroke myself to my growing BR. Anyways...early in the evening I was up 30BB then after some atrocious beats and a run of busted draws I suddenly dropped 70BB within 1/2 hour to be down 40BB for the night. This isn't that unusual for me and I hardly cared as I knew I was playing great and the tables were juicy so I kept playing. Before I knew it I was up 30BB for the session again. 1/2 hours later I was down 30BB for the evening. This pattern repeated itself every hour probably three more times during the session. It was the ultimate roller coaster ride. I ended the night even. LOL!

Here's the thing though... I think I was playing my best poker the entire time. I also think that the luck I had was so unbelievable terrible that finishing breakeven in that session was truly remarkable. Losing happened so quickly each time and I had to kick and scratch my way back every time. Nut peedling was not going to be enough. Stealing blinds, isolating weak limpers, value betting marginal holding, inducing bluffs, changing tables when the conditions became unfavorable, you name I was doing it. The lesson I learned was a very good one though. I kept my cool and continued to stay positive and despite terrible luck was still able to hang in there. The games were just so juicy that no amount of bad luck was going to keep me from winning my share of the money. The tables were so good that on any other night with the normal distribution of good and bad luck I honestly believe it would have been easily a +50BB or more type of evening. (Despite my self-described awesome play in truth the only reason I broke even is that at various points I won HUGE +25BB pots thanks to morons letting me cap with the nuts. Without those gift BB's I easily finish the evening down 30BB or more.)

Even though I ended up break even I am more proud of my play during that session than any other in my poker playing career. What I am trying to say is that you cannot predict the cards but if you are at good tables and are playing well it is certainly worth keeping your head and fighting through the bad luck. Bad players will let you make it back almost every time.

(I tried to do a graph of my session but couldn't figure out how to do it. I couldn't isolate the one session from my database)

bozlax · #10 05-06-2005, 11:31 AM

I, too, am a chronic balance-checker, and I had exactly the same experience yesterday, two four-tabling sessions, one in the morning one in the early afternoon. It was nuts...plus or minus 20BB, never 0, never anywhere in between. I caught a couple of hands at the end, tho, and finished up about 50BB.

Here are my rules: if I've played for more than 90 minutes, I quit for at least 3 hours, regardless of the number of hands I've played. If I'm up ~50BB or down ~30BB, I quit until I've had a night's sleep.