When to Quit a Poker Game
Suppose It's a great game and you're rolling over the table, but you're getting tired, and have already made a couple of bad plays in the last half-hour. It's time to either get up from the game, or take a break to refresh yourself.
If you're playing in a casino, stroll to the coffee shop and get something to eat. If you're not hungry, or can't eat while playing, then some coffee or tea would be good. Don't read anything; rest your eyes and brain and just sit there and relax in the coffee shop.
If you find a half hour of this will refresh you, then go back into the game. If you're still tired, gather up your chips and leave the table. Your playing is over for that one session.
Various pros and top-level players use different criteria to decide when to leave. Some treat it strictly as a business and put in so many hours at a time, with the outer limit being eight. However, a couple of these players will stay beyond the eight-hour limit if the game is good and they're winning steadily.
Others will only stay in a good game, where there are some weak players they know they can outplay. If these players leave, if the table in Vegas is just filled with "locals," they're gone also. A number will want a win, and will stay if their losses are moderate, till they are ahead, no matter how long it takes. This type of game should be avoided.
Remember the concept of the one long poker game you're playing, no matter how many games you play. If you have a moderate loss, and you're tired, leave. You can easily make it up.
Sometimes the game is bad, with tough players, but you're getting miraculous cards and winning pot after pot, outdrawing everyone at the table. Ride the streak. Stay with the rush. But when it deserts you, when you've lost two hands in a row, leave the table.
You might want to try money management with a stop-loss strategy. If you're winning at least 30 times the minimum bet, make a mental note to leave the table when you're ahead only 20 times the minimum bet, so you can leave a winner.
Suppose you've been playing in a $15-$30 game for close to four hours and after a rollercoaster ride, against players who don't make this a particularly good game, you find yourself ahead $450.
You're getting a little tired but still can make alert moves. Make a mental note that if you lose a hand or two and only have $300, you leave the table. That's much better than playing till you lose everything you won.
Note that you should consider the time element. If you sit down and after 45 minutes are winning $450, and find the game good, there's no point in leaving when you're ahead $300. You want to have the possibility of winning much more. Poker is not a game for cautious people.
These are the parameters that you should feel comfortable with in leaving a winner.
One final note: If you've been losing all session, and finally take a couple of hands that bring you back to even, and it's already been a long night, pack it in right then and there. There's nothing worse, psychologically speaking, than to finally break even, and then watch it all drain away one more time. If the game is a struggle, get out. That's not the ideal game for you.