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There is a lot of conflicting advice and opinions on when you should get up and leave a poker game.  Much of it is based on emotion and not on good poker practices.  I’m going to discuss today some of the things you should consider when deciding whether to keep playing, or quit.

The most important consideration when deciding whether to continue playing will always be whether you have a positive expected value (+EV) by continuing to play.  Several things affect your EV, primarily the other players in the game and how well you are playing at the moment.  Your current results are irrelevant (unless you have lost so much so as to affect the way you are playing in a negative way).

Many people think it’s best to quit when you’re ahead.  They use instances of times when they were winning, but continued playing, and then wound up leaving a loser later as proof of their claims.  Their emotional sentiments are not based on solid poker theory, however. The decision to continue playing should be based on your evaluation of your EV in continuing to play.

If you’re winning, but the game is good and you are playing well, you should keep playing.  The appearance of “momentum” could actually help you, because your opponents become used to your winning and give up more easily against you.

However, even if you are losing, but the game is good and you’re playing well, you should continue playing. Poker involves lots of luck, and sometimes you won’t get lucky right away.  The trick of course is to capitalize on the times you do get lucky, and minimize losses those times luck runs against you.  You need to give it time though, you can’t get too discouraged too quickly just because you have a short run of bad luck.  Don’t leave a good game too early, especially if you’re playing well. Occasionally this will mean buying more chips!

If the quality of the game changes, it might be time to leave.  Game selection is of paramount importance, and will be discussed more in future blogs.  If you’re winning, but several loose players leave and are replaced by good players, this would be a fine time to leave a winner. If you’re losing and the game goes downhill, it would be an even better time to leave!

Also, even if the game is good, you should leave if your play is deteriorating, or is about to deteriorate, because of fatigue or alcohol intake.  It doesn’t help you much to be in a good game if you’re not playing well.  What would really hurt you is to blow off your winnings because your play goes downhill for whatever reason. What would hurt you even more than this would be to continue playing when your play has deteriorated in an attempt to make up losses.

Sometimes you’re going to leave a loser.  Get used to the idea, because you simply cannot win every time.  When you’re losing, you are more likely to become emotional about the game and start playing less than your best poker.  You must learn to leave a loser and not chase losses.

There is no solid theory supporting win or loss limitations on a given session.  The truth is that if you’re playing well, and the game is good, you should keep playing.  And if the game is bad, or you’re playing badly, you should quit.  Setting artificial limits on how much you can lose before quitting, or at what point you should get up and leave if you’re winning, has no solid basis in theory.

I’d like to qualify the last paragraph just a little in respect to loss limitations.  Many people have what is referred to as an “emotional bankroll.”  What this means is that there is some limit as to how much they can lose during a session before their play inevitably deteriorates due to frustration and anger.   I personally have a loss limitation in limit poker of two buy-ins for limit poker (at 25 big bets per buy-in).  Despite my knowledge and skill, I’m usually pretty pissed off if I lose two buy-ins.  So if I lose that much, or I’m getting pretty close to it, I tend to quit.  On occasion in the past I have played much longer than this and regretted it.  Nowadays I’ve learned from my mistakes, and accept the fact that I do have an emotional bankroll limit.

One mistake that many players make is moving to a larger game in an effort to make up losses.  BAD MOVE!  You’re already going to be upset about losing, and moving to a bigger game, with more money at stake, and almost certainly better players in the game would be a very bad idea.

The very best reason to quit is always that you’re not having fun!  If these players are just boring, or a particular player is annoying you, quit the game!  There will always be another game at a later time!   Poker is supposed to be fun!

This blog just touches on the many issues involved with deciding when to quit.  Please ask me questions if you’d like to know more.

PokerGuru

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