No-limit Texas Hold'em can be a real roller coaster ride. Depending on the stakes you play, you can find yourself up or down hundreds or even thousands over the course of a few hours. The question many players struggle with is when is it time to quit? Since the goal in poker is simply to win as much money as possible, how do you know when you have reached or failed to reach that goal?
There's no way to know what the exact "correct" time is to leave a poker game, but here are some dos and don'ts to observe when trying to decide whether or not to call it a day.
Don't Quit Your No-Limit Hold'em Game Because:
• You're losing. No one is suggesting that you play until your bankroll is destroyed. However, just because you've been losing for the last hour is no reason to get up. Remember that poker is a game of short-term luck and if you are playing correctly, it is only a matter of time before the odds catch up with you and you turn that loss around. If you get discouraged and quit just because you are down, you deprive yourself of that opportunity.
• You're winning. Some amateur players tend to "eat like a bird and expel like a buffalo." They quit as soon as they win a small sum to protect it, but keep on playing when they are losing in order to try to get even. It should be obvious upon cold examination of this strategy that it is bound to end in disaster, but in the heat of the moment, this is hard for some players to realize. If you're winning, you're getting lucky and playing well, and there's no reason to believe that will stop until there is evidence to prove it.
• You feel as if your luck is "running out." Just because you caught your flush four times in a row doesn't mean you won't catch it the fifth time. The odds don't know how you have been running and the cards don't care.
Do Quit Your No-Limit Hold'em Game Because:
• You've reached your stop-loss point. This can happen poker cheat
whether you are winning or losing. If you set a goal that you will quit anytime you sustain a $200 loss, for example, you can minimize your losses without capping your wins. It's important that the number you pick for your stop loss is greater than a standard, expected swing in the game you are playing or you won't get very far.
• You're losing focus. If you're playing well and racking up the chips, but have just made a few terrible plays in a row, it's easy to laugh them off. Those mistakes tend to pile up though, and before long, you are chasing that money you lost and diving towards a losing session. After you've made a bad play or two, it may be time to reassess whether you are too tired, hungry or distracted to continue.
• The game is bad. For hours, you may have been surrounded by calling stations and raking in the chips. However, one by one, they all lost their money and have been replaced by sharks looking for a piece of the action. If the balance shifts in your game to more sharks than fish, it's time to search for friendlier waters.