Posted Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:50 am GMT by WD-40
...I need some help.
I mainly play medium SNG's around the $20 - $30 range, and occasionally jump into a .10/.25 ring game.
I usually buy in with the table max. $25 and it seems like I start out ok, moving up a couple of dollars...and sometimes increasing my stack $15 or $20 dollars.
And then it happens, I lose a big pot and I'm back to even...or worse. Then I gotta start all over...grinding away just to get back even.
Do you guys have a strategy to leave the table...(double your buy-in and leave) or do you keep grinding away and if you take a bad hit (but don't go into the negative) leave...limit the time you play.
I don't know, it just seems like the longer I play, the bigger the chance of taking the big hit and losing everything I'd worked for. Its just a bit discouraging to play for about 3 or 4 hours getting up $20 bucks and then losing it.
I'd like to play more ring games, but I just can't get over this hump.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Posted Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:15 am GMT by tame_deuces
As the song says, don't count your money untill the dealing is done. 
What you win isn't 'guaranteed profit', we also lose money in poker. The point is to win over the long run.
Posted Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:22 am GMT by Sean_in_NJ
First of all, take a good look at your own play and identify why you play differently later in the session than at the beginning.
And after you've looked at that and convinced yourself that I'm full of crap, look again.
Posted Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:55 pm GMT by BeerWench13
It sounds as if you're playing too long and you're either getting bored or you're tired and aren't thinking your plays through properly. Don't get me wrong, we've all had those sessions that you work hard for 2-15 hours and suddenly run into set-over-set or boat-vs-quads or K-flush-vs-A-flush. It happens. If you find yourself consistently losing later in sessions, then the simple answer would be to shorten your sessions a bit. When I play in a casino, I have a cut-off time every night (well, morning actually).
When I play online it's tougher, but I try to set a specific time to quit. The only exception is on a Friday or Saturday night when I get a beer or twelve in me and decide to donk it up a bit on the nickel-dime tables. But, that's just for fun and not to enhance my bankroll.
Posted Wed Dec 06, 2006 11:34 pm GMT by lwestatbus
One thing to check is whether you are getting tired or not. The biggest determinant of whether I do stupid things is how tired I am. I can have a few drinks and do fine (don't do stupid things) if I'm alert but if I'm tired, sober or not, I'll play just ignorantly. I bring this up because you mention that you'll have been playing a while when this happens and being tired or bored will do it (as Wenchy points out).
This is something I have to watch a LOT because there are days when I know I'm just too tired to play effectively but want to anyway.
Posted Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:33 am GMT by BeerWench13
| lwestatbus wrote: | | This is something I have to watch a LOT because there are days when I know I'm just too tired to play effectively but want to anyway. |
I do this often. I know I shouldn't play, but I want to so damn badly that I do so anyway. The hardest part of playing a cash game for those that are used to tournament play is that there is no true ending unless you go broke. This is not the happy ending for which we are all hoping. It helps to set a time limit or make sure you get up and move around every 30 minutes or at least every hour. This helps get the blood flowing again, relieves eye strain from staring at the computer and, when necessary, allows for a cool-down from a bad beat.
I also find myself making poor decisions when I'm distracted. I was playing last night and my neigbor showed up to use our other computer. Between cooking dinner and his and the hubby's conversations, I really wasn't paying attention and played one hand just horribly. Even though they hit a gutshot on me on the river, had I been paying attention I would have recognized it and laid down my 2 pair. I logged off after that realizing that I just wasn't going to be able to play my A-game with so much going on around me.
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