how much do you win before you leave?

[winadil]

having work at a casino i see lots of people coming in for $40-$50 and play some of the games including poker and end up having 10-15 times what they buy in for but end up staying and lose most of it back. i ask to people at work how much is enough beofre you leave most people think between 10-20 buy in's is about the right level anyone have any thing to add to this

[Ensano]

if it's a good game i stay whether i'm up or down...

[vyni]

You've got to play to win, whether it's poker or not. lol.

Setting a quota to be met for any session, live or online, is just a horrible idea. Just sit and play a solid game.

What happens far too often is the player is up and becomes a little too cocky with it. Stacks go to the head, and they play too loose. The big stack is nice to push players around with a lot of the time, but that's a dangerous game: everyone else is looking at your stack praying to get those chips into the pot, and if you're playing bully with it... well you're giving them exactly what they want. You can almost always loose it far faster than you made it.

Setting a rule on when to quit and when to press on is never a good idea, except when you're talking about losses. Everyone should go into a session with a limit to what they can comfortably lose, and if they should be so unfortunate to hit that low.... walk away fast. Pressing on is when the $$$ starts to effect your decisions, and you end up trying to force action and chasing pots you otherwise would know better to get away from.

When to walk away from a winning session...
depends on how you feel at the time. Do you like the table? Do you think you can continue to win at this table? The winnings from the past x hands should not really be too much of a factor in this decision. imho.

[Ensano]

as a rule i generally never play more than 2 to 2 1/2 hrs... win or lose... if i'm having a good session i might play 2 1/2 hrs... if i'm having a bad one it's usually 2 hrs...

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

If you ever win an amount such that you would be really disappointed to lose it back (esp. in NL games, where it can go quickly), you should probably quit. I agree with the whole theory of "if the game is good and you're playing well keep playing," but in the real world, some days you've just had enough and are ready to kick back and relax.

True fact about me, because I am a sick gambler, is that if I'm up a good amount and the game is only marginally profitable, I will sometimes leave because I'm on such a high and I don't want to lose it. If I quit then, I probably go get myself a nice meal and get that high feeling for the rest of the day, whereas if I have a downswing, I get all pissed off. Yes, like a drug addict, I enjoy the highs, and I might avoid some marginally +EV situations to maintain it. Sad maybe, but I'm being honest here, and people play Poker for all sorts of different reasons. Knowing what your reason is should tell you when you need to quit.

[Jernej Zorec]

i'd say its best to leave a nl game when effective stacks make u uncomfortable
i mean if playing with 3 buyins effective stack makes me uncomfortable then i rather leave then make a bad play because i dont want to loose that amount of money

[supafrey]

10-20buyins from 1 table? sick

[MrDarling]

Yeah, if the table is good, stay longer.
However, I might leave a table if I sit with 3Xbuyin or more and there is another player with same stack size.
If he is solid tight, I might stay and try to stay out of his way with marginal hands.

I actually even hate getting a big pocket pair and get a big stack call my raise.

As for loses, instead of limiting loses, I try to limit mistakes.
If I make too many, I want to be able to call it a day.

If the loses are due to coolers, bad beats, then I'll stick around.

[LeeG]

What I like to do when I get way up relative to what I bought in for is color up some chips. Then if I start dipping into my higher chips, I need to think about walking.

For example, I usually buy in for $350. Once I break the $1K mark, I'll color up 5 stacks of reds into a stack of green ($25). When the reds are gone, so am I.

[kingetje]

If you ever win an amount such that you would be really disappointed to lose it back (esp. in NL games, where it can go quickly), you should probably quit. I agree with the whole theory of "if the game is good and you're playing well keep playing," but in the real world, some days you've just had enough and are ready to kick back and relax.

i really really agree with this.

[Dave B]

I play until I am broke or the table breaks.