When to stop?

Well this is my first post on texasholdemforums.com. First off hi, and i look forward to posting here quite a bit. To set the stage I am 18 and have 1 year of experience at this great game.

Yesterday I went into a .50/1.00 No Limit room on PokerStars.com with $25. I caught a few great hands, and before I knew it I was up to $85. I told myself that I would post BB two more times and then keep my winnings. Well I kept playing after that, but I had poket queens and ended up calling an all in that had me covered only to lose to 3 9's. I know I shouldn't have made the call in the first place, but I let curiosity get the best of me. Anyways, when would you say is the best time to get out of a table when your winning, and when to get out of a table when your losing?

-Sam

welcome to the site sam

ive lost a lot of cash in the past simply by being tired - im also notorius for doing other things online at the same time - browsing the web etc. I wouldnt reccomend that

if your tired ot drunk or even just dont feel that interested in the game, get out - because your likely to lose cash

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What Fonz said x10 ...if your head isnt in the game it will show
Welcome to the site Sam

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Only you can answer that Sam...what Fonz and xtra are saying are #1...your heart and soul have to be in the game 100%...you can't be playing half baked. But there is no formula to exit at so many times starting bank or anything like that...it depends on you, and your feel for the game and your feel for the table. You want to go out a winner of course, but you don't want to convert a small loser into a bigger looser by trying to make it a winner. Or you don't want to convert a big winner into a smaller winner or even loser. You have to take everything into consideration and then decide.

And by the way welcome, I am sure you will enjoy your stay!

I sort of have a similar point. I just got back from my weekly cash game (30dollar buyin). Anyways after about an hour I was up to about 70 and then managed to lose it all an hour later. Seeing as how it was early, I rebought and tried to make back my original buy in. I played more conservative but then leaped at a chance to push my stacks in, only to find my opponent called a 10 dollar raise (preflop) with 7-8 off suit. Flop was J-7-8, I Had Jack-Queen. Anyways I pushed em in and lost. Any advice for playing on a second rebuy, or even how to adjust after losing a large hand.

Thanks

Hi Sam,
Most of my playing experience is live play, but I learned a valuable lesson doing that. I would win early then fade as the day went on. What I learned to do was set a target, usually double my buy in. When I hit that, I would play as long as I was still winning, but I would leave after I lost the next pot I was involved in. Somedays I would keep winning and end up doubling again but even if I lost the next hand, I was still leaving the table with a profit. I was playing limit, so there was only so much I could lose in that first losing pot. If I were playing no limit, I would probably have left as soon as I hit my target and not ride out the rush. I certainly wouldn't put any more than half my profit at risk

I will sometimes make a decision to leave once I get to the next round of blinds if I have been doing well. It usually ends up being a good decision. Sure I might continue to win. But, then I could start losing as well. When you leave a table ahead of the game it is a nice ego boost that can take you through to the next session.

It seems like when you leave a loser the next session can be more of a struggle than if you leave a winner. Maybe it is just that way for a few of us. But, I know it is like that for me.

As far was when to leave a loser. Howard Lederer mentions that if you lose 30x the Big Bet you table image has eroded to the point where it is hard to come back. So, that it is best to exit at that point before you lose what little table image you have left. Maybe even sooner would be a good idea if you tend to start to tilt.

I have gone down as much as 50x the big bet in one session to come back to near even or just barely over.

But, that does take it's toll. Even though I might be able to put that session in the win column. I am usually so spent from that session that it takes a while to make it back to playing at a good level. Sometimes I even have to take a breathe for few days and refocus.

Play long sessions when you are winning and play short sessions when you are loseing.