Poker Tip: Know when to quit

Poker Tip – know when to quit!

Poker Tip: Know when to quit

It is often thought of as the ultimate question in no limit Texas Hold’em strategy. It is a skill that so many players have difficulty mastering. It is knowing when to quit. Should you quit when you are winning? When you are losing? After a certain number of hours? Here are some thoughts on when it’s time to quit your no limit hold’em session.

Many professionals will tell you to think of your poker as one long session with breaks. This suggests that whether you are winning or losing should not be a factor in your decision whether or not to quit, since we all have winning and losing streaks over the course of a session. Your decision whether or not to quit playing online Texas Hold’em should be mainly based on two factors: Is the game still good and are you playing your best?

Both of these answers should be yes if you are to continue playing. If the
game is good, meaning many inexperienced players who are easily readable and/or giving you action, but you are not playing your best Texas Hold’em, you may lose more out of frustration than you would in a tougher game. If you are tired, hungry, or playing emotionally or egotistically, you may feel like you have something to prove and attack a good game too aggressively, overplaying and generating heavy losses. If the game is tough and playing your best isn’t going to net you too much money, you are better off saving your energy for another time or switching to a game that is easier to beat.

The only time you should quit because you are losing is if A) you have depleted your bankroll or B) You are so upset over the loss it is causing you to play badly. Assess whether you are playing because the game is still good or simply because you are desperate to recoup your losses. If you are telling yourself you are going to quit as soon as you “get even” you probably should quit right away. The only time you should quit because you are winning is if you have won an amount so large that you are playing to protect it rather than playing your best game.

If you consistently struggle with knowing when to quit, you might want to try switching to tournament play instead of cash play. In a tournament, there is a built in quit time, namely, when you lose all your chips. This takes the when to quit factor out of the equation and lets you focus on the game at hand.

Poker Tip: Know when to quit

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