How Winning Poker Players Decide When to Quit a Session

A lot of people have asked me personally when should they quit a session of poker? While there is no one-size-fits-all answer for such a loaded question, I've seen enough cases to have worked out a handful of guidelines that I'd like to share with you here. As always, use your head and your own judgment to decide which of these apply to you.

First, whether you play live or online or both, you should be taking regular breaks at least every 2 hours. Sit out for a few minutes, go to the bathroom, grab a snack and something to drink, and get your mind off of poker for a few moments. The reason for this break in the action is twofold. The main reason for what we're discussing is that you'll be able to more accurately decide if you should continue playing once you break away from the action, but another equally important reason is that taking these breaks will allow you to maintain your focus for much longer periods of time.

Second, you should never decide to quit just because you're down a certain amount of money, just like you should never quit just because you're up a certain amount of money. Poker is about being profitable over the long term, so you should make your decision to stay in a game or leave a game based on if you think you're profitable in that particular game with your current mood, mindset, and level of focus. If you're about to go on tilt because you just lost 5 buy-ins in an hour, then by all means quit, but if your level of focus and emotional levels are fine, then the most profitable thing to do for the long run is to continue playing.

Finally, you should remember that quitting is another chance for you to gain an edge over your opponents. If you are better than your competition at quitting when you aren't going to be very profitable, and are also good at staying in the game when you know you're still profitable (even if you've lost some money), then that's just one more advantage you have over them, and that's just more money that you will make in the long run.

Jesse has been writing on various topics for almost 3 years now. Not only does this author specialize in math, psychology and gambling topics, you can also check out his latest website on beverage refrigerators at http://www.beveragerefrigerators.org.

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