When Should You Stop Playing Poker For The Day

It is very easy to play poker for the entire day. What can happen is that you’ll win some, lose some, win some more, lose some more and eventually bust your bankroll! Or worse still, add more to your bank and bust it again!

At the end of the day, it’s always your emotions that let you down. Remember, we must exercise logic over our emotions. We are in this game to win money and also have some fun but not the other way around - never forget that!

Poker Is Like The Stock Market

Poker shares a lot with the stock market and it’s many stories of riches and bankruptcies. Just like stocks, it’s a game of logic over emotion but specifically, it’s also a game of chasing your wins and getting out when you are losing.

For example, the classic bad stock trader will lose 5% and instead of reducing his position, he will pile more money into it! This is consistently losing against some opponents in one poker room and throwing more money into your account to try and “right a wrong”. This is emotions winning again.

Instead you should quit and live to fight another day.

The flip side is the saying “quit while you are ahead”. That maxim has some merit but if your stock rises 5% and your analysis indicates that it can go higher then don’t let the fear of losing what you have already gained take you over. Logic dictates that you should put more money into it.

It’s the same with poker. If you are consistently winning against a few opponents and they are still playing then why would you throw away the potential to win even more? Maybe if you felt sorry for them but, frankly, poker is not the right game to play if you want to be charitable to others!

Live To Fight Another Day

When you cannot get the better of your opponents then leave that room. In fact, the way I personally play is that if I lose my allocated starting money for that room then I will never refill it from my account. I will always go to another room instead. This stops you from trying to “get even” and also gives you more experience of other players. It calms you down and gets you less stressed. It even makes the game more fun!