When to leave a table

I've noticed lately a tendency by people to bust out and then leave a table. I'm assuming in many cases the players were tilting when they did this, so under those circumstances, doing so is probably a good decision. Other than that though, I'm not so sure. I've found that I may well loose a buy-in or two at a table I'm sitting at if I make a bad call or get a bad beat. Rarely do I consider this reason to get up and leave. Maybe I'm just stubbon, but if I can I try to stick around until I've made back what I lost (hopefully and then some). In almost all cases I've been able to do that.

I prefer to leave a table after I've built up a decent stack. I try to follow the money train to its last stop, but once it starts turning the other direction, I leave, even if it's just to find another table and buy-in with less at stake. Even as I'm building I may set amounts that if I go below, I leave the table (ie I reach $40 and make a rule for myself that if I shrink back below $35 I leave to secure the profits).

That's me. What about you?

- Jeffrey

None of the above...I leave when there's no longer enough money to win on the table relative to my stack. If I have $100 and the 2nd biggest stack is $25, I'm probably gone.

I leave when I feel Im no longer a favourite to make money on the table?
Or when I get pulled away.

Voted for never though.

I 3-table for about half an hour. Then I leave whether I am winning or losing. It keeps me fresh mentally. If a table turns bad (tight, small stacks, sharks) I go to a new table, but I'll usually rebuy if I lose my stack if the table is still good.

Playing to "make back what you lost" sounds like a bad, tilt inducing, proposition. It would be for me. But if it works for you..

In the long run I guess it doesn't matter much how you split up your sessions, as long as you don't end up playing more at bad tables and less at good tables.

I usually do leave a table if I bust out. Whether or not this is the best thing to do, I'm not certain.

I figure if I've busted out, and it wasn't a series of terrible bad beats, I give them credit for being better than me. So I just look for another table with easier players.

Conversely, I usually also leave a table if I'm ahead and my attention is dwindling. I've smartly discovered that even if I'm winning after an hour, I'll have lost it all after 3 hrs. I gotta get out before my attention is gone/and or I start pushing at pots that don't belong to me.

I'll qualify this by saying I'm a newbie. I only play one table and really must exert my focus to get any kind of read on how other players behave.

I leave when the really right players start to move in and the fish leave.

Originally Posted by gabe

I leave when the really right players start to move in and the fish leave.

Common newbie mistake.... Contrary to popular belief you want to play against tight players.

my friend says I should play agaisnt loose players but I've noticed its been easier to get money from the tight ones. Especially if you're not patient.

however, the same friend gave me some awesome advice about this. He said he sets an amount of money that he is willing to lose, say $10. If he loses ten dollars he leaves. So if he is up $1000 and he lost $10, he is going to leave. As well as if he is at a table where the minimum buy-in is $100 and he loses $10, he will leave.

Now obviously, these examples are exaggerated, but you get the point. And I think its a good one.

Originally Posted by ilikeaces86

Common newbie mistake.... Contrary to popular belief you want to play against tight players.

An even bigger mistake, especially in LHE. The fish are what pay you off, the tight players will just give you the blinds.

Both types of games can be profitable, but its how you play the game that determines the profitability. You need to adjust to a much more aggressive game to take advantage of the weak-tighties but your game needs to be less aggressive when playing against loose-passives. You make more value bets in the loose games and make more pot steals against the tighties.

Saying one is better than the other is TOO general. You want fish in the pot to build it so if you win a pot you'll win a big one. The tighties will give you lots of small pots.

Its the semi-tight passives that you can't get to fold are annoying.

Originally Posted by ilikeaces86

Originally Posted by gabe

I leave when the really right players start to move in and the fish leave.

Common newbie mistake.... Contrary to popular belief you want to play against tight players.

Nope, I want to play against really loose players.

Where is the choice "When UncleBuddy sits down"?

Huh!?!?

The question was not "When do you prefer to join a table?"

Originally Posted by gabe

The question was not "When do you prefer to join a table?"

Watch it there, bunnyboy

When table conditions are no longer favorable.

Originally Posted by RD Olivaw

When table conditions are no longer favorable.

Or you have class.

-'rilla

Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla

Originally Posted by RD Olivaw

When table conditions are no longer favorable.

Or you have class.

-'rilla

I have no class.

Originally Posted by RD Olivaw

I have no class.

And another quote taken out of context for my signature. Thank you, thank you!

-'rilla

Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla

Originally Posted by RD Olivaw

I have no class.

And another quote taken out of context for my signature. Thank you, thank you!

-'rilla

I saw that one building up. You can just look at the intent of rilla when he said that.....

RD.....too easy man, too easy.

I gave the gift knowingly.

That's what they all say. Best time to leave is when the table vpip gets low. Less fishies, more tags.....BAD.

ilikeaces86:

Common newbie mistake.... Contrary to popular belief you want to play against tight players.

What? r u serious?
That's contrary to my experience. My profits come mostly from the times I can take someone's entire stack. Stealing on the flop is just a small bonus which pays for the blinds. Calling stations who just cant fold a hand are my favorite!
But then, I'm a newbie and I only play microlimit -- making a steady profit though.

Originally Posted by ilikeaces86

Originally Posted by gabe

I leave when the really right players start to move in and the fish leave.

Common newbie mistake.... Contrary to popular belief you want to play against tight players.

Do you want to elaborate on this?

I assume he's saying that playing against tight players is nice because if they don't specifically win the pot with a hand, you can take it from them.

- Jeffrey

That's the obvious answer, but there has to be more to it than that. Because any decent player will realize that he doesn't have a hand every time they are in a pot. And being a tight player, they aren't going to be throwing a lot of money into a pot without a strong hand or strong draw. So trying to bluff people out of ever pot, you are either going to run into a monster or win a small pot. Plus there are many more bad loose players than bad tight players, IMO.

If you like the table and feel you are dominating, then there is no reason why you shouldn't stay, so play and kill some more!

Regarding the tight table vs. loose table discussion:
if you like to play loose, you want a tight table.
if you like to play tight, you want a loose table.
ideally, you will adjust your play accordingly depending upon whether the table is loose or tight.

Originally Posted by ilikeaces86

Originally Posted by gabe

I leave when the really right players start to move in and the fish leave.

Common newbie mistake.... Contrary to popular belief you want to play against tight players.

"newbie" is such a pejorative term, isn't it?

I'm looking at this dilemma right now. I'm on the hottest single table run of my short poker pseudo-career, having turned the $50 max buy-in into $260 over the course of just 238 hands. I'm looking around this table and thinking of ways to swallow up all the little stacks around me... two guys have $100, everyone else is hovering between $40 and $70. I feel no fear. And then I get a little nervous, because lack of fear can sometimes lead me to make some pretty astonishing errors in judgement.

I think I'm just going to ride this one out until I either hit $300, or another hour has passed. At that point it would be pretty unrealistic to expect me to continue being this unsinkable.

Aces is a LAG he eats weak tight players alive, once he goes up a level or two and meets the pro TAGs he'll change his mind about playing versus tight players or modify his statement.

I also leave a table when table conditions are unfavourable, or i get tired, or hungry, or distracted by my wife (grin), or have to go to work, or want to do something else, or I am playing badly.

Originally Posted by Ayce

Aces is a LAG he eats weak tight players alive, once he goes up a level or two and meets the pro TAGs he'll change his mind about playing versus tight players or modify his statement.

I also leave a table when table conditions are unfavourable, or i get tired, or hungry, or distracted by my wife (grin), or have to go to work, or want to do something else, or I am playing badly.

I consider myslef a TLAG(Tight Loose Agressive)

How can someone have a VP$IP of 16% and be considered loose? That seems absurd to me (from my 27% @ the edges of the micros).

- Jeffrey

Originally Posted by Ayce

Aces is a LAG he eats weak tight players alive, once he goes up a level or two and meets the pro TAGs he'll change his mind about playing versus tight players or modify his statement.

I don't think Aces is LAgg; he's just committed when he gets involved in a bluff. He doesn't just throw out an occasional bluff bet, he decides before the flop to take a pot from the better hands out there, and he follows through with a complete gameplan. This is a good, profitable way to play if you have a pretty tight table image at the time and the other players respect your raises.

I've actually spent some time watching Aces on the $100 NL tables to see what he's doing right, and most of the time you'd be surprised how boring he can be. Fold, fold, fold, fold, heavy pre-flop raise (everybody folds), right back to the pattern again. He's no Rippy, that's for sure.

Originally Posted by dalecooper

Originally Posted by Ayce

Aces is a LAG he eats weak tight players alive, once he goes up a level or two and meets the pro TAGs he'll change his mind about playing versus tight players or modify his statement.

I don't think Aces is LAgg; he's just committed when he gets involved in a bluff. He doesn't just throw out an occasional bluff bet, he decides before the flop to take a pot from the better hands out there, and he follows through with a complete gameplan. This is a good, profitable way to play if you have a pretty tight table image at the time and the other players respect your raises.

I've actually spent some time watching Aces on the $100 NL tables to see what he's doing right, and most of the time you'd be surprised how boring he can be. Fold, fold, fold, fold, heavy pre-flop raise (everybody folds), right back to the pattern again. He's no Rippy, that's for sure.

You were stalking me?

Originally Posted by ilikeaces86

You were stalking me?

Yep, I loooooove you.

(Seriously, I watched you on one of Party's tables one day while I was playing on a different [$50 NL] table - on and off for about an hour. After you posted all those hand histories here I was really curious if you bluffed quite as much as it seemed from the stories. My conclusion: not really.)

Originally Posted by dalecooper

Originally Posted by ilikeaces86

You were stalking me?

Yep, I loooooove you.

(Seriously, I watched you on one of Party's tables one day while I was playing on a different [$50 NL] table - on and off for about an hour. After you posted all those hand histories here I was really curious if you bluffed quite as much as it seemed from the stories. My conclusion: not really.)

Obviously...I am the one of the tightest players on those limits....thats why I can get away with so many bluffs.

That's what I figured. And that's something a lot of players don't really comprehend. I hear all the time that only a loose table image can help you, but I think you can capitalize on a tight image too, by picking good spots to bluff. There's a lot of decent-sized pots that can be stolen from the right people at the right times.

I prefer to alternate - develop a tight image (easy, I just play my natural style), then break it up with some outrageous bluffs and pre-flop raising with crap. I show a couple of those, then go back into my shell and let the action roll in.

i.e Dan Harington

Originally Posted by ilikeaces86

i.e Dan Harington

Right, perfect example.

I leave a table when I feel like I am against more than 2 real good players. I figure I can take the fish and hold my own own against the good players. Once more good players are at the table, the money just seems to go around the table.

That being said I hardly ever play for more than 2 hours at a stretch, and in that time I usually switch tables at least once. I only play one table at a time right now.

The reason for the 2 hours is that I have a real job, two kids, and can't stay up any later