Getting smoked and going broke

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Guest blogger Swail returns today with a post near and dear to my heart. I’ve become quite the expert when it comes to putting my hard earned money in a cash game only to have a combination of mediocre play and unspectacular cards evenly distribute my once formidable stack amongst the other bingo players. I am lucky enough to not rely on my skills or poker bankroll to make a living, I do not have a daily nut to make each day in order to survive. It still doesn’t mean I don’t like sitting down at a poker table and getting crushed like a newb playing for the first time.

A recent run at an action-heavy H.O.E cash game had me sitting at a friendly table and dust off 50 big bets through a series of unfortunate second best hands and my inability to weather the storm of crap cards. If this was a situation where I was dependent on this night to feed myself or pay my rent or even just pick up Red Bull to stay awake then I would have had a tough decision to make on my first trip down to the felt. “Fight or flight” is something every poker player has to have in their mind when they stop running like god and have to deal with the unhappy side of Mother Variance.

Swail brings us several well known recommendations for when to get up from a bad poker session but as a player you must take into account every scenario. Going broke is not a pleasant thought but it will happen.

Getting Smoked And Going Broke
by Swail

In my last post I discussed the topic of playing when you’re stuck. This time I’d like to complete my thoughts on the subject with a list of commonly used tactics and some personal tips. But before talking prevention let’s further analyze the disease with the help of some classic poker thoughts by the mad genius of poker, Mike Caro.

Caro proposes that a poker player who loses more than they’re comfortable with in one session will risk penetrating the ‘threshold of misery’. The idea is that a player who loses too much becomes emotionally debalanced for the remainder of the session. Even if they’re normally a winning player, they’ll play like losers and be likely to just go on spewing chips all night long.

It’s easy to see why a player on a short bankroll can easily go on tilt. While engaged in a massive losing session they may be shredding their entire bankroll, and who can compete properly under that kind of pressure? But even a player who is well bankrolled can fall victim to tilt when they get slammed by an abnormally sour run of cards. There’s just something fundementally disturbing about losing pot after pot. Here’s a short list of recommendations to help you avoid getting wrapped up in a bad session and build a generally healthy winning routine:

1- Set a stop loss limit. When you’re winning big in a poker game you should usually just go on cracking heads until you can’t keep your eyes open. But packing it in when you are losing is generally an intelligent policy. For a no-limit player you could set a pre-determined maximum loss amount of somewhere in the ballpark of 2-5% of your bankroll. For a limit player, set it somewhere between 25 and 50 big bets.

Pro player Howard Lederer avoided big loses while building his bankroll by quiting a session if he lost more than 30 big bets. When multitabling online he recommends a stop loss at around 50 big bets instead, due to the higher amount of variance that comes with getting in so many hands.

2- Be honest with yourself about how well you’re playing. When you first sit down and you’re fresh and ready to roll you have a certain control and focus. If after playing for several hours this intensity wears off, you have to quit the game. Great players can be at their best for many hours in a row, but if you want to be a winner you have to strive to play only when you’re truly at your best.

3- Set a time limit on your sessions. You may sometimes be tempted to try and be Superman and play for way longer than usual. This might be worth doing if you feel that you’re a massive favorite in a game and have a great table image. If the amount you think you can win is big enough, then you should play until you fall off your chair. Otherwise it’s best to cut the session off before too long, in order to avoid ruining your day to day routine. I call this your ‘flow’ and if you play poker quite regularly, you know what I’m talking about. Besides, who ever regrets making the decision to quit a game? Staying in a game is the real commonly regretted mistake. Think about it.

Much of this advice may seem like common sense. Pros and serious players know alot of this stuff already, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still fall victim to the pitfalls of a poor routine or bad sessions. Consistency is key in poker. Having common sense in a moment of clarity is one thing, but can you put it to practice day in and day out, year after year? The path to profit in poker is putting things to practice. You’ve got to bring your best game and all of your good sense with as little sloppiness as possible.

The other night I had the first five figure loss of my poker career, and I’m a bit sick about it. I clearly stayed in the game too long and played below my potential. I admit that I neglected my better judgment, but it feels good to put pen to paper today and analyze the things I’ve been neglecting to take seriously throughout my poker career. The utility of that cash I dumped in the big game was worth more than the potential profit of playing in the game. By that I mean that I never should have let myself get so wrapped up and lose so much since I really really needed that cash to play my regular mid-stakes game. I’ve played too much winning $20-40 LHE and low buy-in NL in my life to go back to those stakes and feel genuinely good about.

So here are a few important things to always keep in mind when taking a shot: What’s the biggest loss I could take? How much cash will I have left tomorrow if I get destroyed in this game? How will a big loss affect my ability to play in my regular game? How will it affect me emotionally?

Bankroll management, stop losses, emotional reactions, day to day routine, playing when you’re sharp, all of these elements to the game of poker are fundemental. Card sense, skill and knowledge are nothing without the balance that comes from knowing what you’re trying to do, understanding and accepting the risk involved, and having a positive winning attitude every single day.

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Swail