Having trouble playing long sessions
No HH to discuss but maybe someone has some helpful advice. My typical session lasts an hour and ends with me winning about one buy in. After I achieve the buy in goal I tighten up a ton and play scared to lose my winnings. Conversely if I have a bad session I can play until Im unstuck and play fine. Anyone conquer something similar? Any advice? Thanks
steve1238 from 2+2
venice10 says:
Mike Caro wrote about this a long time ago. What is happening is that you are measuring winning sessions, not winning $. You are defining success as having 80%, 90%, or even 100% winning sessions. This approach loses you money. Think of it this way. You approach two tables and have a choice of how much time you can play at each, but you have to play at least a 1/2 hour at both. Table one consists of complete noobs, who will stack off with jack high. Table two consists of the best cash game players on the planet. The way you are playing, you’re more likely to spend a minimal amount of time at the noob table and a long time at the best player table. Of course, you want to do the reverse. You want to spend as much time as possible at a table where you are winning and the least amount of time at the tables when you are stuck.
David Sklansky suggested thinking of playing as one long session. That’s good advice. Barry Greenstein has also said that he is a losing player at 40% of his sessions. Try to stop worrying about ending with a winning session. Unless there is a good reason to stop (table is shutting down, the donors have left, etc.), you should never leave or change your game when you are winning.
