This is our first full day at sea. Our ship is moving along
at a nice clip of 19 knots. It’s secret in covering long distances is not,
however in its’ speed, but in its’ perpetual motion. She moves along steadily 24
hours a day until she reaches our destination.
Likewise, it is not in the speed of your play in poker that
matters as much as it is consistency of performance over the long haul. “Slow
and steady wins the race,” as my father use to say. I’m mindful of this on the
eve of the $1100 HPT No Limit main event. Before I take any big risks, I will grow
my stack at a slow and steady pace. I want to have twice the chip average or
double that of my opponent, before I take any coin flips or jeopardize myself
going out of the tournament.
The key is to survive.
Cash games are different. I’m heading down now to play for a
while. A common question I get from cash players is “when is the right time to
quit?” “Is there a certain amount of money I’m up that I should quit, or if I’m
losing a certain amount that I should leave?” Invariable these type of
questions are asked by people who fear that their luck will run out or
conversely that there should be a point that they realize that it’s not going
to be there lucky day.
The answer is a bit of a paradox. Poker is a perpetual
motion type of game in which mathematically one hand supposes not to affect
another one. Psychologically, however, it is a different story. Players tend to
carry their results with them, good or bad and it is that psychological affect
that has a definite affect on how they play their cards and consequently, effects
their results.
Players’, who are able to create distance between themselves
and the hands they play and differentiate them, will be less likely to be affected by
individual results. They will be able to see the bigger picture and; “Should I
stay or should I quit?” becomes more of a useless question. When this is the
case the players usually play more on time rather then results. Either a
specified period of time or until they feel tired or are losing their
competitive edge. Whether they are up or down money is usually not a factor in
their decision-making.
Player’s who are dramatically affected by their results, however,
should definitely use a money management system, rather then a timed based
system for their playing sessions. The best systems are relative to the buy-in.
The general consensus is if you’re stuck two buy-ins it’s time to quit. The
players’ ability to handle the Outflow or negative variance usually will aversely
affect their play and they should pack up shop.
It’s harder to know when to leave when you’re winning, I
usually suggest continuing to play until you've lost back around 10% of what
you're up. The important thing is to make sure that your biggest wins are
bigger then your biggest losses. It does you no good to win all night long and
then throw it all away in one big hand.
The ability to handle the Inflow of success is just as
important as being able to handle the outflow. A player who cannot handle the
inflow of success may just sit there until they lose it all back. So for them,
knowing its time to leave when their up is also vital.
It’s another full day at sea tomorrow as we start the main
event. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
Enjoy the Journey!
Kenna James
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