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Money Mgmt and Self-Control
Having already gone through the basics of money management in our section for beginners, we focus now to two specific issues regarding poker discipline: 1) determining your limits and 2) knowing when to quit.
Determining your limits
Setting limits for yourself is a vital aspect of poker. Ordinarily, you should make a decision on which limit to set based upon your financial situation, your ability and your regard for risk. Those are the 3 principal points to keep in mind.
No matter how much cash you have, it's frequently best to begin at the lower limits, since the competition at this level is easier. Everyone can benefit from a little warm-up practice. Not many "professionals" play at the $1-$2 games, so it's a fairly safe place to start your career, or even just your day.
But how do you know when the time has come to increase/decrease your limit when playing? Usually, you should only move up a limit if you feel you are comfortable playing there for seven sessions or more. Do not pick a limit that's so high it makes you frightened to play. Playing scared is a sure-fire way of failing. It's also not smart to "go for it" at a higher limit considering that if you're making a run for it with the big fellas at your table, you more than likely don't have the bankroll to keep up for a long time. Even if you win two consecutive sessions, you'll probably bust out at some point and will have to move down to a lower limit. You can imagine, itís kind of similar to climbing off the high dive at the swimming pool while everybody around is watching.
Regardless, however, of how you may feel about climbing down from the diving board, sometimes youíve got to it. If you take a hit at a higher limit, itís a smart idea to move down; you may need to swallow your pride some, but thatís certainly better than swallowing ALL of your bankroll. Keep in mind as well though that dropping down doesn't mean moving ALL the way down. It's better to move down just a bit, instead of returning to the $1-$2 tables. Going down too much can result in a lack of motivation, and playing too loose is a dangerous practice to get into also. If you've gone up to a $25-$50 table from a $10-$20 table, we suggest going back to the $10-$20 level, but not much lower (unless things continue to go badly).
Quitting for the day
Even best poker players on the circuit have Ďoffí days. Realizing when itís time to call it quits will definitely protect your wallet. If you play limit poker, it's smart to stop if you have a series of approximately 40 large bets or more in either direction. 40 big bets at limit poker is a lot (especially longhand), so having swings that go on longer than this may make you crazy. The only excuse to go against the 40-big-bet rule is if the game you are in is really good.
Overall however, you should quit because you are tilting; because you've been playing a while already and risk being exhausted; or, because you just have other things to do.
Some signs that you may be tilting:
1. Youíre constantly thinking that your opponents are bluffing.
2. Youíd like to break even for the day.
3. You want to get back in the action as quickly as possible.
Some signs that you may have played too much poker:
1. Youíre falling asleep at the table (obvious).
2. You've played over ten hours for the day. (Itís a never a good idea to play more than ten hours at any one time. It's better to play several short or medium sessions than a few long ones.)
3. You find it more difficult to pay attention to your opponents and their moves.
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