Quit Losing!

"Learn to quit losing".

These were actually some wise words I recall from Phil Ivey which have always stuck with me. I love the double play on words and how you can interpret this sentence differently. His response was to the question "what's the biggest leak you see from most poker players?". He went on to explain that many poker players keep playing when they get stuck and try to dig themselves out of a hole. They refuse to write off a loss during a bad session even when they realise they're at a bad table, or tilting to some degree, or just not on their A game.

This is indeed a leak in my game and something I still struggle with. I've definitely been caught in that vortex off taking hit after hit while swatting away that little voice in my head saying "It's time to quit - fight again another day". If anything it's more my stubborn streak than the need to turn a losing session around. I keep saying "I'm better than these guys. One more round and things will turn". Of course, it almost never does.

On the flip-side, I remember the late great Chip Reese discussing this same problem but also going on to say how many poker players also quit winning sessions too early. Many of us are happy to quit 'in front' and bank a profitable session while the soft spots are still at the table. According to Chip, you should stay (however long) until those players have gone, even if it means playing through the night or longer - we need to extract every possible dollar from these good situations.

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As I mentioned previously, the exchange rate continues to improve and if I were to cash out today I'd benefit more than 20c for every dollar. Nice work for no effort!




FG