Is There A Right Time To Set A Poker Stop-Loss Limit ?

Players are discouraged from setting a stop-loss limit in poker, because if you have an edge in the game and are losing this is due to variance. Basically if you feel the game you’re playing in is profitable for you, you should keep playing; regardless of how much you’re currently down. Since poker is a long-term game you shouldn’t care about individual wins and losses, just long-term results.

However, there are times when I think having a stop-loss limit is a good thing. Let me outline the scenarios where going into a poker game with a stop-loss limit will be beneficial for you.

• New or Casual Poker Players

Players just starting out in poker, and players who don’t play all too often should think about setting a stop-loss limit for the simple reason that their inexperience makes it difficult for them to understand when they have an edge in the game, or when they are in fact -EV.

Additionally, inexperienced players are likely to make numerous mistakes, and are at best only slightly +EV. Because of this, their swings will be huge, and the likelihood that they make a huge mistake is a lot higher than a typical winning player. Where a good, winning, player may get stacked off, it’s unlikely they will get stacked-off from a bad play; this isn’t the case with an inexperienced player, who could quickly lose four, even five or more, buy-ins.

• Emotional Poker Players

Players who are prone to tilt should definitely have a stop-loss limit in place. A bout of tilt comes on from losses, and once you are on tilt you are likely to lose more. For this reason, a player who knows they have a hard time keeping their emotions in check should go into a game with a clearly defined stop-loss limit. Furthermore, they should only bring, or have access to, a certain amount of money.

• Players on a Short Bankroll

A short bankroll presents a variety of problems of its own, but these issues are compounded when you start losing precious pieces of it. If you find yourself playing on a short bankroll (which happens to just about every poker player at some point in their career) you typically focus even harder because every dollar is so precious to you. However there is a line that is crossed when you start losing, where your focus turns into passive/scared play. This is followed by another threshold where the money left in your bankroll becomes insignificant.

Suppose you started the day with 10-buy-ins for $500 No Limit Holdem with dreams of doubling your roll, and getting back to a more comfortable bankroll. A couple bad beats later and you might find yourself down to 7 buy-ins, and suddenly you become more concerned with staying at 7 buy-ins than trying to win. If you drop down to 4 buy-ins your passivity is likely to turn to despair, and you start playing wildly trying to turn things around.

On the other hand, if you had quit the game with 7 or 8 buy-ins you could have taken a day to think about the ramifications, and decide if you should drop down in limits, or take another shot at the $500 buy-in game willing to lose another 2 buy-ins.