Hello,

Sometimes I double up, but then want to cash out half of my stack. This way I won't risk busting out all together. Is there a name for this type of thing? Is there a way to do this without leaving the table?

Thanks,

Pete

It's called ratholing or "going south", and it's not legal in most rooms. if you want to pick up entirely you can do so, but you have to wait a set amount of time (usually 30m-1h) before you can sit down again with a smaller stack.

Depending on the room, you may be able to (read: forced to) drop back down to the buy in max by requesting a table change as well, but that is a minority of places which have this oddball rule in place.

Usually I'm buying in for much less than the buy in max, so I doubt if a table change would help me.

Pete

This. And if you find a room where it's legal, it's a really scummy thing to do. If you aren't comfortable playing with that much then cash out, or move down in limits where having 2-3+ buyins won't make you as uncomfortable.

Learn to play deep stacked

Guessing that's not possible in this case. Someone buying in for a small amount and nervous about playing with double that amount is probably already playing the smallest game in town.

If your scared to play after a double up then i think its best to just cash out. I know what it feels like to double up and then not want to play cause you feel your not gonna win anymore pots. But a double up is nice and gives you some recognition at the table, also you can loosen up a bit, but not too much!!!

why cash out and start over with your original buy in? most likely your just going to tighten back up and cripple yourself and go all in on a coin flip again. For the most part, when you continuation bet the flop or river, you get folds(respect)

When I double up I wont change my play that much, Just loosen up a tiny bit, also...You get to be a bully against the newer short stacks. dont abuse it though lol..

If your gut tells you that your not going to be playing any hands and your not going to be making anymore money then you should cash out. Ive had this feeling a TON and its usually the truth. I usually will cash out, go walk around a bit see some of the action throughout the casino, get some food, relax, maybe throw a couple bets down on BJ or roulette, maybe put $20 in a slot. And after all that its usually been atleast an hour and you can consider sitting back down for your original buy in.

scummy... and if a player picks up his cash because he goes to the bathroom or to dinner, someone at the table will usually make sure he counts it out after he returns.

Thats a real douche move. If people are willing to risk money why can't you?

Going south is pathetic

yes Ive left the table numerous times for a smoke, bathroom, or whatever. I just trust that no one will try to take my chips, youd be stupid to try it.

chances are when Im going to dinner though, I dont know how long ill be...Then I will cash my chips out because I dont want my chips to be bagged and go through the hassle..even though its really not that big of a deal.

Plus, I dont want to take up a seat when im not there for a long time.

Theres people that will leave the table for 30 minutes, come back and play two hands, then leave again for another half hour. theyll do this for 5 hrs it kind of ticks me off. I want chips on the table that have someone behind them.

You know what, you owe players at the table nothing. If a casino allows you to rathole and if ratholing makes you feel comfortable then do it.

If they don't allow it, you can often get around it by doing a table change and buying in for a different amount.

Another way to get around it is to rack up, cash out, put your name on the list, go eat for 30-40 minutes and then come back and sit down and buy back in.

However, with all that being said, you really want to work at being comfortable playing deep. The reason has less to do with "ettiquette but moreso to do with your advantage. When you are at a table for 2hrs+ you have a HUGE advantage. You know the players, you understand the table dynamics, and you've cultivated an image you can use or exploit. So, given these conditions your winrate will easily be DOUBLE that of playing at an unknown table (all things being equal of course).

So work on feeling comfortable and that will only happen with proper bankroll management and time at the tables playing deep.

GL

As mentioned, and I agree with, and all of the rooms that I know of, rat-holeing your profits is not allowed.

HOWEVER....you're thinking is wrong in general. Of course "scared" money doesn't win, and generally speaking you have to give-to-recieve, in other words give action to recieve......exceptions might include very small stakes where people are simply not paying attention and/or don't really understand the game of poker.

That said, and the point I wanted to make about your thinking being wrong, is thats its WRONG to leave, or rat hole money when you're winning! Change your thinking 180*. Stay when you're winning, leave when you're losing.

Never fall into the trap of "trying to get back to zero", one more hand and I'll get "caught up", and bla, bla, bla...........

If you arent willing to play with a very large stack, then just pick up, cash out, take a break for an hour, and come back. There's nothing wrong with this at a public casino as long as you follow the casino's rules.

However, the way you describe it, you are already buying in short, and want to pick up as soon as you double up a short stack. If this is the case, you should probably be playing in a lower stakes game.

This is fine except for the implication that there are actually casinos that allow the practice. I have never seen or heard of a casino which allows this (except for as discussed below)

There does appear to be some casinos poker rooms run by people who have no clue about poker that allow a player (or even sometimes require a player) to rathole when making a table change.

However most do not permit this .... and i hope you are not suggesting that the player deliberately do this when it is not permitted.

Typically rooms require a 1 hour minimum away form the game. I do not consider this getting around the rule, unless you are suggesting the player try to to get back in the game without being gone the proper amount of time.

I guess I have no clue about poker, because I don't see anything wrong with this.

I'd love to have you guys explain it to me, but only if you can hold your temper while you do so.

People seem to think rat-holing is illegal because you owe the other players a chance to win that money. That is not the case at all--if it were, winning players would not be allowed to leave the game! Rat-holing is illegal because being all-in has its advantages (free cards!), and artificially reducing your stack to get closer to all-in to enjoy these advantages is illegal.

I can understand applying the "can't rat-hole when changing tables" rule to players coming from broken games--those who are holding less than a minimum buy-in are allowed to bring it to the new game, so in the interests of uniformity all the players should remain the same distance from the magical all-in moment that they were in the old game. The minimums and maximums are off the table for these folks, so keeping their old stacks works for me. But for a lone player to switch tables, he's just some new guy off the street in the eyes of his new opponents, what business is it of theirs how much money he won in his last session, whether it was 10 days ago or 10 minutes ago?