Quote:
Originally Posted by PrGarland
If I am buying in for 30 Big bets, how low can my stack get before a reload is smart?
It depends on the game and on how your stack size affects your confidence.
You don't ever want to be all in playing limit poker; I can't tell you how much money I've won over the years when I had the second-best hand because bad, scared, and/or under-rolled players were all in before the betting was done. Some of the side pots I've won were as big as or bigger than the main pot.
So in theory you need 12 big bets (assuming the cap is a bet and three raises) to cover a cap on all four streets (2 big bets preflop, 2 big bets on the flop, 4 big bets on the turn, and 4 big bets on the river). In practice, about 6 big bets should suffice unless your game is unusually loose and aggressive.
I myself don't like to play that short; I'll usually rebuy if my stack falls below 10 big bets. But that's more for psychological comfort than practical necessity. (Then again, I once went 11 big bets on the river with a straight flush against my opponent's Ace-high flush; we only stopped raising because he was all in.)
As for the correlation between lower win rates and longer sessions, I agree that it's not clear which is the cause and which the effect. If you want to delve into this further, track your results every hour. For example, you might note that in a particular session you won $42 in hour 1, lost $16 in hour 2, lost $98 in hour 3, and won $228 in hour 4. Then after about 100 sessions, you might be able to demonstrate that your win rate does or does not decline after playing for a certain number of hours.
The other thing you'll want to do is get up every hour or two, walk around, and ask yourself a few questions: Is the game still good? Am I playing well (regardless of results)? Am I tired or frustrated or annoyed to a degree that would compromise my ability to make good betting decisions? The answers to all of these questions should inform your decision to continue playing or not.