I keep basic stats on my live poker sessions. I don't keep any separate stats on my results on my second buy-in vs. my first. But if I did, I'm thinking I may not be very happy with the results. I don't know if I tilt without realizing it or what, but I think I'm more prone to lose a second buy-in than I am to recoup my first.

So I guess I should start tracking, and if the results are as I suspect, then what? Bust once and leave? I guess I'm wondering if any of you keep separate stats on second buy-ins, and what they tell you.

If you're not tracking second buy in's there's really no need to track the first buy in since it's irrelevant to your total results. So either track everything or nothing. No one is going to be a winner right from the start but if you don't track your results, you won't know if you're improving or not.

I think he's talking about tracking the second buy-in as a subset of his total.

Correct. For instance, I could treat it as a totally separate session, but maybe with an asterisk or something that tells me it was a second buy-in at that table that day.

I think my results may be different (and worse) because my goals from my rebuy are different. On the second buy-in, I'm looking to double up to get back my initial investment. But on my first buy-in, I don't care about doubling up. If I've played long enough, and I'm ready to leave, then it doesn't matter how much I'm ahead to feel satisfied.

Do you not top off your stack? Do you wait until you have been felted to reload?

I rarely top off my stack.

I personally keep each day as a separate session unless I cash out and then re-start at the minimum buy in later that day (which for me is very rare). If I lost a buy in then re-buy, I don't see a need to keep a separate session. However I do know players who keep separate sessions throughout the day such as if they take a lunch break then come back to a different table, but I've never heard of someone ending a session on paper just because they lost a buy in but if you wanna keep track of that, it's really up to you.

How specific your stats are can only help you with your evaluations. You have to decide what effort you are going to put in to create the data.

I think I used to have a similar feeling you think you might be having about your 2nd BI. I think my stats would be 'the best' on my 3rd BI since it might be my last one for the day. Logic tells us that we should play like it's our 3rd BI during the 1st BI, eh?!!

If you think you might have a tilt problem, then you should track stats to prove (or disprove) your thoughts so you can either work on it or put your 'thinking' into some other part of your game.

No one has 'jumped' on you yet so I will ... Your mind set from one BI to the next shouldn't matter. Your focus needs to be on how you played each hand separately and what adjustments you need to make during the session for each player and the table dynamic. There have been other threads about session 'goals' and whether or not they are good or bad. You are just breaking that down into 'BI' goals which is probably not good for your game and opponents will pick up on it ... I know I do.

When I see a player on their 2nd/3rd BI and they start to give off some live tells that let me know it's an issue I will change how I play against them one way or another.

I had the silliest thing last night ... Guess what? "Gut shots are HOT!" was the table theme for about 90 minutes as several players hit them to take down pots. One particular player made it known that they 'hated' them more than a player hitting their kicker (4 outer v 3 outer?). So I c/r the guy from the SB on a 'gut shot' Turn card and he disgustingly folded the better hand stating 'damn gut shots'. Typically he would've been a little stickier with TP, but I took advantage of the table talk to get in a steal, Yay! GL

When I see a player on their 2nd/3rd BI and they start to give off some live tells that let me know it's an issue I will change how I play against them one way or another.

This is a good point. you can tell when someone is just basically a passive wounded dog who you can smack around for a while who won't get aggressive without a monster.
But, ESPECIALLY with people you know have money, there is a a point where you can tell they just aren't having fun anymore. You have to ease up a little or they'll just leave rather than open their wallet until it's all gone.

As for the second buy in stats- unless you literally leave after the first double they would be misleading anyway.

It's not a tournament, no reset sessions. If you want you can track how much money you bought in for though.

Also top off, it's not a tournament.

So you're saying you already know that you play badly on your second buy-in and therefore think it might be a good idea to track buy-ins separately so you can see how good/bad you do on your initial buy-in?

Maybe playing tighter on your initial buy-in might be good for your overall results, even if that gives up some EV because it gets you into less second buy-in situations where we already know you don't play optimally?

This

OP it sounds like you're treating every buy-in as a separate session. You shouldn't have to play short and pray for a double up just to keep that buy-in alive. You can't play optimal poker imo while playing short stacked.

If you top off, it becomes one long session and it will probably be better for your mental game. When you start your session, go to the cage if possible and buy in for 3 or whatever number of buy in's and keep the extra chips in your pocket and top off every time you fall below the table max.

If you're not sure where you are in the middle of a session, count all the chips in your pocket and the chips on the table. This is what I've always done from the beginning and I really think it's helped me psychologically more than anything.

Thanks for the tips folks. The truth is that I do prefer tournaments, but cash games are a lot more convenient and I'm trying to plug some leaks.

I buy in for the max, and keep a handful of $25 chips in my pocket so I can make sure I am always playing with at least the max, so any tracking like this would be impossible. I'm not really sure if it could have any purpose either. You'd need a huge sample to even get results that were worth knowing. And I guess if the result was that you did worse on your 2nd buy in, the conclusion would be to leave every time you lose one buy in? And if the conclusion is otherwise, there'd be no adjustment possible to make.

Top off stack.

Carry 5-6 buyins on you so that 1 doesn't bother you as much.

Be honest with yourself if you are playing well.

chip up your stack
your goal should not change
you should not stay just to chase your losses (this is not a winners mentality)
work on mental discipline
I would say yes track them as a subset and then you will see your major leak and can work to correct it.