In poker, only by playing for real money you can feel the challenge and excitement. Therefore, everyone who takes poker seriously allocates a certain amount for the game. It’s called a bankroll.
The size of the bankroll determines what bets you can afford, how many buy-ins you can lose before the money runs out. The psychological factor is also important – the amount on the account depends on how comfortable you will feel at the table.
And bankroll management is one of the most important poker skills.
Where to get a bankroll?
For many players, the starting bankroll starts with a deposit. Having money in your poker room account, you can easily separate it from your daily expenses. Poker sites motivate beginners to start playing for real money by providing first deposit bonuses.
Another way to get a bankroll is to join a backing fund. They give money for the game and provide training. But not everyone is accepted into the funds, and you will have to give a percentage of the winnings (usually 50%). Many players are members of the funds, as this provides an opportunity to develop in a team of like-minded people.
The Importance of Bankroll Management
In poker, not everything depends on you, there is a luck factor. Periods of bad luck can drag on for days, weeks and months. In order not to lose your entire bankroll, you need to be able to properly manage it and go down the limits in time if necessary. This is called bankroll management.
This is an important skill that every poker player should have. There have been many examples in history when talented players went bankrupt just because they did not adhere to bankroll management.
For example, if you have $100 in your account and you sign up for a $50 tournament, that’s terrible bankroll management. After all, if the tournament does not work out, you will lose half of your money. But if you sign up for a $1 tournament, losing won’t do much damage to your bankroll.
Why bankroll management is important:
- You will not lose all the money in the account. So you won’t need to top it up again.
- You won’t have to go down the limits as soon as the downstreak hits. A large margin means you can keep playing at your limit for a long time without worrying about variance.
- It is more comfortable to play when you know that you keep your bankroll under control. This has a positive effect on the results.
Risk or stability
There are two approaches to bankroll management: aggressive and conservative.
Aggressive (up to 50 buy-ins). You play with a small margin and constantly take risks, since a significant part of the bankroll is at stake. Because of this, in bad periods, you can lose all or most of the money. On the other hand, this makes it possible to move up the stakes faster. Aggressive bankroll management is suitable for experienced players who are confident in their abilities.
Conservative (100 or more buy-ins) is suitable for beginners and those who prefer stability. You invest a small part of your bankroll in tournaments or cash games. This way you not only protect yourself from volatility of variance, but also feel more confident knowing that no matter how the game goes, your bankroll will not suffer much.
Bankroll management also involves the use of a stop loss. This is the cessation of the game for some time after losing a certain number of buy-ins. Everyone determines the stop loss threshold for himself: for some it is 6 buy-ins, for others 15. But in any case, such a measure helps to avoid rash decisions due to a series of failures. Who hasn’t been tempted to go for higher stakes in order to quickly beat off the loss? But it almost never ends well.
Climbing the limits
Growth in limits is one of the main goals in poker. This allows you to increase income and improve skills. Knowing when to move to the next limit is part of bankroll management.
How to determine when it’s time to try a new limit:
- You have enough bankroll for him.
- You confidently and with a profit above average beat the current limit.
- You know how to include a stop loss and go lower if things don’t go the way you wanted.
You separate the bankroll and money for everyday expenses.
Lastly, let’s give you some advice. Do not try at all costs to increase your bankroll. A more productive goal is to try every day to be a better player than yesterday. Work on the game, eradicate problems and errors. And then your bankroll will certainly grow.