Advanced Poker Theory: Bankroll Management

by Bodog Poker | Apr 13 2010

Some poker players will spend a lot of time and effort improving their skill level in many different ways. Yet most still find themselves broke after a time, and then they are forced to use more money out of pocket to get back in the game. Serious players have to consider many different things when they're trying to make a living playing poker, and no matter how good you may be at the game, if you don't practice bankroll strategies you will not profit. Poker has a degree of gamble involved, and losing and winning streaks are a part of every player's experience. Bankroll strategies are designed to keep you in the game despite these streaks, by making sure you have enough money to survive a downswing in your win/loss variance.

Every player has a win/loss variance where their bankroll will shrink or grow. By playing in games that are a small portion of your playing bankroll you will be able to stay in the game when you're losing. If you're in a game that's too big, your money will run out before your luck turns around, and you'll go broke trying to win it back. Online you want to have at least 300 times the big blind of any game you're playing in your bankroll.

Online poker tips

That means if you want to play in a $1/$2 limit cash game you should have at least $600 in your bankroll. For tournament action, be it multi-table or sit-and-go, you should never have more than 5% of your overall bankroll in play. Many professionals will play with more than twice that amount, never risking more than 1 or 2 percent of their bankroll.

As your bankroll fluctuates you have to adjust your game with it. If you start to suffer losses and your bankroll shrinks, it's important that you adjust the game you're playing to the proper stakes. By jumping down to a smaller game until things turn around you will slow down the bleeding, and you'll never be at risk of going broke. If you're losing that much you're probably better off getting out of the big game you're in anyway. The idea is to keep your head during the rough periods and find the discipline to protect your cash when you can't seem to win a hand. As your bankroll grows so will the stakes of the games you'll be able to play in.

Besides playing in the proper games, one needs to have safeguards in place to prevent emotional cash dumps that can happen to the best of players. When the cards are running against you, it can become very frustrating to play. Almost every player is susceptible to tilt, but if you set limits as you play tilt won't affect you so much. Have a limit in place where you must stop playing, and make sure you stop when you reach it. That will keep the huge disaster sessions from happening, and you'll stay in the game that much longer.

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