Bankroll Management to Avoid Common Newbie Poker Playing Mistakes
Poker Risk Management
Risk management is essential to any form of investing. The idea is to never put all your eggs in one basket. When building a poker bankroll you must start small and play on lower stakes tables until you have built up a large enough bankroll that enables you to handle the swings of the larger stakes tables. Don't fool yourself into thinking your $100 bankroll means you can play a $100 table. This is only enough to play one game and you’re only one bad beat away from losing it all! Would you treat your personal business in the same manner? I didn’t think so. Thats why bankroll management is so important.
How large should a bankroll be?
You must have a large enough bankroll to play enough games so that one winning game covers the multiple losses you should expect plus make a profit. Even the best poker players loose games. A consistent winner makes money at a poker game by winning large enough pots to cover the losses of loosing hands. Consistent poker profits over the long run are made the same way. Putting all you poker money on the line in one game is a sure way to go bust, by sticking with our bankroll management rules there is nothing much you can do wrong.
The size of your poker bankroll will determine the size of games you should be playing.The best way to determine this is to keep track of you playing statistics. How many games do you win out of all the games you play? How much money do you win on average? This will be different for every player and it will change over time. Just be cautious to leave enough breathing room to handle the volatility.
For instance, you tend to win 1 game in 5, or 20%. On average you win $150 and your bankroll is currently sitting at $200. This means you should probably play no higher than a $20 game. 5 games will cost you $100 and one win will net you a $50 profit. Your bankroll will allow you to play 10 games with 2 wins. Should you play at your normal win rate your bankroll should grow to $300. But this may not allow enough wiggle room for those times that you losses last longer than 4 games out of 5. Poker is a game of variance, and even as a good player you can go broke very fast if your not using bankroll management.A good rule of thumb would be to cut you buy-in level in half. So $10 would be a more appropriate level to be playing so as to mange the risks and keep your bankroll growing.
Stop loss, stop your loosing sessions early...
Another aspect of risk management is cutting losses early. In a poker game where you are losing a lot of hands, and/or getting dealt bad cards, you must tighten up your game and wait for better hands. During a longish streak of loosing games you must take steps to cut those losses. Perhaps a break from poker to clear your head would also be a good thing to consider. You should read this article series about how to manage life & poker if you think you have problems with that topic.
Dont be too proud to step down the stakes
Also you should probably step down the stakes of the games you are playing. A string of losses will put a dent in your bankroll and now you run the risk of going bust, even if your games goes back to your normal win percentage.
Make Money playing online poker professionaly
Making money at poker on the internet or at the casino is a wonderful hobby with potential to make you a lot of money if you approach the game with the right mindset. Done properly with a disciplined and solid game and some proper money management, your bankroll will continue to grow and grow.
Now that you know about the basics of bankroll management you might want to read some more advanced bankroll management strategy...
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