Apr 29 2010

Part 1 – The Benefits of Bankroll Management

Category: Poker strategy — malcolm @ 9:30 am

Bankroll management is how you manage the money that you use for poker or betting. There are certain recommendations that you should follow to keep your money in order but these are not rules and everyone manages their money a little differently. The golden rule of bankroll management is that you should be comfortable with the risk and leave some room for flexibly playing poker the way you want to. When you withdraw money, how much you risk and what you do when you win and when you lose should be pre-arranged.

The only time this type of money management in poker can be ignored is when you are taking part in freerolls or free online poker. If you want to play some free online poker before you get started, visit https://www.bwin.com/free-online-poker and get familiar with the game before you start your bankroll challenge.

Gamcare and Gamblers Anonymous would not exist if people were able to manage their relationship with risk and the potentially addictive nature of poker and gambling in general. Unfortunately people get carried away and by potentially being able to earn money and by nature we human beings want to repeat things that make us feel good or work out well for us. Poker should be enjoyed, but with constant monitoring that things are as they should be and that your relationship with it has not become dependant. If you start feeling like your life is not worth living unless you are playing poker then you probably need to address whether your relationship with poker is becoming unhealthy for you.

I use bankroll management as a way of tightly managing how much I risk at any one time. Carl Sampson correctly pointed out in one of his articles I recently had the pleasure of reading that many players ”have not got the nerve, inclination or ability to play anything higher than the micro-stakes cash games. ” This need not be the case if they can alter their relationship with money and look at it in terms of bankroll and units rather than real money. This allows them to play higher whilst still operating at a certain risk exposure level to their bankroll.

Players must observe when this strategy is no longer useful. At some players will be unable to think of their bankroll as units and start thinking of it as money again. It is naïve to assume we could think of our $2 million bankroll as 20 units of $100,000 when you only earn $30,000 in your normal job, sanity must prevail. Bankroll management demands that you are very honest with yourself on what you are mentally able to gamble. The moment you start playing differently because of the money at stake in a pot, e.g. checking instead of betting, you are playing too high. This could still be at a small amount of money; some people just do not have the gamble in them and even losing a pot worth $0.50 is something they struggle to deal with.

The importance of sensible bankroll management is growing. You can now access real money poker games more easily than ever before even playing poker on the phone at bwin.com if you want to play poker on the move. It would be very easy to simply keep pumping money into your poker account just to stay involved but it is far better to set some money aside specifically for poker. This can actually be a good thing if you are prone to randomly spending money on things you do not need or impulse buy online. At least you are trying to do something with your money, but if you bust your bankroll before re-depositing I think you should always either seek a coaches advice on what went wrong or do some fairly intensive session reviews on your own.

In part 2 of this feature we are going to analyse the rules of bankroll management that will help structure your online poker play. I am following it and it is great fun. Perhaps if you follow a similar challenge you can comment on this article and update us on your bankroll management challenge progress.

By Malcolm Clarke

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Apr 29 2010

Part 2 – The Rules of Bankroll Management

Category: Poker strategy — malcolm @ 9:27 am

Note that the title says “A Solution” and not “THE Solution”. There are unlimited ways to manage your bankroll; even not following bankroll management at all is reckless bankroll management. Providing you are following the key rules then you are somewhere close to how you need to be operating your money. Even the softest poker room demands a bankroll management solution, note that this advice is relevant to online cash games and Online Sit and go poker tournaments.

Whilst I said in part 1 that there are no rules, I believe that the following four pointers are as close to rules as we can get in bankroll management. You can add your own ideas to these rules based on your own tolerance to gambling and ability to control your emotions. The key thing is to be honest with yourself and then your bankroll management plan will be very effective for you. These rules are as follows,

1. Only risk a small portion of your roll at any one time.
2. Never risk more than you can afford to lose.
3. Set a stop-loss and walk away if this is surpassed.
4. When you are winning, book the win!

Rule 1 – Risk only a Small Portion of your Roll

You should never risk more than a small portion of your bankroll at any one time. I use a thirty buy-in bankroll where the buy-in will be the maximum stack allowed at any table. Therefore, on a $2 NL table I need a $60 bankroll to be able to compete within my rules. On a $5 NL table I would need $150. You can go as high or as low as you wish but I would draw the line at anything less than ten buy-ins as this begins to get risky.

Most players have a twenty buy-in bankroll and move up limits to take a shot when their bankroll is large enough to buy-in fifteen times in the next level up in stakes. They also move down in limits and re-build if they reach less than fifteen buy-ins for the current level in which they are playing. Once you have a bankroll you should not re-deposit, the whole idea is that this money grows over time as you win, rather than consistently losing money and busting is less likely even on a bad run as you adjust stakes depending on how much money you have left.

Rule 2 – Risk Only What You Can Afford

As a one-off allocation of your net liquid worth I would suggest setting aside a conservative 10% of what you earn each month and no more. A profitable poker player must be able to win and starting with $2000 rather than $200 will not help you if you are a losing player, the money lost will be more. Gambling scares families who have your best interests at heart, being able to show them that you are responsible and acting prudently will help them adjust to your pursuit. With $200, if you win enough you will get to $2000 soon enough, be patient.

Never chase losses, never gamble more than you can afford to lose and always keep a perspective on the value of money and what else you need it for. Setting aside a bankroll sets you free from these constraints and is another reason why it is a great benefit to your poker game to manage your bankroll very carefully.

Rule 3 – Set a Stop Loss

Tilting when you are losing and playing “one more round of hands” to try and recoup what you have lost can make you feel anxious and desperate. You start calling in marginal situations where folding is best and not playing your best poker game. The poker gods know this is not the right way to play and you will suffer losses doing this apart from the rare occasions you get lucky. Many a bankroll has been lost by chasing what are rather marginal losses and getting caught in the vicious circle that is chasing losses. Most of the classic losing stories where casino players have lost everything in a matter of hours is due to chasing losses. Make sure you do not fall foul of this by setting and following a strict stop loss limit.

Combating this feeling is important to maintaining your bankroll. Set a stop loss for sessions that do not quite work out. I would recommend something like three buy-ins. Take a break if you reach this point and decide if you want to carry on or come back tomorrow. Poker is a long term game and chasing one buy-in will not be worth it when you are aiming to win many buy-ins over the year. Take a long term view and you will see maintaining your best game should help you win over time. Suffering a bad run or bad beat is just part of being a poker player.

Rule 4 – Book the Win

What we are aiming for is a healthy monthly withdrawal from our poker bankroll that bolsters and improves our lifestyle. Keeping a bankroll keeps your poker money and life money separate which should make life easier in many ways. Booking the win turns poker money into real money and you will immediately see the real term benefits from having won it and this feels very good. This should provide you will all the motivation you need to continue putting in the study, the hard work and managing your bankroll ready for next months withdrawal.

Bankroll management is like a safety valve for your poker; it keeps things in order and allows you to focus on controlling your emotions at the table and knowing you are able to play poker without worrying about busting. Taking small losses become less painful and are part of winning poker but you will not worry about them because you are in the top 5% of players who approach poker correctly by using proper bankroll management.

By Malcolm Clarke

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Feb 24 2010

Why I Love Bankroll Challenges

Category: Poker Blog — malcolm @ 9:03 pm

Bankroll challenges are the best thing you can do to play poker. Why? They teach you about far more than playing your hands and equip you with skills that you can use in every poker session for the rest of the time you play the game. First though, a newsflash…

It is true that when you play Texas Hold’em poker online you can lose a lot of money. Alert the sceptics! But is that a reason to run away if you enjoy playing? Certainly not! Bankroll challenges keep you playing the right way, controlling the risk and that (along with great skills) is part of playing winning poker and if you are prone to playing too high for your bankroll, then learning bankroll management is more important than squeezing out an extra 1 BB/100 right now for you.

My own bankroll challenge saw me start with $20 and using good bankroll management, I had to slowly build from the lowest cash games and tournaments to a more substantial bankroll. This has many benefits for my poker game.

Starting with a small bankroll makes you very aware of your chances of going bust and gives you a heightened perception of the value of that small bankroll. I do not like to lose, so busting hurts as much (in terms of the challenge) as if I busted a larger bankroll. Also, if my playing skills need work I would rather discover that nursing a $20 hole in my bankroll than a $2000 hole. If you are a new player I see playing from a small bankroll as an Apprenticeship you should serve to prove to yourself that you are able to beat online poker.

Some would argue, and on the whole I agree, that because you can win money from playing freerolls then working up through the micro stakes to larger games you should play from a small bankroll and learn patience. Even if Poker rooms prevented players from making any deposits some players (very skilled players admittedly) would still rise from the bottom and become a fantastic player with a large bankroll. I see it as a personal challenge to become good enough at Poker to do that.

There is also the personal satisfaction of completing a bankroll challenge. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson turned $0 into $10,000 as a challenge. Imagine the feeling knowing you have successfully turned nothing into $10,000! In what other area of enterprise can you do that, where nothing really means absolutely no money! From an achievement point of view being good at poker can have personal success benefits as well as earning you money. Money is not everything in poker; success is felt and enjoyed beyond the financial benefits of a poker challenge.

Perhaps you would like to do a bankroll challenge. You should start with a small bankroll and set yourself specific bankroll targets before you move up. You should always have one hundred buy-ins for the level of tournament and around twenty buy-ins for cash games. I like to take shots at higher levels of cash game if I reach fifteen buy-ins for that level but I move down if things do not work out. Moving down when things are not going well and moving up when things are going well is how losses are minimised and profits maximised. Do not be afraid to stop moving up if you feel you are getting uncomfortable with the amount of money at risk in pots. Everyone has their comfort zone; I have a friend who makes over $40,000 each year playing at levels under $1/$2. The profits are always there if you are good enough!

Enjoy your poker challenge and let me know how you get on! I’’ll be working hard on my challenge in the meantime!

By Malcolm Clarke

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Jan 27 2010

Risky Bankroll Management

Category: Poker strategy — malcolm @ 10:08 am

Never would I try and persuade people to manage their bankroll less than safely nor would I encourage or dissuade gambling of any kind, it is your choice. Personally I play Texas Holdem with a high regard for money and this allows me to stay in the game and minimise the pain when I lose because the participation in poker is at the limits I am comfortable playing. Whilst I minimise the gamble, many participate in poker in such a way that increases it.

For some players being dangerous with their bankroll is part of the fun. Phil Ivey was quoted recently saying that he enjoys the empty feeling of disaster when faced with a big loss. Phil is therefore happy to play a dangerous game with his money and has no fear of losing it. He does not get a buzz from low limit poker and plays as high as he can because only larger amounts of money mean anything to him due to his vast wealth.

Being conservative with your bankroll is recommended because it is easy to go on tilt and start chasing money. When I worked in the bookmaking Industry I watched people get into a series of losses then start chasing their losses making irresponsible wagers. Their bets got bigger as their losses got bigger, compounding the loss. Sometimes they won and were saved and other times they had to leave with a disproportionate loss.

There is nothing wrong with taking a shot at a higher game in poker. Many players do this within sensible bankroll management. Their normal amount of buy-ins for cash games may be thirty buy-ins and when they reach a point where they have twenty buy-ins for the next level they take a shot. If they lose they move back down and try to re-build and if they win they stay at the higher level until they can move up again or suffer losses dictating a drop. Their sensible approach is maintained by the moving up and down through the levels to remain safe.

Your income outside of poker should be a factor in how risky you are prepared to be with your bankroll. If you have $1000 and you can re-load that amount every month then you can be more inclined to gamble with it than a person to whom that $1000 is everything they have. Many players are prepared to risk $100 each month to try and run it up into something more. Providing this $100 is not required elsewhere then this is fine. Your own personal and professional circumstances will dictate what an acceptable amount of money to play poker is for you.

Note that risky bankroll management is not taking your last $215 and buying into a large poker tournament on a Sunday. That is not risky, just stupid. Risky bankroll management is anything whereby a normal swing in poker could result in going bust, for a winning player. This must be a conscious decision that you are truly at ease with if you play poker this way.

This article is relevant only for those who Play Texas Hold’em and are winning players. If you lose your money will be lost no matter how well you manage your bankroll. Poker players who ignore bankroll management can suffer a standard downswing and be ruined. Bankroll management is poker risk management and very important to staying in the game and allowing the downswings to run their course before returning to profit.

There is no reason, however, that if you wish to be slightly bolder with your bankroll that you cannot do this providing your circumstances allow and the reason for your wish to live dangerously is not just to satisfy a gambling urge. You should always keep the euphoria of gambling under control and make the right decisions for your poker game when relating to your bankroll.

By Malcolm Clarke

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