Bankroll Management

Poker is about money, and money is the tool that we use to play this game. The more money we have to play poker with, the more options we have to approach the game. As with any skill, practice and commitment will make you better, but a deeper understanding of the game is needed to appreciate proper bankroll management.

Every time you sit down to play a game, you are either managing your bankroll correctly, or mismanaging it and leaving yourself open to some unforeseen results. The main focus on bankroll management is that you should never risk a significant portion (5 to 10%) of your current bankroll in any one game. This means that if I have a bankroll of about 50k, it would be foolish of me to risk any more then $2,500 to $5,000 in one session. This is also a good way of dealing with the emotional swings of poker: if you lose your 10%, it's time to call it a night. For you No Limit and Pot Limit Hold'em or Omaha players out there, here's something else to consider: You sit down at a No Limit game with the proper 5% of your bankroll - say it's $100, with your full bankroll being $2,000. You go on a nice run, and end up taking down a $600 pot after a few hours of play. Now you are feeling great about your play, and since you are only in the game for $100, it's hard to find a reason to leave, but I will give you one. If you realize that the $600 pot you took down now represents 24% of your bankroll ($600/ $2,500), then you must also realize you are risking too much on what could potentially be one hand of play. There's nothing wrong with getting up from a game and sitting back down in another one with your initial $100; but it would be a very big mistake to continue playing on your $600 stack.

So that's what bankroll management's about, but how do you go about building a bankroll in the first place? Slowly! One mistake I see from players of all ages is that they try to make poker a faster game than it is. They want to be the best, rifling through different limits as their bankroll fluctuates, but almost always, they end back at square $0. Poker is a game of variance, and to be able to deal with these normal swings we must focus on our management of our money; one thing we have complete control of.

Another thing I want to point out is that if you have an income outside of poker, you may approach bankroll management in a different way, as you are able to add to your bankroll if variance goes south, in contrast with a fulltime poker player, who will only recoup lost money through winning sessions.

So take it slow; enjoy this wonderful game of logic, math, and psychology, and it will be easier to avoid the negative effects of losing all of your poker money!

Brett Jungblut