Tips to Better Manage Your Poker Bankroll

A poker player learns how to create and keep a proper bankroll over his years of playing. But, here we want to share our thoughts on what we have learned over our years on how to improve your poker bankroll management.

First, remember that going broke is not the end of the world. There have been many broke poker players over the years that managed to return and make it in the world of poker. Today it’s even easier to avoid going broke with all of those free poker bankrolls and poker guides on the internet.

 

The Right Bankroll

The right bankroll for poker is the bankroll that you can afford to lose without dipping into other funds and ultimately ruin your and your family’s finances and life. This means that the bankroll you decide on is only for poker, and the rest of your money that you earn professionally are for everything else.

If you can afford $1000 bankroll this month, and decide to borrow $500 from it for other things and make it up the next month, you don’t have $1000 to play poker – you have $500. It’s the same with your other non-poker money. Don’t borrow from it to boost your poker game and vice-versa don’t borrow from your poker bankroll to pay bills or something. If you can’t afford the money, you won’t be able to play optimally and would be intimidated to play.

When you establish and adhere the rule mentioned above, you guaranteed to be on the route to your A-game. But, consider this as well: if you lose the bankroll, will you be able to reload it? Do you have a steady source of income to replenish your loses (which you have decided that you can afford to lose)?

 

Choosing Your Poker Game

A poker bankroll management ultimately chooses the game you can (afford to) play. By game we mean your tolerance for swings, playing style, game format. For example, if you prefer no-limit Hold’em (short-handed), you can easily play with a smaller bankroll. But, if you prefer pot-limit Omaha cash game, you will need to have a bigger bankroll to account for the wider swings.

 

The Comfort Zone

By properly managing your bankroll you create yourself a comfort zone, which alerts you if you are overdoing it. If you start playing at a higher limit and you feel out of your comfort zone, you tend to get nervous, which then leads to poor decisions and less and less joy from playing poker. A poker player that is competent in managing his bankroll properly plays only within the limits that make up his comfort zone.

 

Summary

There is no guarantee that you won’t experience times of losing streaks. But, sticking to the rules for poker bankroll management, you enable yourself to survive all the swings that come with poker playing. Stay confident, and the profits will come.