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The Importance of Bankroll Management
One of the most important aspects of being a successful poker player, (apart
from being good at poker obviously), is having good bankroll management skills.
This part of poker is largely over-looked by a lot of poker players, and the
simple fact is, if you are good at poker, then there is a higher chance that you
will not be as successful as you could be unless you take care to play in the
correct games.
So what are the guidelines for good bankroll
management?
Personally, as a guide I only like to play with 5% of my
bankroll at any time. This rule applies to both cash and tournaments. (You will
find from most other players that 5% is the normal amount, some however are even
stricter and use a 2% or even 1% rule!).
Cash Games:
If you are playing $0.05/$0.10 NL cash games, then
you want to have at least $10 (100 x Big Blind) on the table. This means that
you must have about $200 (20 x $10) in your bankroll if you follow the 5%
rule.
Tournaments:
With a bankroll of $200, this will allow you to play
in $10 tournaments.
Whats the point in being so strict with the
bankroll?
Well this is an easy answer! If you have $200 in your
bankroll, you could obviously play in a $200 tournament. But if you get knocked
out without making the money, then boom, your down to $0. If however, you only
play in the $10 tournaments with a $200 bankroll, it will be quite hard to go to
$0 because you would in effect, have to lose 20 (or more) games in a row!
When to move up/down the stakes?
Just stick to the
percentages as a guide for which games to play at! If you are playing
tournaments, then usually, the next level up from $10 is $20. So going on the 5%
rule, this means you can comfortably move up once you have got to $400.
The 5% rule works a treat for making sure you don’t go broke aswell. If your
bankroll happens to drop from $200 to $100, then just move down to the $5 games
until you get back to $200. (It is VERY important to stick to this rule because
if you do lose half the bankroll in the current level, then chances are, you
might not be ready for that level).
This ‘5% rule’ just makes playing poker boring!
I’ll
answer that statement with a question:
Maybe it does, but what is more satisfying, having a steadily growing
bankroll or just going broke all the time?
Poker success is determined on how much you have won/loss over
periods of months/years, not hours.
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