Poker Bankroll Management

Written by Gary Steele - Programmer of The Edge - www.TheEdgePoker.com
Poker Software for Tracking Opponent’s Statistics

One of the biggest problems I have had personally is bankroll management. I can’t tell you how many techniques I tried over the first year of online poker play. Every one of those techniques failed and every site ultimately took my entire roll. What I have finally discovered is that only one technique works and every good poker player has already mastered the skill, most have just not applied it to their bankroll yet.

The technique which makes the most sense is one which will ultimately fail. I started small with a $50 stake at a .50 cent table. As I won and increased my bankroll to $100, I also increased the limit I was playing at to $1. Unbelievably, I kept this up until I had a $1500 roll playing at $15 tables. It was at this point I went on my inevitable run of bad cards, and this run lasted a week. It is not hard to lose $1500 very quickly when you are unlucky and playing at the wrong limits. Within a month it was all gone, and I was very unhappy. I swore off poker for good. I blamed the site for dealing unfairly. I told my bad beat stories on all of the message boards. I captivated my friends with stories of fortunes won and lost (recognize any of this?).

If you have been playing poker for more than two months you know there are going to be long stretches where you cannot win a good hand. It doesn’t matter how good you are, or what software you use; there will be a time when everyone calls your bluffs and someone has trips every time you get two pair. If you are playing at the lower limit of your bankroll, these stretches will break you.

I consider the lower limit of your bankroll to be 100 times the total big blind of the tables you are playing. Only if you have $100 total should you consider playing at one (1) one dollar table or two fifty cent tables at the same time. Notice I said this is the lower limit of your bankroll. Playing with this bankroll strategy is what cost me my first $1500 of winnings and I hear similar stories all the time.

The secret to keeping your money is patience and, like I said before, all good poker players already possess this skill. Good bankroll management for online poker is around 200 times the big blinds of the tables you are playing. This means if you have a $400 bankroll you should consider playing at a $2 table or two $1 tables. Do not think of this strategy as limiting your winnings, think of it as limiting your losses. If you are good enough to beat the game then you are going to continue to win at the lower limit table and continue to increase your bankroll. If you go on the run of bad cards I mentioned above, you do not sacrifice your entire roll in the process.

If you are still reading I guess you don’t think I am completely full of it, so let me give an example (maybe not very realistic, but hopefully informative) of why playing with this strategy is important. Let’s assume a 27 day stretch where you win 10 times the big blind every day for three weeks, then lose 20 times the big blind for 1 week. Here is the outcome for playing with a bankroll 100 times the size of the small blind.

100 times the big blind

What you need to notice is Not your $20 profit after 27 days; you need to realize how much you lost. In the last week your bankroll lost $300, over 70% of your largest bankroll ($420). I don’t know about you, but losing that much of my hard earned money is really depressing, no matter how long you play this game. Now let’s look at a bankroll played at 200 times the big blind over the same period.

200 times the big blind

In this scenario you have only lost $70, or around 35% of your largest bankroll, which is the main thing I want you to notice. You also end up with a little extra money at the end, but not enough to write home about. By playing with patience you do not have the huge, heart wrenching swings you have when you play too aggressively. Plus, while it is always nice to make a profit, I also just enjoy playing the game. With this strategy my bankroll will last a lot longer, meaning I will have more fun in the long run.

Two last notes on bankroll management:

1. Set an amount you want to win and cash it in when you get to that point. I am not saying cash your entire bankroll, but if you deposit $100 tell yourself, “when I reach $250 I am taking my $100 back out.” When you do this, no matter how bad things get you will never lose. At the worst, you come out even in the end;
2. The cardinal rule of all gambling: Never gamble more than you can afford to lose. If the $100 you are depositing means your kids won’t eat for a week then don’t do it. It is not worth it. Instead, save $20 a week and wait until next month. In the meantime you can concentrate on improving your skills through practice and research.