Proper bankroll management is extremely easy to understand, but it can often be a challenge to follow. The inability to properly manage a bankroll has been the downfall of countless players. Players who do not adhere to bankroll management are very likely to go broke. Players who do adhere to bankroll management are able to effectively work their way through the limits. It is easy to follow if you have the discipline. If you plan on making any progress in poker you need to understand bankroll management and be willing to devote yourself to following it. This is especially true for mixed poker variants such as H.O.R.S.E, 7-Game Mix and 8-Game Mix.
How to manage your bankroll
The first step is to decide how much money you have available to play with. The second step is determining what limits you can compete at. It doesn’t mean you should play 50/100 just because you have a million dollars. Sure, you could play 50/100, but you should be prepared to lose it all if you can’t even beat 2/4. The amount of money is nothing more than your capital. If you are starting a business, which you essentially are when you begin playing poker for profit, you will see how much money you have available and decide how it can best be put to use. Pretend that you have $2,000 available to play poker with. Are you a new online poker player? Moderately advanced? When you can decide where you are at as far as skills go you can then decide what you need for your bankroll. No use in playing with a bankroll fit for a 2/4 player if you are going to be playing .50/1. Cater to your needs and what will make you feel safe.
You should always maintain a bankroll that allows you to play with a strong level of comfort. It can become very difficult to play your best when you are nervous. You may have heard the phrase, “Scared money doesn’t make money”; this is true in business and poker. It isn’t too difficult to pick out the players at a table who are playing with scared money. These scared players will often limp into hands or only call down with hands that they should be raising with. A big reason that players play scared is because they don’t have the bankroll available where they can take chances.
Maybe your situation is opposite of this, you might have enough money for a .50/1 bankroll but can beat 2/4. If this is the case you have a few options. You can either play .50/1 and work your way up to 2/4, or you can try and obtain a stake. Working your way through the limits will be much more time consuming, but in the end may very well net you greater profits. If you are able to land a stake for 2/4 you will be giving a large portion of your winnings back to the person who is staking you. In my experience it is better to build your own bankroll than to play with someone else’s. Not only is building a bankroll a rewarding experience, but it will assure you that you can beat the limits you are at. It would be a disaster if you were playing on a stake and proceeded to lose all of the money. It really is up to the player, whichever scenario best suits that player is the best choice. There is no rule written in stone that says players must play with their own bankroll or that they must play on a stake. As with all things in poker, bankrolls are situation dependent.