Managing Your Poker Bankroll

This article is complementary to one of my previous article entitled Responsible Poker and Planning. I strongly urge you to read first as I will refer to it throughout this article.

From Poker Hobby to Poker Profits

When we first start playing poker, we usually just play for fun once in a while. We play online or with friends in home games, and we’re not that concern about money, and we tend to play low stake games when ever we feel like it. In essence, we play for the pleasure of playing. Some of us however do develop a passion for poker and realize that if we play our cards right, we can actually profit from poker. In fact, it can be so lucrative that some people quit their day jobs to play poker full time.

Establishing Your First Poker Brankroll

A lot of individuals will advise you to establish your bankroll based on the blind amount. For example, they’ll advise you that your bankroll should be 100 times the big blind for Limit Texas Hold’em and 300 times the big blind for No Limit Hold’em. I’m personally not fond of those guidelines and I prefer to manage my gambling fund differently. I’d be happy to share my method with you as it has proven to be quite effective for me.

When playing poker becomes a regular activity in your schedule and when your ultimate goal is to make money from it, then you need to avoid the mistakes a lot of people make. People can go broke by playing poker. Actually, that’s not exactly true. People go broke because they fail to manage their money correctly. I’d like to make a few suggestions that can help you manage your poker fund and ensure that you, the player, remain in control of the game at all times while being able to enjoy it for a lifetime.

For the purpose of this article, I will assume that you have a day job and you’re not ready to quit it just yet, but you’re also serious about poker. Previously, I wrote about a simple method to avoid a poker addiction which consisted of establishing a poker budget, establishing a goal and a plan, and sticking to it no matter what the outcome of your gambling was. While I think this is good advice for the average player, if you are investing a lot of dollars in poker (relative to your income of course), then you need to know a bit more details.

How Much is Your Poker Fund?

Now, the first question you’ll want to ask yourself is how much money you want to put into poker and gambling. The answer will obviously vary from person to person, but essentially there are two things you need to consider to make this decision.

First, consider your income vs your commitments. Commitments are not limited to your bank loans and mortgages, utility bills and credit card bills. Consider all expenses which are critical, such as costs associated with family, to send a child to college for example. Consider expenses for other hobbies, or your children’s hobbies. Now, subtract all expenses you’ll incur in a year from your net annual income. This is the amount you can consider dedicating to poker.

The second point is that you must acknowledge and accept that you may loose that entire amount. I certainly hope this will not happen to you, but it’s a reality you must accept.

As long as you respect the formula above to determine your potential poker fund, and as long as you accept to potentially loose that money, you’ll never go broke. Keep in mind that you will need to regularly re-evaluate your financial situations. Things change over time. You may get a promotion, or plan to buy a new car. That could mean changes in your gambling fund.

Now that you have determined your annual poker amount, break it down into a monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly cycle, as indicated in the “Responsible Poker and Planning” article. As outlined then, establish your plan for one cycle period, meaning figuring out how much you put in, and establishing an objective for the cycle period.

Minimize Gambling Losses by Playing Various Poker Games

If you are investing considerable amounts in poker (relative to your income), treat it like an investment. It’s just like purchasing mutual funds from your investment advisor. First, to minimize risk, don’t put all your eggs in the same basket. In other words, if you determined that your budget for the gambling cycle is $1000, then don’t blow it all in one cash game. Break it down and set some aside for cash games. It can be Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Stud Poker, or anything else you enjoy. It doesn’t matter as long as you play your strengths. If you suck at Omaha, then don’t invest too much in it until you sharpen your skills a bit more. Don’t just stick with cash games, try out tournaments an other variations that you enjoy. Ultimately, it will be harder to earn winnings in tournaments as opposed to a 6 person cash game, but when you do succeed, the returns will be greater.

How do you balance the games? Well, that depends on your strengths and weaknesses, and also on your gambling objective as outlined by your plan. If your goals are fairly demanding, then you’ll have to be aggressive to achieve them. If your goals are moderate, then you can be more conservative in your mix and in your play style. Don’t forget to revise your gambling plan regularly. Give it a fair chance, but if it doesn’t work out, review the objectives as well as your game mix, and make some adjustments.

Keep Records of your Poker Winnings and Losses

The last thing you should to is maintain a detailed log of your gambling activity for each of your gambling cycles. That means identifying how you broke down your total amount for the cycle so x dollars in cash games, x dollars in tournaments, etc. Also, the log should specify the tournament details (game type, entry fee, number of people registered, prize pool, prize allocation, which poker room you were playing, blind structure and times). This is important because in the long run you’ll have a history at the kinds of games you are successful at and the kinds your not. This log should therefore track all gains and losses for each gambling activity. This information can then be utilized when reviewing your overall gambling plan.

Remember to call it quits when you reach your objective for a specific gambling cycle, or when you run out of cash for the cycle. If you follow this practice, and recognize and respect the limits established in the plan, you’ll be able to enjoy poker for the rest of your life without having to be concerned about playing above your means. If you also plan to play poker in person at casinos, factor in the related expenses in your plan.

I hope this helps you out, and I wish you success with poker. If you like this article and would like to support this site, please consider registering to one of our sponsored poker rooms. Thank you!