Money Management
Apart from mastering the game one of the most difficult aspects and certainly a grey area is money management, on this page I hope to dismiss some of the myths and hopefully save some of you some of your hard earned cash.
The first and most important part of money management is to understand what a Bank Roll is and how to protect it. Playing poker is very similar to stock investing, the difference is that with poker you are taking a risk every time a card is turned. Now if your smart and want to invest on the stock market you would use spreads, meaning you wouldn't put ALL your eggs in one basket, you would probably spread your investment over several companies to make an overall profit. You need to do the same with your bankroll.
The DON'Ts
- Risk everything in one game, instead play with only 10% max of your bankroll
- Move into higher stakes when you are doing well at your current level
- Play under the influence of alcohol, boredom or when you're emotional
The DOs
- Carry on playing if you're winning at a table
- Be patient, the cards will come
- Play at a level you are comfortable with
Working out your Bank Roll
There are two schools of thought on this subject. One will apply to you.
- If your serious about playing poker as a source of second income then you will need an initial bankroll, this should be a sizeable amount to begin with, one way to do this is to save up for a month or two, another way is to “Loan” from your savings and pay back in a percentage of your winnings, say 10% per month. DON'T max your credit card or you will find that your winnings (If any) will be paying the interest alone and you could end up in serious debt, you should NEVER use money you cannot afford to lose.
- Hobby Play, you may enjoy playing poker but don't want to get too serious, this doesn't mean you can't win just as much, a lot of people have “Extra” money each month that is basically fun money, let's say for example you have £200 a month spare, then you should still follow the rule of playing just 10% of your money at anyone time ie £20.00 whether this is per tournament, per ring game per day. As your bankroll increases – say you are up to £400.00 then you can play in the £40.00 tournaments or take £40.00 to a ring game. DO NOT think because you have more money that you should go into the higher stakes games, as I said earlier stick to what your good at.
One problem that is common amongst new players to the game is that they either start with too little a bank roll or don't consider one at all. One of the best ways to get a good start is to invest your initial money into several poker rooms (Online) that offer a deposit bonus, see our free poker cash section. If they are offering a large deposit offer then take advantage of it, don't put in the minimum and then find yourself putting more money in 3 days later without receiving a bonus. My recommendation is that you load up as much as possible on your first deposit and earn a good bonus. One of the problems with deposit bonuses people chase sites offering deals, most pros play at only 4 poker sites and do not chase deposit bonuses, its much easier to play in a few “known” tables at sites and make money from weak players, a few of the tables I play at and certainly tournaments there are people I know and have played with for quite sometime, I can make a lot more money on a table where I know how 3 or 4 people play than I can wading into a new room full of strangers. I even have a list of “Fish” that are players who I consider my personal ATM machines. I also know when not to sit down at a table because there are 3 or 4 strong players on there. Also the advantage of being a member of several sites I can always find the action that suits me rather than having to sit at a table I don't normally play at.
Managing Bank Roll
What you have to remember is that your bankroll should grow, okay it will go down now and then, but if you play sensibly you will make money. Don't cream everything off your bankroll but still remember to spend some on yourself, if I have a successful month I treat myself to something I want or need, sometimes it's something extravagant like a wine cooler, sometimes it's the wine to go in it J Sometimes I just buy a nice bottle of scotch to drink when I am not playing.
Further Discussion
I hope you have found this useful, by NO means is this a complete guide but more of an introduction, for further discussion, your views join our forum and post your comments, all feedback is welcome
