Bankroll management is one of the most important aspects of the poker game, be it face to face or online. If you either want to become a great player, get in tournaments, or just play for fun, you have to establish some proper poker bankroll management principles.
Poker is mainly a game of chance, but also skills and knowledge. Besides all that, a great player needs discipline and the ability to manage their money.
In fact, discipline and determination are extremely important, and even though a player knows how to manage his bankroll, they have to do it properly.
For a start, what is poker bankroll management? As we mentioned before, it has the purpose of actually protecting the player. This means to have maximum amounts of money you would want to invest. In this way, even if you hit a bad day, you can still keep enough money for living expenses.
All poker players have been there, but the ability to properly manage finances will get you through any bad day. Also, if you know how to handle these situations, keep calm, and watch your finances, you can avoid going all in to gain back any important amount you may have lost.
Why is it so important to have proper bankroll management in poker? For sure, we want to be protected, and this type of management lets you know which are the maximum amounts to invest in the cash games, or in tournament poker. Using this thinking, you will avoid bankruptcy.
If you are an avid player, or just beginning to scratch the surface, you have to know some important rules, especially if you play online. There are plenty of tournaments and online poker activities, like those offered by Unibet Online Poker Canada.
Here are some important tips regarding bankroll management, as they are gathered from poker experts:
- Divide the personal and the poker finance, and don’t mix them, under any circumstances. Poker isn’t anything but a business, and that is how you should see it. The everyday cash is out of the discussion when playing poker.
- Always play within your bankroll. Just stick to the usual stakes. To highlight it even more: Never play outside your bankroll.
- Never ever play for more money than you can afford to lose. This means that, even if you are within the bankroll, you shouldn’t put it all on the table in a single hand.
- Treat the poker bankroll like an investment. Think of it like investing in the stock market and act accordingly when waging the bets.
- Don’t withdraw money from the bankroll unless needed to cover living expenses. If you added the money there, keep them to move up the stakes.
- Drop down in stakes if that helps regain confidence. Betting with confidence is always better than just betting high.
- Don’t take risks by playing games without knowing your edge; instead, select the game carefully when you are first getting started.
- Don’t monitor your poker balance. This is because, if you play within your bankroll, it means you are safe and you don’t need to do micro-management on the poker account. There will be times when the balance will go down, and your spirits will most likely do the same.
- Be aware of your goals while playing poker. Is it for recreational purposes, are you being serious, or jumping to pro? Depending on which is your goal, you know how much to expect in terms of earning money also.
- Treat poker as a serious thing it is. Avoid mistakes at any costs, limit distractions, and don’t play out of boredom.
Bottom line, as a poker player, you have to be responsible and see the bankroll management like this: It you were to lose your entire bankroll, you still have to be able to pay rent, afford bills, and sustain yourself with the rest of your money.