You’re in Control
Bankroll management sounds a little boring – more like admin than the thrilling competitive fun of the game of poker itself – but ask any professional player what the keys to long-term success are, and they’ll list it right at the top.
From staying in control of your finances to learning and improving with minimal expenditure, knowing how to set and wield your poker bankroll is pivotal.
New players can benefit from some simple general rules, and experienced ones – even pros – will never outgrow the need to plan the stakes and games they play according to their bankroll, to maximize profits and keep a buy-in buffer in a mind sport combining short-term luck and long-term skill.
Separate Your Poker Bankroll
At New Wave Poker, we take responsible gaming seriously. We want to keep poker a fun, competitive pastime for adults, with multiple safeguards in place. But every player individually can help themselves stay in control right from the start.
As a new player, you don’t want to realise that you are playing at too high a level only after you’ve lost more than you intended. Rule #1 is therefore: never play with money you can’t afford to lose.
Your regular budget outside what’s ringfenced for poker should always be kept separate. Think of poker bankroll initially as an entertainment fund. How much would you budget monthly for other hobbies? Poker is at its heart a betting game, and whether you’re playing for pennies or high stakes, the buy-ins for tournaments and cash games add up.
Crucially, playing within your financial comfort zone is not only good for your wallet, but your mindset at the tables. No one makes their best decisions when they feel out of their depth or that they’re playing with ‘scared money’.
Consider Your Buy-Ins and Ride Variance in Comfort
This is especially pertinent if you are trying to build your bankroll and move up stakes, putting more time and energy into learning the intricacies of the game.
A comfortable poker bankroll covers 20-50 buy-ins at the cash game level you want to play, or 50-100 buy-ins for tournaments. So, if you are playing $5 tournaments, that’s a total bankroll of $100-$500; at $0.25/$0.50 cash (buy-in $50), around $1,000 to $2,500.
Why so much? You need to be able to ride the variance of poker – the difference between the results you expect statistically and the actual results dependent on what pops out of a randomised deck – to really feel comfortable at the tables. Your bankroll needs to sustain the natural swings that happen in poker.
Importantly for improvers, being able to accurately gauge how well you’re performing at any buy-in level requires time (hands/table hours played) – give yourself that time without pressure by being properly funded for your games.
Don’t Chase Losses
No one is a robot but trying to remain dispassionate when a run of bad luck happens (and it will) is important when aiming to take the game more seriously. Part of this involves resisting the urge to play higher stakes after a bad run – it might seem like a quick fix for a depleted bankroll, but it is more likely to create anxiety and hit it even harder when the natural swings occur.
Learn and Improve Efficiently
Practise makes perfect, but it doesn’t need to be expensive.
The game’s rules are the same regardless of level, so learn the ropes at the small stakes – $0.05/$0.10 cash games or $5 tournaments. Even if you can budget higher, it doesn’t make sense to pay more for tuition!
New Wave Poker also offers daily freeroll tournaments awarding tickets to major real-money tournaments – a great way to practise for free and test the waters in bigger events.
Once you’re comfortable in a game (and properly bankrolled!) consider dropping stakes and increasing the number of tables you play. For example, instead of one cash table with a $50 buy-in, try two with a $25 buy-in. You will be using the same proportion of your bankroll, but seeing twice as many hands, building up your table-hours twice as fast and ironing out the peaks and troughs of variance sooner.
Moving Up, Moving Down
There’s no reason not to move up stakes when you’ve built your bankroll with consistent winning over time. The skill level of your competitors will rise as the buy-ins do, but ‘taking a shot’ with a percentage of your bankroll at a bigger game is not a no-no – as long as your total poker funds can accommodate it.
There’s no shame in reducing stakes either, if a downswing or move-up has dented your poker funds. The higher levels aren’t going anywhere, and if you can practise discipline in bankroll management, it’s a good sign that you’ll be able to do it at the tables!
