A Beginners Guide To Poker Bankroll Management:
So you have signed up to Tru Grinderz, downloaded your poker client software, deposited for instance $100 as
your first deposit and gained your welcome bonus equal to that amount with your
chosen poker room (if you haven't here is a guide to the best signup deals)
. The first thing to note is that your bonus does not belong
to you until you have earned it. The bonus will be released to you either gradually
or in larger lump sums dependent on you earing what the sites call player
points. To do so requires a moderate amount of real money play on the site.
Now as tempting as it is, DO NOT BUYIN TO A CASH GAME OR TOURNAMENT
FOR $100, $50, $25 or EVEN $10. We cannot stress the importance of this
enough to you. Even if you have moderate poker experience this is how many fish
and even some proficient players go broke. You may have the session of a
lifetime and triple your money, but more likely you will lose. You have $100 in
your account, the sharks around your table that have been waiting for people
like you to join their game. They will more than likely have $2000+ in theirs. If you
beat them in a pot for $50, great you have increased your capital by 50%, but
they probably have auto rebuy on, and will keep pushing you until you break.
That’s just what they do!
In order to give yourself the best
chance of success, you need to develop discipline and a business-like approach
to playing online poker. Part of this is patience, not just to wait for the
right spots to get your money into the pot in a cash game session, but the patience
not to move up in stakes until you can afford it. If you follow these steps,
you won’t have to deposit another penny into your poker account. Your money
will grow, and you will have the satisfaction of being a winner. Notice I said
satisfaction, this is something that is earned in poker. If you under roll
yourself and start to win at higher stakes than you can't afford, you are putting
yourself in a dangerous place. There is no room for ego if you are serious
about becoming a winner at poker.
Apply what we show you here, and your
progress in this game will follow a steady curve of improvement. I am going to
suggest to you to follow the guidelines laid out below very strictly. It will
have the added benefit of keeping you playing poker, earning more player points
long run and ultimately unlocking your bonus. It may seem a little conservative
at first but give it a go.
Limit
|
Buyin (based on maximum 100 Big
Blinds)
|
Required Minimum Bankroll based on
20 buyins
|
$2 NL (SB $0.01 BB $0.02)
|
$2
|
$40
|
$5 NL (SB $0.02 BB $0.05)
|
$5
|
$100
|
$10 NL (SB $0.05 BB $0.1)
|
$10
|
$200
|
$25 NL (SB $0.1 BB $0.25)
|
$25
|
$500
|
$50 NL (SB $0.25 BB $0.50
|
$50
|
$1000
|
Now as you can see above, even if you
were to play $10nl, or $10 buyin games, you are not leaving yourself much scope
to either improve or tolerate a losing session. You could quite feasibly lose 5
buyins within a couple of hours of unlucky play wiping out half of your
bankroll.
Tru Grinderz would recommend starting
at $2NL even with $100 in the account. This gives you 50 buyins, you’re not
going to play like Phil Ivey for some time so get used to it. The $2NL level
will take a while to beat, but it will allow you to sharpen your skills. You
will be playing a level that will be flooded with losers, other beginners and
fish. We recommend that you leave a table as soon as your stack represents 3
buyins or more, and leave if you bust. If you follow this guideline, your wins
at $2nl will earn you $4 profit whilst your losses will only cost you $2.
You are going to need to play tight
and aggressive, and value bet every time you sniff that you have the best hand.
As a beginner we advise that you start off only with 9 handed games, even at
micro stakes the 6 handed games are too wild and loose for you until you feel
that you can cope with higher aggression and the wider hand ranges required for
6-Max games. Get into the habit of playing over rolled. The minimum requirement
is to have 20 buyins at any level, but the more you have the better. There is
good reason for this, not only does it mean that each buyin poses less risk to
your bankroll, it means that you can detach the worries of risking money and
concentrate on playing good poker.
Before you move up to $5 NL aim to
reach $150. This means that you are going to have to win equivalent to 25 $2
buyins at the starting level first. If you can achieve this you can move up a
level with the added knowledge that you have truly beaten the level below. When
moving up, take a shot and try a couple of sessions at the higher stake, but
mix your play between your current level and the higher one. When you feel that
you are not necessarily winning big, but not losing concentrate your play on
this level. Most importantly, if you feel it slipping and get pushed back towards
20 buyins, move down before you risk your precious bankroll.
The world of poker should be
visualised as a pyramid, imagine a great Egyptian pyramid with steps all the
way up. The Bottom steps are where the majority of players fit in, these are
like your micro levels that you will be playing, as you take each step closer
to the top, there are less and less players that have the ability to sustain
themselves at each increasing level. This is why at the nosebleed stakes, you
only tend to get top pros buying in for upwards of $100,000 a game.
If you follow this approach to each
level that you reach, you will progress at poker and start to earn some
respectable money within even 3-6 months. The key is to keep treating your
bankroll as a business. Like any business, the value will increase for consistent,
good performance. There is an old saying “Don’t put all of your eggs in one
basket”, well by playing only a small percentage of our capital we most
certainly aren’t.
A summary of key points for bankroll management:
·
Try to
buyin to games for 5% or less than your bankroll (have at least 20 buyins)
·
Leave
the table if your stack becomes 3 buyins or larger ( Do risk your profit)
·
Leave
the table if you bust out after your 1 buyin (avoid tilt and chasing your
losses)
·
Try to
Over roll yourself
·
Treat Your
Bankroll as a business
·
Judge
whether you are ready for the next level by taking test shots
