A Beginners Guide To Poker Bankroll Management

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

      

        Fancy giving this a go? Visit Tru Grinderz today to find the best poker sign up deals available!