Keep your poker play up to scratch with these handy money management tips!

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To be a really great poker player you need to have more than just incredible skills at the table. To truly be a winner in the long run you also need to make good decisions when you’re not at the tables, have excellent control over your emotions, and -most importantly- have tight control over your poker bankroll management.

So what does the term “bankroll” really mean in the world of poker? Basically, a poker player’s bankroll is the amount of money that they have set aside just to play poker. The idea is to not have to use the money you’ve designated to be used for living expenses. Professional poker players know that they need to have funds set aside for at least six months worth of living expenses.

Things become troublesome when players dip into their living expenses to fund their poker. After all, there is always an element of luck and even skilled poker players that can count cards can still easily loose 10 buy-ins in a row. However, if you’ve set aside a bankroll that is divided into 20 buy-ins (more about the specifics shortly) you should be able to bounce back.

Yes, it can be hard to avoid the temptation of dipping into the money you need for food, rent, transportation, Cable/WiFi and other essentials but playing out of your depth can be dangerous. By having a set bankroll that you break up into 20 seperate buy-ins -and you adjustthe stakes- you can keep your head above water for years.

Poker Bankroll Tips and Practices

So, when it comes to money management poker players need to first put aside the funds that they can play with, meaning that this isn’t moneyb that they need for taking care of themselves and their families. So, let’s say that you’ve been able to save and you have $8,000 dollars worth of discretionary income.

With this bankroll you can buy-in with 400 dollars twenty separate times in $2/$4 no Limits Hold’em. Why twenty buy-ins? Well, without getting into the nitty-gritty of how the statistics worth, let’s just say that this is a mathematically sound number that will provide a cushion for all the hands you end up losiong (and, once again, even the best poker players lose) while also giving you plenty of chances to not only recoup your losses, but end up winning. After all, what’s the point of managing your money wisely if yoyu’rem playing poker if not to win?

You don’t need $8,000 dollars to bankroll either. Even if you only have $200 to play with you can still play 5c/10c No Limits Hold’em with twenty buy-ins at 10 dollars a pop. If you have $500 in your bank roll, that’s twenty buy-ins at $25 each. It’s not just Hold’em cash games either; the same money managent and bankroll tips apply to Sit and Go tournament play too, although in his case you ought to divide your bank roll ibnto 40 buyu-ins instead of 20.

More Money Management Tips: Moving the Limit

unless you’ve done quite well professionally, chances are that you won’t have thousands of dollars to start with in your bank roll. So start of with a few hundred. Then, if you’ve been playing smart and winning at the tables, you can slide your bankroll level up a few hundred more dollars and play higher stakes games. Sure, you might end up losing but it’s not the end of the world: simply slide back down to where you were—you’re still bankrolled for 20 buy-ins and you still have money for rent, food, and family.

Trust us: wherever your poker bankroll is at money wise, it’s 20 buy-ins for hold’em games online and 40 buy-ins for Sit and Go tournament.