For those of you who are new to poker, a bankroll is the money that you specifically set aside for playing poker. When you are playing poker, it is vital you know how to manage your bankroll, as it will help you play the game better and win more often.
It is a fact that more than 90% of online poker players lose money in the long run. To a certain extent, the rake is responsible for this, and there is not too much you can do about it. However, managing your bankroll wisely is something you can do, and by doing so you will ensure you do not lose more money than you absolutely have to.
All too often people log onto an online casino, load up chips with their credit card, and begin to play. The fact that there are thousands of people playing in such a fashion means that there is a lot of dead money floating around. Casinos as well as experienced players get to make a lot of money at the expense of the hapless newbie by exploiting this loop. Knowing how to manage your bankroll well enables you to steer clear of things like this.
The most important rule when it comes to managing your bankroll: Never play with scared money. Scared money is the casino term for money that you would normally set aside to pay for the rent, food, or any of the other necessities of your life. Playing with such money can have disastrous effects. Besides, the psychological stress arising from such a situation can affect your game. If you love playing poker, set aside some money for it and play the game only with that money.
The second rule is to let your bankroll determine the stakes you wish to play for. Make sure your initial bankroll is always an amount that will not make you cry if you lose. This strategy ensures you are never wiped out totally in the event you lose. When it comes to gambling, greed can be the cause of a player's fall; do not let it overcome you.
Now, let us take a look at the kind of stakes you can play based on your bankroll. If you are playing with a bankroll of $200 or less you should ideally be playing for a $.5 to 1.00 limit. How much you play also depends on your attitude to the game. You could also try your hand at $5 sit-and-go tournaments, provided they have reasonable entry fees.
For instance, a $1 fee for a $5 game equates to a 20% entry fee, which is nothing short of absurd. So is there a standard minimum amount to start a game of poker with? Ideally speaking, you should have a minimum of $150 to play poker. This figure will let you play some bad hands and still have money to survive to play other hands where you might fare better.
If you are playing in the $500-$900 range you can start with the $.50-1.00 range and when you have got the feel of it, graduate to $1.00-2.00 games. You can also try your hand at $10 SNGs. These games will let you gain experience without you having to risk a lot of money and you also get the chance to win reasonable amounts of money.
When you have played for a couple of weeks with the smaller bankrolls and feel confident to start with a $1000 bankroll, you can graduate to the $20 SNGs. If you would like to play no-limit games, the basic rule here is to try your hand at a game where you can afford 100 times the big blind. On the other hand, your bankroll should be a minimum of 20 such buy-ins. To put it a little differently, if you want to play $.10-.25 no-limit games your bankroll should be around $500.
