This is a question from a weekend warrior poker amature, so don't jump all over me.
What is Bankroll Management? Is it simply making sure that you don't "withdraw" the money from your bankroll for things other than poker? Unless you are a pofessional, of course, where you would use some of that money for living expenses.
Thanks for any info, and I am glad that my hobby can finance some of your professional incomes. Feel free to stop by the 1/2 NL tables in Atlantic City or Ct to take my money.
Bankroll management is literally how you manage the money you use to play poker. You don't want to dip into your necessity funds (rent/mortgage, grocery, bills or emergency money) to fund your poker hobby.
There are different considerations if you are a pro (i'm not) versus an amateur or recreational player.
I'll comment on the recreational player side of things and the pros can tell you about how they handle their money:
You basically have to answer the following questions?
- First off, how much disposable income do you have? If you have none, then don't gamble with your necessity money.
- How much of that disposable income do you want to use for poker?
- Do you have a certain amount of money set aside just for poker? How much?
- How much can you withstand to lose in one sitting, in one week's worth of poker, in one months' worth of poker?
- How much money will you need to withstand some of the losing streaks that will inevitably happen? This is essentially your bankroll, though since you're a recreational player you should be able to replenish this money with your disposable income. I think somewhere between 10-30 buy-ins is what you want to set aside for recreational play.
- Do you want to eventually move up in limits or are you happy playing 1-2 forever?
- If you want to move up in limits, what percentage of your winnings will you add to your bankroll to make sure you can withstand the swings there?
Hope that helps.
"Feel free to stop by the 1/2 NL tables in Atlantic City or Ct to take my money."
lol, nh sir.
Thanks, Cut, that makes a lot of sense.
I'd be interested to hear how the pros manage their bankroll (ie: what percentage they "pay" themselves vs. reinvesting back into their livelihood) for curiosity's sake.
Thanks.