Dan Harrington, one of the worlds most respected poker players, says the worst sin professional gamblers can commit is not being able to play because they’ve let themselves run out of money. He’s witnessed too many brilliant players fall by the wayside because they played outside the limit of their bankroll.
When interviewing the world’s top no limit hold’em players for my book, I asked them about money management, bankrolls, cash games and tournaments. Not surprisingly, their money strategies vary as much as their playing styles but just about everyone agreed on one thing; If you’re a good poker player, your bankroll is your ammunition… never run out of bullets.
Cash Games
All the top players I spoke with say cash games are the most consistent way of making money in today’s poker environment. According to Daniel Negreanu, anybody who’s serious about becoming a professional poker player should start doing it the good old fashioned way, through side games because they provide a much more steady diet of money than the tournaments.
For many of the new, younger players however, cash games just don’t have the thrill that tournaments do. Mike Sexton says that compared to the seemingly instant fame and fortune that can be obtained in front of the cameras on the tournament circuit, cash games can seem like a lot of work and little glory to many people. Unfortunately, it’s also not all that common for players to be both great tournament players and cash game winners.
What is an appropriate bankroll for playing cash games? Harrington believes new players should start with the smallest bankroll they can play comfortably and beat the lowest game, then slowly work their way up. Mike Sexton agrees. He says one of the most common mistakes new players make is playing at limits too high for their skill level and bankroll.
Chris Ferguson wont play in a cash game unless the buy in is less than 5 of his total bankroll and will get up and leave if his growing stack means he is risking more than 10 of his total bankroll at any one time. Ferguson has also set a rule for himself that if he ever loses half his bankroll, he’ll go back down to a lower level where the skill level of his opponents is less and slowly build up his assets again with reduced risk.
The lesson: No matter how good you are you’re going to have losing streaks and may have to drop down to a lower level to rebuild your equity.
Pot limit and no limit games tend to be more risky than limit games but can be very rewarding for skilled players who can live with the volatility. For lower risk, and smaller bankroll requirements, stick with limit games – for many players they provide a more consistent source of income with much smaller financial swings.
Everyone agreed, when it comes to cash games if you are skilled, and playing at the right level there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be ahead at the end of most weeks. As a result, try to have a total bankroll that will allow you to survive that long at your chosen level and try not to risk more than 5 10 of total disposable poker bank at any one time.
What sort of a bankroll should you have to play in Tournaments? You can read the answer to this question and others in the second half of this article at the Poker Wizards Website Blog.
Author Resource:-
Warwick Dunnett is the author of Poker Wizards: Wisdom from the World’s Top No-Limit Hold’em Players at http://www.pokerwizards.net. You can read the Poker Wizards Blog and get free weekly poker tips at http://Blogs.pokerwizards.net
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