Bankroll Management Rules

Bankroll management is essential in poker because of the large swings where players experience volatile runs of cards. This is what makes poker an emotionally taxing grind of ups and downs. When things are at their worst proper bankroll management can be the only thing you have going for you. You need to play your best when things are at their worst. Maintaining bankroll requirements for the level you are playing enables you to accomplish this. No matter how bad things get, you must always keep the bigger picture in mind – playing for the long term.

Just how big of a bankroll do you need? The answer can depend on a variety of factors and will be unique to each player. Bankroll management is a strategy involving playing poker at limits you can handle by managing variance. The overall goal is to avoid going broke by taking on too much risk. The amount of risk will change with each person since people have unique mindsets and financial situations.

Some people can play on a relatively short bankroll while others need more cushioning to play at their best. They get peace of mind knowing they have a lot of cash left behind, allowing them to play without fear. Poker players need to recognize their own goals and comfort level. If you are constantly playing scared you probably won’t win, and chances are that you might be playing beyond your means. For the majority of players , conservative bankroll rules are most appropriate.

Common Bankroll Management Rules:

• Never buy into a cash game or sit & go for more than 5% of your total bankroll.
• Never buy into a multi-table tournament for more than 2% of your total bankroll.

Popular Full Tilt Poker professional Chris “Jesus” Ferguson recommends a minimum of 100 buy-ins for tournament play. He also advises never playing at cash tables with more than 5% of your bankroll at one time. Considered the most frugal and calculating poker player today, it certainly pays to listen to Chris Ferguson. He recently completed a bankroll challenge, turning 0$ into $10,000 in less than 2 years. He accomplished this feat by starting at the bottom by playing free-roll tournaments and obeying strict bankroll management rules.

Obviously, it takes a winning player for bankroll management to work properly. A poker player with a losing expectation will always lose, despite even the most disciplined bankroll management. Managing your poker bankroll is a means of coping with variance inherently found in poker. As you already know, you can get the money in good and it is still possible to lose. Bankroll management is a protective mechanism preventing you from going broke after poor runs of cards. The requirements you choose should reflect your mental state, experience and level of competition. Proper bankroll management will help winning players take on the correct amount of risk and help ensure long term prosperity at the tables.

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Is Online Poker Rigged?

We have all questioned the fairness and integrity of online poker at one point or another. These thoughts are often provoked by unfortunate runs of cards and horrifically bad beats. For some of us, the thought of online poker as completely fair is impossible. This would go against our internal belief that we are all winning players. It is far easier to dismiss poker as a rigged game than it is to admit that we are subject to bad runs of cards and variance. More importantly, that we may actually have negative expected value over the long term. Several features of poker lead players to question the game’s integrity – some for good reason. The topics discussed below may help justify unusual hands at the poker table and hopefully put your mind at ease.

Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker
Starting off on a sad note, some online poker sites may possibly be rigged. Some shady play recently occurred at Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker involving a “super-user”. This user was able to see the hole cards of everyone at the table and play accordingly. Crushing tournament after tournament he drew a lot of attention to himself and was uncovered by fellow players tracking his performance. In fact his excessive winning streak and unbelievable laydowns drew too much attention. If he had simply blended in better his scheme would still be going on today. Below is a win rate distribution clearly identifying the super-user.

Variance
Winning poker is nothing more than the application of small advantages over a long period of time. In a game of such meager edges, fluctuations in profit will occur. The statistical measure of your results dispersed is known as variance. For most players variance is a scary word as it is thought of as the swings in bankroll. If you notice, “variance” is almost never discussed when a player is winning – only when a player incurs steep losses and bad runs of cards. People tend to remember when they have been the victim of bad beats and coolers much more so than when their hands have held up.

Bad Beats
For as long as poker has been around bad beats have been occurring frequently. Bad beats occur when a massive underdog hits a miracle card or running cards to win a hand. Although you might think pocket aces should win all the time, they don’t. In fact seven-two off-suit will beat pocket aces 12.74% of the time all in pre-flop. If the worst hand in poker beats the best hand thirteen times out of one-hundred be prepared for the often unimaginable happening. Good players know that poker is a game of small edges. They also know that bad beats are what trick weak players into thinking they can beat the game.

Coolers
Imagine calling a big raise pre-flop with a small pocket pair against what you believe to be an over-pair. While you are clearly behind preflop, you are probably getting the right implied odds post flop if you hit your hand. The dealer lays down the flop of three cards and you magically hit bottom set. Your opponent, the initial preflop raiser, bets out just over half the pot. You look at your stack and stall before shoving over the top all-in. The raiser looks up and insta-calls snapping over a set of his own. You have officially been “coolered”, since a set on a safe board is ahead of everything except a higher set. Coolers happen in poker, since some hands you just can’t get away from. Set over set occurs just one in ninety-eight times. In the long run these types of coolers won’t negatively affect your bottom line. Theoretically, you will set over set someone else half the time to balance things out.

Cashout Curse
The “cashout curse” is one of the most widely criticized aspects of online poker. The belief is that online poker rooms rig the cards immediately after a player cashes out a sizeable amount of money. While this sounds like a possible scenario it is most certainly not occurring. The more likely culprit is a change in the way you play after cashing out. Most players tend to play much looser and many more starting hands after cashing out. Playing with the houses money tends to loosen up new players. Playing a wider range of hands with a limited bankroll leaves less margin for error. Cashing out money usually leaves the player with the limited bankroll prone to variance.

First Deposit Runs
This type of scenario occurs when a new player starts off poker with a huge winning streak, often doubling their bankroll or better. Skeptical poker players tend to think that new players experience first deposit runs as a way to keep them from being crushed immediately. First deposit runs tend to occur because new players are taking a lot of chances and playing loose. Secondly, these deposits are subject to a one-hundred percent deposit bonus. This extra bankroll padding allows these players to take added risk, pushing sub optimal holdings. Again, nobody ever hears about a new player depositing and losing everything since its almost expected. We tend to remember only things that go against the odds.

Although many people still claim otherwise, online poker is not rigged. Poker websites make multi-millions of dollars off the rake they take in. Absolutely no incentive exists for them to push things further and risk losing their online business all together by rigging cards. Instances of cheating would immediately crush their business model by driving away all players playing at their site. Simply put, why risk losing a thing that is already making your rich many times over. If you still are skeptical, just take a look at card monitoring programs like Poker Tracker. Even this sophisticated program couldn’t statistically conclude that online poker cards were anything but random. Online poker has had setbacks and isolated instances of cheating by super-user accounts, but the integrity of randomness has never wavered. In fact, reliable poker sites like Full Tilt and PokerStars may be more secure and fair than brick and mortar poker rooms. Next time someone tries to tell you online poker is rigged, tell them that it is rigged – for the good players.

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Managing Poker Stress

Stress is usually a detrimental thing to have at the poker table since it often leads to negativity and sub-optimal play – TILT. We are all subject to feelings of stress and anxiety at one time or another – it is simply a force of nature. The ways we deal with stress determine our long term success at the table and in life. Being well educated on the game of poker and having the necessary skill-set to win might not be enough if you don’t recognize and deal with stress appropriately. Properly identifying and coping with stress could drastically improve your poker game and your life.

Identification
Identification and symptoms of stress are intertwined. If you can identify the signs of stress, you are also experiencing its harmful effects. While small amounts of stress are actually helpful, the vast majority of people experience elevated levels of stress – especially at the poker table. Quick identification of stress symptoms may save your poker session or even your career. Here some likely symptoms of stress you may experience at the poker table:

* Rapid Heart Rate
* Loss of Breath
* Chest Tightness
* Headache
* Anger

Causes
The causes of stress in poker are unique to each individual and widespread. Some situations produce high levels of stress in some people while show no effect on others. In nature animals that deal with stress better than others tend to live longer, a component of Darwinism. Survival of the fittest occurs in poker as well. The good players keep playing while bad players wash out. Stress is a consequence of our inability to deal with a threats on an emotional or physical level. Our inability to deal with threats is negatively impacted by the following factors:

* Inadequate Rest
* Long sessions
* Drugs & Alcohol
* Unhealthy Food
* High Stakes Games
* Inexperienced at Game Type

Career Risks
Stress may only cause short term discomfort, but over the longer term it poses serious health risks. Winning the battle against stress on a daily basis is key over the long term. If you find yourself getting angry or experiencing symptoms of stress listed above on a regular basis you could be putting your health at risk. While long term symptoms of moderate stress are minimal, elevated stress levels over the long term can cause the following:

* Weakened Immune System
* Ulcers
* Loss of Sleep
* Heart Attack
* Stroke
* Addictive Disorders
* Losing at Poker

Coping
How successfully we deal with stress and our emotions will ultimately determine how far we go in poker. You can have top level odds knowledge and card reading skills, but if you can’t deal with stress you are doomed. Poker is a game of dealing with failure – bad beats and variance torture even the most seasoned players. Developing skills and techniques to deal with poker stress is crucial to your success. Here are a few common methods of dealing with stress while playing poker:

* Massage Service
* Walk Away
* Communication
* Understand Poker Odds

Stress can not only cause long term health risks, but also destroy your love for the game of poker. Eliminating sources of stress that could negatively affect your well-being is the most important thing you can do for yourself. If your known sources of stress can’t be eliminated attempt to deal with your emotions in a healthier manner. Utilize the methods provided above and develop your own mechanisms for stress reduction. Understand the reality of poker and the affects of stress on your poker play – either good or bad. The inability to properly cope with stress in poker could be the one thing separating you from a long and prosperous career.

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