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Bankroll Issues Part 1[ return to main articles page ]

By: gidders
Published on Nov 16th, 2005
Bankroll Issues – Part 1

Ask any top professional or successful poker player and they will all pretty much tell you the same thing. <READMORE><SPAN> </SPAN>When you are the table, money doesn’t have any value – they are just chips; items you use to keep track of who’s winning and who’s losing.<SPAN> </SPAN>If you begin to view those chips in any other way, you are almost destined to fail.<SPAN> </SPAN>You cannot be expected to play your best poker when the amount of money you have invested is too painful for you to lose.<SPAN> </SPAN>

Now this does not mean if you are the final table of a big event playing for hundred of thousands would be too pressure packed, and you would be scared – because all of that final table money is good profit.<SPAN> </SPAN>I’m rather talking about the initial investment – say the $10,000 buy in to the Main Event.<SPAN> </SPAN>If you bought in directly, and all you could think about was that $10K and how much you could buy with it, instead of playing in the tournament – you are almost destined to play poorly.

In my opinion, players who worry about the money they are gambling with should not be gambling.<SPAN> </SPAN>Period.<SPAN> </SPAN>I would never advise anyone under any circumstance to play outside of their bankroll – or the money that they could afford to lose.<SPAN> </SPAN>Make no bones about it, poker is gambling, and there is a chance that you will lose your money.<SPAN> </SPAN>That’s all there is to it.<SPAN> </SPAN>Now, having said that - poker involves a great deal of skill and the most skillful player will eventually triumph over the not so skilled players, but on any given day or hand – there is a chance that you may lose your money.<SPAN> </SPAN>If you cannot accept that fact, you should not be gambling.

There is nothing more sad than to hear about a player who went broke from a gambling urge he couldn’t control.<SPAN> </SPAN>I cringe when I think about people who have invested their life savings in the stock market, or on a blackjack table and lost everything – to me, that is one of the most awful things to think about in the world.<SPAN> </SPAN>If you are a compulsive gambler (poker is included) and you are losing money you can’t afford to lose – you need to get help.<SPAN> </SPAN>It is a problem that many people have, and there are programs and people you can talk to.<SPAN> </SPAN>There is no shame in recognizing that you have a fault, if you are brave enough to admit it and seek help.

When I decided I needed to find a way to build my bankroll from scratch – I thought of the possible choices I had.<SPAN> </SPAN>I could play Cash Games, Tournaments, Sit N Goes, Heads Up Matches… and obviously, I decided to focus on my SNG game, because of the science-ness of them.<SPAN> </SPAN>They are always the same, and it makes for good practice.However, the more important thing that I had to decide to do was figure out the correct buy in for my skill set, and my comfort level.<SPAN> </SPAN>

When I sit down at a table, I am comfortable with the money I am gambling with.<SPAN> </SPAN>I always make sure that I am going to be able to make the most correct decisions at the table, and I don’t want the buy in or prize pools to influences any of my poker decisions.

I look at poker, in particular SNG’s as a business investment.<SPAN> </SPAN>Over time, I know that if I make correct decisions, I’m probably going to be making about 30 cents on every dollar I put forth into my business.<SPAN> </SPAN>If this is true, it really comes down to me making the most correct business decisions possible.<SPAN> </SPAN>

Should I play when I am distressed?<SPAN> </SPAN>Should I play at higher stakes after a losing session?<SPAN> </SPAN>Should I abandon all hope after a bad run?<SPAN> </SPAN>Should I just quit altogether and get a ‘real’ job?

I’m often reminded of the slogan from Office Space – “Is This Good For The Company?”.<SPAN> </SPAN>If I ever find myself saying, “No” to any of these questions, I will pass up the game and wait until the conditions are right again.

After all, online poker is available 24 hours a day – and I’ve got a business to run, baby.

In the next installment, I will talking about two types of people – Tightwads and Mongaloids.

-gidders
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