It is raining; the dull grey clouds reflect Vancouver’s city lights on the wet asphalt as I approach Big Rock Casino. When the hell are they going to finish the damn landscaping? As I walk in, the bright lights and almost continuous jangle of slot machines assault my senses. The security guard—a good-looking East-Indian man with a purple turban and proud smile--nods hello. I nod back as I walk by and onto the casino floor. I turn a left and go up the stairs to the poker room: it’s going to be a good night. <READMORE>

I put my name on the 4-8 list and Mike says it won’t be long. I get in line at the Bankroll cage. After a short wait it is my turn. Geegee, the lady in the Bankroll cage is sweet, and I have been told she plays a mean 7-card stud. “Hi Tim. How much from your bankroll would you like in chips?”

Huh?!

What’s probably the major difference between brick-and-mortar poker rooms and online poker rooms? The ability to multi-table? The speed of play? The sheer number of people playing poker? In my opinion, it is “D” – none of the above.

The major difference between brick-and-mortar poker rooms and online poker rooms is that online poker rooms get to hold onto your bankroll. An online poker player’s bankroll only becomes non-electronic when the poker player asks to cash some of it (or all of it) out.

So what? Well: didn’t it strike you as odd when my protagonist goes to the “bankroll cage” and is asked how much of his roll he would like to play with? At a brick-and-mortar facility a “bankroll” cage sounds odd to say the least, but this is exactly what we do every time we play online poker. What is more: online poker has made it easy for the causal poker player to have a bankroll.

What is significant about causal poker players having a bankroll? A bankroll separates “life” money and “poker” money; almost all poker hobbyists in the 1980’s, for example, did not make this type of separation. People played poker every Tuesday night with the boys, and hit Vegas once a year for some real action. But wins and losses came from—and went back into—the same pocket. A win was a win and a loss was a loss on the night you played: the effects of each session were immediately tangible. A big win meant steak and cabernet, but a big loss meant pork-and-beans.

Now, the casual poker player has a bankroll. A win means that his bankroll gets bigger, so he can play in bigger games, and grow his bankroll even more. When does this process stop? Sadly, it often comes to a crashing halt when the player plays in games that are too big, against players that are too good, and suddenly the causal poker player loses two months salary in one weekend. Sure, the same thing could have happened if the player was playing in a brick-and-mortar poker room (we all know that, sadly, it does happen in brick-and-mortar poker rooms). I have a suspicion that these types of massive losses happen online with a much higher frequency than in the past.

Back when most casual poker players did not have bankrolls, these players spent their winnings; in most cases, a night’s winnings did not grow a bankroll. So, back before the time when causal poker players had bankrolls, the poker player would typically lose far less when he was playing poorly, or on tilt, or up against some real sharks. This player would loose far less because he in all probability would not have ready access to a large portion of his winnings up to that point in his poker career.

My advice is not that bankrolls are bad, or that internet poker is bad, or any such thing. Rather, I write this essay in order that us avid poker players think carefully and critically about what we are doing. My “solution” to the problem I site is not novel. It is really very simple: Don’t forget to cash out once in a while. Have fun with some of your winnings. Don’t fall into the “I-have-to-feed-my-bankroll” trap.

Pick an upward limit for your bankroll and stick to it.

--Tim Christie
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