By
grapsfan
A successful low-to-mid limit MTT player and P5s member who’d withdrawn much of his bankroll asked me for backing. I told him I wasn’t staking anyone. Suggested he return to the grind and rebuild at levels appropriate for his new bankroll. Wouldn’t be easy, I said, but he knew what to do. Accept the new challenge.
His response was predictable and disappointing: “I’m too good to drop back down. If you won’t back me, can you refer me to someone who will?” Here I ended the conversation. I’ve dropped levels when necessary. Players much better have done likewise. What makes this guy so special? Nothing; he just didn’t want to. It’s a situation most of us have been in, having more talent and experience than others at limits dictated by our financial constraints. At times your bankroll might decrease, perhaps because you lost moving up when your game wasn’t ready or you were playing too high for your roll. Maybe you withdrew out of necessity or as a reward. The idea of rebuilding can be overwhelming when recalling the months, even years, needed to accumulate that big bankroll.
Rebuilding often goes awry. Poker message boards like PocketFives are loaded with theories about online sites “punishing” players for withdrawing funds. Such paranoia often arises due to bad runs that occur when rebuilding a bankroll. It’s a flimsy excuse, offered by people unprepared for a new trip down a previously traveled road. You may be a great player but if you don’t start the journey with the right frame-of-mind, you’ll never get where you want to go. More winning players quit due to a bad attitude than all other reasons combined - they can’t rebuild when they have to.
I have rebuilt several times, mostly due to profit-taking. There are two reasons for the post-withdrawal blues. Neither have to do with your favorite online site being mad at you for taking money out. Let’s call these reasons “I’m Too Good For This” and “I Don’t Have Time For This”. Both can devastate your bankroll as well as your general psyche and love for the game.
The “I’m Too Good For This” excuse comes primarily from players who possess a repertoire of strategies, subtleties and out-and-out tricks necessary at the higher echelons of poker. Knowing how to trap, how to vary your play and how to present the image you want your opponent to see are critical to winning as you ascend to the poker summit. When rebuilding a bankroll in smaller games, that playbook is absolutely meaningless. Trickiness will assuredly cause you to lose money. This loss of weapons is a tremendous ego blow. It’s easy to wonder how you could beat the Stars $100 rebuy before your withdrawal but can’t beat a $5 freezeout thereafter. Many people blame failure in the lower game on the donkeys rather than looking inward. You must adapt your game when dropping down much as you did moving up.
When making a decision, low-limit players aren’t thinking about your cards; they;re thinking about their own. Making moves to change their opinion of their middle pair is an exercise in futility that will cost you dearly. There is no greater poker truism than “never try to bluff a bad player.” Take that advice a step further. Winning at low limits is about being tight, aggressive and, most of all, simple. Bet when you have a hand, fold when you don’t. You’ll be surprised how quickly your roll returns and how clear your head is about the game. When it’s time to take some of your old tricks out of the bag, you’ll be happy to find they fit your game better than ever.
“I Don’t Have Time For This” syndrome is driven by ego even more than “I’m Too Good For This”. Let’s say a sample “I Don’t Have Time For This” sufferer has $2000 in his bankroll and typically plays $1/$2 NL Hold’em, $3/$6 Limit, and $55+5 turbo SNGs, fairly reasonable for a good player at that bankroll. Our hero then takes $1600 out of his account, leaving himself $400 to start anew. Since 20% of his bankroll is left, the games that show responsible bankroll management are $.10/$.25 NL, $.50/$1 Limit and $15+1 SNGs. Our hero bemoans, at these levels, it’ll take him “forever” to return to his previous glory. His ego certainly doesn’t want play those donkeys again. So, he puts his $400 on the tables at $.50/$1 NL, $2/$4 Limit and $35+3 SNGs. A few bad beats and cold decks can turn that $400 into $100 in a hurry. Now, our hero, tilting at full throttle, dumps his whole roll into a $100 SNG or a $2/$4 NL game and ends up busto.
Did the poker site intentionally give him a bad run of cards? Of course not. The room wants everyone happy so we’ll keep playing and give them the rake. Did our hero play poorly? Not necessarily; variance can crush any of us, even if we’re playing perfectly. Truthfully, our hero put himself in an untenable situation due to greed and impatience. He was destined to fail.
The key to avoiding “I Don’t Have Time For This” also helps with “I’m Too Good For This” syndrome. Poker is supposed to be fun. We play for the sheer intrigue and joy of the game (at least, I hope we do). If you know more than other players at the table, so what? If you once played for stakes these donkeys never thought about, so what? Focus on making each decision correctly. Play each hand the best way you know to play it. If you miss the challenge of high stakes, accept rebuilding your bankroll equally as challenging. If you can appreciate each bet, each hand, each session the time will fly by until your roll is healthier than ever. You’ll be healthier, too.