Manage Your Poker Bankroll and Play like a Pro
Managing your bankroll is vital to ensuring your success at poker. If you go too hard too early, you could quickly end up needing to re-buy or end up staring down the barrel of getting wiped out by being a blind. If you want to make it in the world of poker – or simply demolish your friends at a home game – then you need to learn how to manage your bankroll.
As we’re the kind people that want to see you win, we’ve put together this nifty little guide to help you take control of your bankroll and play poker like a pro!
Pick a Game Based on Your Funds
Everyone has a different amount of disposable income, and that’s fine. Some people head to poker games with €10,000 in their pockets while others go with €10 – there is nothing wrong with either. However, if you’re leaning more towards the lower end of the scale, look for games with smaller stakes as you will be able to play more hands and last longer at the table without having to re-buy or go all in. Low stakes games are easy enough to come by, with some blinds starting as small as €0.10. On the other hand, you can find high stakes games that start out with €1,000 blinds – so pick a game based on your cash flow.
Keep an Eye on Bet Limits
Even small stakes games can have high bet limits, so make sure you’re well aware of these limits before you hit the table. Bet limits can work both in your favor and against you. If you’ve got a royal flush, the last thing you want is to have your winnings capped by the table. On the other hand, if you’ve got a pair of 7s and another guy is razing like crazy, you don’t want to have to go all in just to find out he has three of a kind. The smaller bet limits can cap your losses, but also hamper your winnings. If you win more often than you lose, consider a table with higher bet limits.
Don’t Fear Folding
We’ve all had that hand that starts out as junk and turns into a golden hand, but they are the riskiest hands around. If you’re looking to conserve your bank roll, consider folding pre-flop – unless you’re the blind, of course. Folding might seem boring and a waste of your time, but it’s better to protect your bankroll by folding than chasing a bad hand – that’s how you go bust and re-buy faster than you can say Daniel Negreanu.
Practice Managing Your Bankroll
It’s all well and good learning about bankroll management techniques, but if you’re not going to practice these new tips then you’re wasting your time. There are tons of free to play poker rooms to help you adapt to these bankroll management techniques, so try them out and watch your bankroll slowly grow until you’re in profit!
Next time you’re playing a game of poker at the casino or with your friends at home, you can play with smarts on your side and manage your bankroll properly. Keeping your bankroll flush will give you more chance of walking away with a profit, so don’t be afraid to play the boring game!