First of all let’s specify the expressions in the title.
Bankroll:
Bankroll is a separate amount of money that poker player uses to finance his poker games. The amount of bankroll is changing according to income and loss.
Management:
It is important to find the proper/right size of stake for the available fund in order to minimize the chance of losing the bankroll in spite of the fluctuations.
In this way players winning in a long run can avoid to lose their fund.
Planning the necessary fund and the achievable income from this is as important in poker as in any other business enterprise if the purpose is not only the entertainment but to have an income in the long run.
Some players, mainly the beginners don't understand the importance of this. So they just give up the further efforts playing poker after losing their bankroll.
Even the experienced players don't spend enough time with this question. There are many experienced, mainly winning players who need to build up their bankroll again and again because of the too quick/sudden rise of stake without the right cover. Sooner or later they need to learn from this mistake the followings.
We deal with No Limit Hold’em in this article.
1. The size of bankroll
It is generally accepted that the size of 20-40 buyin (1 buyin=100 big blind) bankroll is needed for safe online poker, I can agree with that by and large.
Hobby players whose main income source isn’t poker can go towards 20 buyin, but pro players should allow themselves a bit more.
In this case the 40 buyin is advisable.
2. The rate of fluctuations
There are many different circumstances which influence the size and frequency of fluctuations:
· BB/100
The bigger is, the smaller the chance to end up in negative.
· The effect of losing streak
If you can’t deal with it well a 2-3 buyin losing streak can easily lead to 8-10 buyin losing streak.
· The number of the opponents
The rate of the fluctuations get bigger if there are less players at the table.
· Your style
A loose-ultra-aggressive player has to face much bigger fluctuations comparing to a tight-aggressive player who wins in the same rate.
· The size of the stake
The bigger the stake is, the bigger the fluctuation is, therefore more buyin is required.
You shouldn't be scared of 4-5 buyin losing streak, this can happen often. Experience has shown the reason for not having bigger than 10 buyin losing streak is that the person hasn't played for a long time yet.
3. Sense of security
It is important to feel secured at the given stake in order to have enough money to cope with losing streaks. This size of bankroll can be different. 50+ buyin bankroll is frequent for players with conservative attitude. If the bankroll were smaller in there cases, it would have a negative effect on their game. Even though they know that the risk of losing their fund is minimal.
4. The adequate knowledge of poker
To have the proper bankroll doesn't necessarily mean to move up the stakes level. You can find better and better players at higher stakes.
The importance of strategic questions gets bigger:
Move to 50NL if:
· You apply well the starting hands
· You have a clear idea about what the opponent might have at river
· You are ready to use continuation bet
· You understand the basic math theories of poker
Move to 100NL if:
· you know how to play draws
· Use the opportunity of semi-bluff situations
· you can fold good hands if the situation requires
· You can steal blind from late position, if the others folded before
· You are aware of the importance of the position
Move to 200NL if:
· You can identify the preflop stealing efforts
· You are aggressive enough preflop
· You can play multitable poker
· Hand reading
· Value betting
Move to 400NL if:
· You know to choose among check/raise and bet/3 bet
· Position has an important role in your game
· You are good at manipulating the pot size
· You are aggressive enough after flop
Move to 1000NL if:
· Your steps aren’t determined by your hands
· You can win small pots easily
· Your opponent needs good/strong hands or with marginal hands needs to risk big amount of money to win against you
· You can use more styles during your game and you can mix them continuously
5. Test of the knowledge
How should we test if we have the adequate knowledge of the game to move up the stakes level?
First of all get the Poker Tracker program and analyze the achieved results. Look at how much you have won at the recent stake at least within 20k dealing/hands. If your result is at least 2-3 BB/100, you can consider the next step. If the result is less than this, you should play again 20K more hands in the same level and than check the results again.
If someone doesn't take this advice there is a risk that he moves up to higher level without the adequate knowledge and despite the right size bankroll he gets frustrated as he doesn't have enough income. So sooner or later for this reason he stops playing poker, or worse he loses his whole bankroll.
6. The types of moving up the stakes
There are two different methods:
a.)
You can wait and collect 20-40 buyin, which is considered safe and move up. If the bankroll is around 15 buyin in the new level, moving backwards is necessary.
b.)
Some days you can try at the higher stake. Wait until you have 15 buyin and then try the higher stake. After 1-2 buyin loss, there is a need to step back, but if the bankroll reaches the safe size, you can stay at the new stake for good. If later the bankroll drops back to around 15 buyin at the new stake, stepping back is necessary.
7. The aspect/view/approach of changing stakes
There are two approaches referring to moving up stakes:
a.) Grinder type:
He withdraws money regularly from his bankroll, but the size of bankroll increases slowly but surely. He has a conservative attitude towards moving up the stakes, he often stays at the same level with 50 buyin bankroll.
b.) Aggressive type:
His primary goal is to get at the highest stake where he is still able to win as quickly as possible. In order to reach this, he doesn’t withdraw from his bankroll and he tries the next level even with 20 buyin.
Both methods can be successful; the choice depends on the personality and purpose of the poker player.
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