Bankroll Management

If you’re serious about poker then you need to be equally serious about your bankroll. Although hands are ultimately won at the casino, the financial backing off the table couldn’t be a more important aspect of the game. But what exactly is a bankroll? Basically, it is the money that a person has set aside specifically for playing poker. The reason to have a bankroll is so a player can weather losing streaks and not completely deplete their funds.

Some poker players have a dedicated bankroll based off of precise calculations, and other players like me just hide poker money from their parents. Similar it to how a person might put aside money for any hobby or vacation fund, the overall goal is to put aside enough money in reserve for future play.

Recreational poker players who take the game seriously tend to keep a dedicated bankroll. These players might take out 20%of what they win. What they don’t do is take any money out of this precious poker fund to pay for new clothes, movie tickets, or going out on the weekends. This is the discipline that players must have so they don’t end up dipping into their expenses later on. In contrast, professional poker players have to take money out of their bankroll for housing, taxes, retirement, healthcare, vacations, and all their living expenses. So developing a strong discipline is even more important later on when you have to manage more expenses.

A bankroll is the one aspect of this crazy game of poker that we can control. Which is why bankroll management is one of the most important poker skills one can master. While it does take discipline, it is a skill that must be learned if you are going to be successful at poker. Don’t risk too much money at one time by moving up too fast in levels. Let your poker bankroll dictate what limit you’ll be playing.