Recently I have been thinking a lot about bankrolls and game selections as I watch the high stakes games at FullTiltPoker.com. I wonder which players are truly bankrolled enough to be playing the stakes they play. Of course you can be playing out of your bankroll at .05/.10 if your bankroll is only $1, but you have to start somewhere. When I see a regular $50/$100 N-L player jumping on a $300/$600 heads-up table I can only imagine that he is taking a shot outside of his bankroll. I have established a rule for myself that I have yet to break in over 4 years that being the 25 max buy-in minimum to play any game meaning that if the max buy-in at a $50/$100 game is $10,000.00 I must have a minimum bankroll of $250,000.00 This rule is not really conservative at all and if you are primarily playing 6-handed or heads up 30-35 would be even better.
Now of course if poker is not your primary source of income then there is no reason why taking a shot with 2-3 buy-ins would be wrong unless you were not completely ok with going broke. One thing that the average and even somewhat experienced players fail to realize is that bad results happen to great players, The reason that you do not see a “hand of the week” or “bad beat” section on my site where I point out what a favorite I was before the river hit and I lost my 3rd buy-in is because I would get sick of writing and explaining the same thing over and over again. My poker tracker reports show every bad beat I have taken over the last 2 years and I have an extra 40 gig on my hard drive to store the next years bad beats….lol
However the outcome is positive at the end of the month and that is the important factor. Also, knowing and being able to say, “that’s what my bankroll is for” allows me to move on after a tough beat. My bankroll is what allows me to be the player that I CAN be as long as I have that security. There are a lot of great young internet players out there that are referred to as “up and coming” while they are indeed “up” I think the accurate term would be “up & falling” when you go broke (and you will without proper bankroll management) it’s not the money you lost that is devastating but the money you lose every day because your no longer in the game. If your goal is long term stick to your limits, and never jump up more than one level even if you have the bankroll, If you have crushed $5/$10 for 3 months and have the BR for $25/$50 you had better start with $10/$20….getting comfortable and being able to play your A game at your next level is just as important as being Bankrolled for it.
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