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For me I think one of the most important things I can share with you is some bankroll management tips and tricks. It is litterally the most important thing you can learn about poker
The Beginning: Compartmentalization
I decided to start with a $5 bankroll on PokerStars. I like this site because it has very small no limit rooms and it only takes out a 5% rake. I began following the ultra low risk $1 on 1 table at a time. Using this sort of a system if I was playing well and getting my money in well I would have to take 5 bad beats to go broke. All modern Navy vessels have thousands of sealed rooms that latch shut that way even if 10 or 20 rooms fill up with water the ship won’t sink. I separate my bankroll into at least 20 buy-ins. This is to compartmentalize it so that even if I lose half of my stake I can still recover and make a profit. The system worked very well from the beginning and I quickly doubled up to $10.
New Levels: Taking a shot
After playing well for about a week I had worked my way up to about $50. I could now play $1 on 3 or more tables or I could buy in for $2.50 on one table and still have at least 20 individual buy-ins. Then I found myself on the table with a big tilter. I had bought in for $1 on multiple tables but after seeing this guy self destructing I had to take a shot at him. So I brought a $5 bankroll on his table and waited for my chance to double up. 5 dollars doesn’t seem like much but on a $50 bankroll gambling with a maniac it can destroy a bankroll fast. I got 2 tens and he moved in I called and doubled to $10 and he hit rebuy and after 30 minutes I had turned my 5 into over 50. The important thing to remember when you take a shot is that if you get unlucky you have to leave. A bad player who keeps pushing can break in minutes a bankroll that’s taken weeks to build so to avoid the trap you have to leave if the shot doesn’t work.
When all goes Wrong: The tilt factor
After about a week of good play and good bankroll management I had made it up to about $115 and I was feeling pretty good so I did the exact opposite of what I should have done I moved up. I jumped into a 0.10/0.25 and after 2 really bad beats it was over I had lost about $30 that had taken for ever to build and I was leaving ahead or broke I put the maximum $50 on the table and in one hand where I was ahead got it all in and lost it all. I usually play $2/4 or $3/6 no limit in my live game and in the end I didn’t have the patience to keep playing at the ultra low limits for long. I’ve learned that lower limits can be every bit as challenging as higher limits, that even if you’re the best player at the table you don’t always win and that the discipline needed to stick to a bankroll is more important than poker skills may ever be.
The links: Here are some alternatives to the systematic bankroll system that I tried, a link to Chris Ferguson’s Tips and a cut and paste table that you can paste into a spreadsheet to keep up with your bankroll.
Tips From The Pro's Spread sheet tool Spread sheet tool