Bankroll Management For No-Limit Texas Holdem Cash Games
Bankroll Management Is Not Glamorous Or ‘Cool’ But Without It You’ll Find Yourself At Risk Of Going Broke.
The Low-Down Here.
by Mark
Most (if not all) new players come into poker thinking that, somehow, bankroll management does not apply to them. These players usually end up losing their online poker bankroll a couple of times before starting to think that there might just be something to it after all!
On a serious note the game of poker has a lot of natural variance. That is to say that however ‘good’ our decisions there will be beats and cold-deck situations frequently, even professional players are not immune to the ‘swings’ inherent in the game.
If you intend to profit from poker over time then you will need some way to ride out swings which are more brutal (and longer lasting) than you imagined possible. Here is where bankroll management comes into play – by using some common sense guidelines with your poker cash you can significantly reduce the risks while playing, even in the wildest Texas Holdem Poker Games!
The idea of good poker bankroll management is to only play with a small percentage of your total cash on any one table. The ‘standard’ amount for cash game players has become established at 20 times the table buy-in – for example if you have a total bankroll of $500 then you should be playing NL25 while you build your roll.
Around this standard there are many factors to consider. Some will increase the number of buy-ins you feel comfortable playing, others will reduce this. The table below shows some of the factors you might like to consider.
Texas Holdem Bankroll Management – Factors Affecting Number Of Buy-ins Used
Reasons To Increase Buy-Ins |
Reasons To Decrease Buy-Ins
|
Poker Is Your Only Source Of Income
You Play 6-max No-Limit Holdem Games
You Play In A Loose-Aggressive (LAG) Style
You Play At ‘Tougher’ Poker Sites* |
You Play For Leisure (And Profit)
You Play 1 or 2 Full Ring Tables Only
You Have A Tight-Aggressive (TAG) Style
You Are Able To Move Money Easily + Chase Bonuses |
*Refers to the ‘big 2’ or Stars and Full Tilt, particularly during the day when there are many pro ‘grinders’ at the tables, thus making the games less profitable, see our Texas Holdem Poker Sites page for more information (this text goes underneath – can be smaller)
The great thing about Bankroll Management is that you will be both protected from the natural swings in the game – and have a great barometer as to when to move up to the higher levels (or indeed back down if you hit a rough patch).
Texas Holdem Bankroll Management – Giving Yourself An Extra Edge
Of course, unless you are a winning player all bankroll management will achieve is to slow down your losses. We strongly recommend that Killer Holdem readers give themselves the biggest winning edge around – with Poker Edge 5. This software tool pools data on 100,000s of opponents and displays it on the screen – allowing you to spot the fish (and sharks) and know how often someone is bluffing (just one example) or what they hand ranges are. This is killer info and can turn you into a winner very fast, it works with all of the major poker sites too.
Take the free 5 day trial of Poker Edge 5 now, you’ll soon wonder why you ever played without it!!
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