Why do you need a bankroll?

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zinzir said:
If you win 2 dollars on a freeroll and then jump to a micro table to play it will be hard to build a bankroll. But if you hold on to your freeroll earnings until you accumulate 100 dollars, then you can approach the 1-2 cent tables with confidence, and really see how your skill compares to the other players' because you can approach the game with a strategy and have enough cushion that you don't play scared money.
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Be careful how you treat your bankroll also. I found (still find) that I originally learned holdem in tournament play or sit n gos. When I did venture to cash games I quickly realized that they are two completely different beasts using different strategies. I stopped playing cash games during my "casino play" time. I came to the conclusion that I just couldn't do the "cash" strategy vs "tournament" nearly as effective. So! Just be sure that if you learn tournament "play" you can adjust it for cash tables (they aren't the same). 🙂
 
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To elaborate a bit on, what has already been written, you need a bankroll, if you are a professional player. Or even just someone, who play a lot and want to make sure, you can continue to do so, and preferably without moving down to often. The reason is very simple: If you dont have any money, you cannot play poker, or at least not on the level, you like. So you need to make sure, you have enough money to play your preferred game, just like a taxi driver need to make sure, he has a running car.

However if you are just playing for fun, and poker is just one among many activities, you enjoy, you dont really need a bankroll. Instead you can just make a budget and make sure, that you actually have fun and dont play for money, that was needed for other purposes. If for instance you want to play a 5$ tournament, you dont need to deposit 500$ or even more at a poker site, as bankroll management rules would suggest. You can just deposit 10$, or whatever the minimum is, and then deposit again, when you have played 2 tournaments without cashing. Spending 10$ on two poker tournaments is after all no different than spending the same 10$ on a burger meal or a drink in a fancy bar.
 
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You need a bankroll to play poker so you can handle the variance of the game. You have had money and lost it probably because you were playing for too much money than your small bankroll can handle. Pokers a game of wins and losses, it sounds like you ran up your bank roll a little bit but failed to handle it properly. You don't want to play with all your money at once playing this game as there are big swings.
 
i'm fairly new to poker as well been playing about a year. In my opinion you are doing it the right way. If you cash in good don't move up in stakes or start plying games you wouldn't normally play just b/c you can with free money. Lesson I'm just now starting to follow b/c it's very tempting but important not to move up to quickly. I usually only step up when I'm on a good run. There are a few specific games i like to play that are a little higher I/m starting to work into my routine. No need to put your own money in till you feel the need. Bankroll's are for pro's so they can keep playing through bad run's until they start hitting and build back up. Bankroll management is for everyone it's pretty much about building up the $ u win and not giving it right back and playing within your means.
 
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RasterGFX said:
Be careful how you treat your bankroll also. I found (still find) that I originally learned holdem in tournament play or sit n gos. When I did venture to cash games I quickly realized that they are two completely different beasts using different strategies. I stopped playing cash games during my "casino play" time. I came to the conclusion that I just couldn't do the "cash" strategy vs "tournament" nearly as effective. So! Just be sure that if you learn tournament "play" you can adjust it for cash tables (they aren't the same). 🙂
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completely agree cash tables not for new players they will eat your bankroll fast
 
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puzzlefish said:
Can you make an argument on there not being a difference between having a balance on a poker site vs your overall borrowing power and assets outside of poker sites? I agree bank roll management is the crucial concept, but I feel there is some kind of psychological effect from the actual balance on a particular poker site.
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I agree but think when your new and don't understand management having less money on a site can help u to manage better. If you get a nice chunk especially when it's from freerolls it's so tempting to play beyond your appropriate level until you learn the hard way at least that's how it was for me.
 
If you have a bankroll you would afford to play bigger stakes, with more skillful players. So you would learn a lot more and pottentialy win a lot more. Good luck!
 
A bankroll gives you more chance of not going broke
if you follow BRM that is...

Using freerolls to build up a bankroll has worked for me a few times its a nice way to start griding,


Most people follow BRM i sometimes do but sometimes dont cause i like to play only a select few tournaments anyways..

Hope this helps.
 
GreenRobeHoliday said:
I'm fairly new to the game of poker. I've been playing for almost a year exclusively online. I've never deposited my own money as I don't want to lose it which I'm sure I probably would, so I play freerolls until I make a bit of cash. Evertime I cash in the money I go and play cash games or micro stakes tournaments. Within a few hours to a few days I lose my winnings sometimes after a significant upswing. Ideally I would like to make money playing poker. Not even so much for the money I just really enjoy the game and playing for cash is so much more fun then playing freerolls.


My question is I'm not sure why you need a bankroll. Like I'll play some games and maybe I'll cash or win for a bit and my bankroll will go up and then it'll go down and I'll lose it. I would like to make smart enough decisions to be able to play in cash games and small buy in tourneys everyday. I'd like to know why a sizeable bankroll is important. If I lose and I'm going to lose my bankroll or if I play well and am able to marginally win and increase my bankroll over time wouldn't that inevitably be the case irrespective of starting bankroll size?
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First find out why are you losing the money you win?? buy ins too big? playing differently then played freeroll tighter or looser? etc.. that is first step next step is to realize yep you won this money FREE ::::::: one of biggest issues online poker players have is they forget the money is real....till you come to turns of that brm wont work imo and you will lose it all over and over .... once you look over your mistakes treat it like a business .... setting up rules you follow to be productive and profitable
 
You need bankroll because probably you need to play more than 1 time to be profit.
 
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