Bankroll Requirements.

MrWizard · #1 11-20-2005, 03:07 AM

I have been playing NL holdem for a while now. I read about all sorts of bankroll requirements that suggest slowly moving up the limits. Personally I have found this advice to be bad advice. My reasoning is... If you can't pull down enough money to pay your expenses in life and have money left over for other things then what is the point?

You aren't going to make enough money for your time if you are constantly trying to figure out how to beat the quarter table. I think it is best to take a shot at making some money that will actually matter. I would rather be making good money at one higher stakes NL table than playing 7 low limit tables all at once paying no attention to the game and winning small profits.

I'm not suggesting you just take your whole roll to a table and blow it on a chance. There are better ways to do it than that, but I just think that a requirement of $XXXX to play at X/X Limit will only hold you down.

What do you guys think?

stu-unger · #2 11-20-2005, 03:10 AM

i think that i dont play for a living so becoming the best player i can possibly be means a lot more than the monitary value of hitting a big score. i like 20 buy ins...

MrWizard · #3 11-20-2005, 01:31 PM

My whole take on it is that playing 7 tables at once for a living is a JOB. You look to minimize risk and expect that everything will pan out. I would rather take bigger risks that I have prepared for. I will find a soft table, bring the right amount of money to the table, and see what happens. Obviously if I lose at a higher limit I will be forced to back down and make some more money to take another stab at that higher limit, but as soon as I have the money I'm going to try.

I don't want poker to be my JOB, I look at the tables and see investment opportunities and I try and go with the best one no matter what the limit is. As long as I can afford 3-4 buy ins I will take a stab if the table looks ripe.

GrunchCan · #4 11-20-2005, 07:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
If you can't pull down enough money to pay your expenses in life and have money left over for other things then what is the point?

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't want poker to be my JOB, I look at the tables and see investment opportunities and I try and go with the best one no matter what the limit is. As long as I can afford 3-4 buy ins I will take a stab if the table looks ripe.

[/ QUOTE ]

So, which is it?

MrWizard · #5 11-20-2005, 08:32 PM

All I'm saying is that poker is not a job for me, its an investment opportunity. I look at it like I look at any other investment; Get your money in when you have reason to believe it will give you a good return. For me I accept the risk that I may loose it all, just like in the stock market. What keeps me from going broke is research and careful investing (paying attention, and picking tables well, and bringing the right amount of money to the table).

I'm just offering a different way of looking at it. I don't want to grind out a couple bucks a week. When I play I look to make a good return on a decent amount of money.

Postiga · #6 11-20-2005, 10:14 PM

[ QUOTE ]
All I'm saying is that poker is not a job for me, its an investment opportunity. I look at it like I look at any other investment; Get your money in when you have reason to believe it will give you a good return. For me I accept the risk that I may loose it all, just like in the stock market. What keeps me from going broke is research and careful investing (paying attention, and picking tables well, and bringing the right amount of money to the table).

I'm just offering a different way of looking at it. I don't want to grind out a couple bucks a week. When I play I look to make a good return on a decent amount of money.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is exactly the way I look at poker. However, looking on it as an investment is not the point. It's making sure that you can keep on making investments in the future if one or two lose you money.

GrunchCan · #7 11-20-2005, 10:45 PM

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What keeps me from going broke is research and careful investing (paying attention, and picking tables well, and bringing the right amount of money to the table).

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If you don't include 'bankroll management' in this equation, then you're just gambling. It's not a job, it's not a livelihood, and it's not an investment. It's just entertainment until you go broke.

And you will go broke without bankroll management.

That's not to say you can't move up without taking shots, or even that you shouln't take shots. But even taking a shot is something that you have to not do with reckless abandon. I've written recently several times about taking shots. Do a search if you want my advice on how to do it.

elus2 · #8 11-20-2005, 03:15 AM

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You aren't going to make enough money for your time if you are constantly trying to figure out how to beat the quarter table.

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this isn't the point of having bankroll requirements. it's done to protect players. by minimizing a winning player's chances of going broke due to the variance he encounters in poker. it makes no assumption on the amount of $$$ a player requires to subsist on.

#9 11-20-2005, 07:16 PM

this isn't the point of having bankroll requirements. it's done to protect players. by minimizing a winning player's chances of going broke due to the variance he encounters in poker. it makes no assumption on the amount of $$$ a player requires to subsist on.

[/ QUOTE ]

An even better response

MrWizard · #10 11-20-2005, 08:35 PM

If I were really worried about variance I would quit poker and get a 9-5 with a good pension plan.