If 150-250 BB downswings are normal

[Tommy Angelo]

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imo when you're a pro you dont have a 'bankroll'. Everything you own is you're bankroll. The stocks you own are part of you're bankroll as much as the money in your wallet or on your poker acct. Any liquid asset anyway.

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IMO this is a retarded way to look at things, if this opinion is held by many other 'pros' then I suppose I'm not a true gambler.

-Brad

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It's not so much a matter of opinion. It's a matter of what exactly would have to transpire before the pro gets a job. If a pro knows for sure that he will not get a job unless he is flat broke, then of course everything he has is his bankroll. It could be no other way.

It's not retarded for a non-rich young person to invest everything, financially and spiritually and passionately, into a career. What's retarded is thinking you won't, when you know you will.

Tommy

[flub]

wow, well said.

[albanat0r]

I have a little bit of a different take. I'm a high stakes pro (50/100 - 100/200) with no other source of income except investments made from poker winnings. I keep a chunk of my money in my poker bankroll, but it's not really a set in stone amount; just enough to cover me if I have a downswing. However, I have a separate pool of money (call it "the rest of my money") which I use for paying bills, eating, etc... But I've got more than enough in "the rest of my money" to reinvest into my poker bankroll several times if necessary. This allows me to play comfortably, adding and withdrawing to my bankroll as I please without the fear of losing everything I own in one session. While this is a little different than when I played low and middle stakes as I didn't have that much to fall back on, if you can find a way to gain the mentality that a few bad sessions won't kill you, you'll play better. I guess what I'm saying is that your roll should be well funded (I think 500 bb is fine), but it's more important to know you have money behind you in case something goes awry. It just gives you a comfort zone in which you're not worried about how you do every session, or every day or week. Just keep good records and play well without overanalyzing how one session went, and the money should start building up.

It's like owning a small business- while you keep your personal records and your business records separate, you will take money out of your business when your business does well, and you will put money into your business when you need capital. As long as you keep track of where everything is and don't overcompensate one way or the other, you'll be fine.

Lee

[droidboy]

[bI have a little bit of a different take. I'm a high stakes pro (50/100 - 100/200) with no other source of income except investments made from poker winnings.

I guess what I'm saying is that your roll should be well funded (I think 500 bb is fine), but it's more important to know you have money behind you in case something goes awry.[/b]

While I express it differently (net worth of 1000+ big bets), this is exactly right. No matter how good you are, bad things can happen, whether through luck, tilt, playing against players who are too good, or taking shots. Murphy's Law applies all to well go gambling too. Having a base from which you can rebuild when something goes awry is vital to playing in high stakes games.

- Andrew

www.pokerstove.com