Playing semiprofessionally....rather part time

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Some good stuff in this post. I don't disagree with any of it.

I'll elaborate slightly here on a couple things tho...

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The 300 BB bankroll is for full time play with nothing but your play being added to it. You could start with a smaller bankroll for part time play, if you are willing to add to it from your other income, in case your initial bankroll gets low (what you are calling starting bankroll really isn't your bankroll in the strict sense of the word).


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If you're thinking of trying to play without a "replenishable bankroll," I'd consider 300 big bets (for limit play) to be TOO SMALL. You really need more of a cushion than this, because you may have overestimated your TRUE EDGE. There are many factors to consider that you may have failed to fully comprehend when you decided just how good you were in the first place.

I recommend 400 or 500 big bets for an aspiring "limit pro." Safety first.

For a no-limit player, it's more debatable. But if you think 20 buy-ins is the number, go with the safe number and at least add 50% to that, if not double it.

al

[Abbaddabba]

If you're able to drop in limits as your bankroll is depleted from swings, you dont need all that much.

If you're relying on poker as a source of income though, splitting your hourly rate in half usually sucks ass - so yeah, you definitely want more than 300BB's.

You also are going to want to manage your money outside of your bankroll.

That is to say, keep surpluses from your winnings in a separate account to pay for bills in periods when you hit the downswing, so that you wont have to remove it from your bankroll safety net.

You'll experience a lot less anxiety this way.


A good rule is to keep a few months worth of living expenses off to the side at any given time.