Bankroll Psychology - my unusual problem

Why is money in an investment account untouchable? Why does your bankroll have to consist solely of money which is in on an account in an online casino (or wherever you keep it if you play in a B&M cardroom)?

If you have a bankroll of $10,000, it is not necessary for this bankroll to sit in a poker account. Some of it could be in cash stuffed under your mattress, some in cd's, some in a money market account. It doesn't matter where it is, you can consider it part of your bankroll if you decide to.

If you want to keep part of your poker bankroll in an interest earning account, then do so, having first decided that it was still part of your bankroll.

[onegymrat]

Hi TV,

I think it IS a problem, but not as serious as you think, although it is entirely psychological. Everyone had great responses but I favor what Bernie and Chris20202 stated.

The reason why this is even an issue is that poker is a only a part-time job/hobby for you, and not a career/full-time job. Let's say you opened up a small business, and you invested $20k into mercandise. Aside from getting a refund for your investment, that money is spent and done with, and hopefully you will move the merchandise and get a profit from it.

This would be similar for the serious poker player at the 20/40 limit (500BBs=$20k). That money is an investment that is put aside, which you should not touch. Hopefully, anything gained above the $20k may be used to pay bills and other expenses in life. Unlike the previous analogy though, technically, this $20k is still here, and may be needed from time to time. How much would depend on how your sessions are going.

As a part-time player/hobbyist, it is difficult to imagine money sitting around NOT getting any residues. You don't count on this money to live off of, because you have a full-time career doing something else, something you can count on bi-weekly. You still don't count on poker money, therefore, you don't take it as seriously as you're "supposed" to. This is just icing on the cake, per se. When you win money, rather than seeing it as "bankroll building money", you see it as "MY money now".

How do you fix this problem? Well, either you need to treat it as a real business and put the proper bankroll aside (or into an account that is easily retrievable) for the limit in which you aspire to play or stay at a low limit where the swings will never affect you very much. Unless you really NEED to have poker as your number one source of income, I don't think you'll be able to fix this "problem".

How do I know this? Because I have the same problem. Good luck.