Poker Bankroll Management 102

This was going to be 100 or 101 reasons why you shouldn’t play above your bankroll, but ya know – there just aren’t that many reasons worth putting in a list so you’ll get the ones worth listing.

Players watch games and see ‘bad’ play, often what they don’t realize is that the play is actually often correct given the opponents. When you see someone flip over 27o with aggressive betting they may look like a moron, but in fact they just felt that betting was enough to win the pot. Even if you know for a fact that the game is beatable there are 99 other reas…well there are other reasons.

Playing above your bankroll makes you conscious of the money. You should never think of the game in any form except number of bets. Casinos are nice enough to put the game in chips so you can see it in bet form instead of bills on the table, and there’s no reason to worry about the results of an individual night.

The average player at the table is better. Maybe not that one fish you followed over, but the rest of the table is likely to be better than the average guy at the level you’re used to.

When you have a bad run it kills your bankroll. If you play too high then step down to a level even lower than what you’re used to then it will take forever to catch-up.

The cute girl at the table is a hooker, not your future wife.

Believe it or not, its addictive. Gambling is addictive by nature. You play poker and reduce the gambling aspects of it by playing tighter or better poker than your opponents. I for one work pretty hard to not be enticed by gambling, but when you have a good night at the 30-60 game instead of your normal 15-30 its hard to not go back. Even though you only played that game because it was prime, you did win $3000 last session, might as well try again. I could go pro if this keeps up, after all.

There’s just no reason to take the risk. You’ve got a good thing going, why risk it?

Them folding more really isn’t good for you. I hear it all the time that the low limit games are impossible to beat because they never fold. If this is your view then you need to study a lot more. Read, then read more. Get low limit books, not the advanced books. You make all your money from your opponents mistakes, not from their good play.

You forgot your sunglasses and hat.

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