Bankroll Management

i would not keep th entire rool on the account i am following the below plan... i would pull all of it out but 100 and pick tournies to play above 410 buyin level seems to be where the donk are weeded out... start off with a single table or sng ro see if u can get a quick win to use for buy ins on the higher risk large field tournies... set a limit of what ur going to do for the night... if u run it up pick a number at which u withdrawal to keep ur self in check... Chris ferguson s rules are cool but the prob is if u go on a run and move up in buy in level to quickly ull be out classed... stick around at the level u are winning at for a while and grind out some cashes... that is my two cents...

Bankroll Management System Part 1: Protecting Your Roll

There have been many systems over time that have demonstrated good ideas for bankroll management. I would like to share with you what I believe the very best bankroll management system is. I have not found this system anywhere online while searching for one, and as far as I know, this is an original idea (although, I’m not denying the possibility that somebody else has thought of this before). Using this system, coupled with patience and practice, I can almost guarantee you’ll never go broke again.

Going Broke
“Going Broke” is the name of the bankroll management system that I’ve come up with. It lets safe, solid players play safely, aggressive risky players play until they bust, and it lets serious players make serious money. I believe this is not only a way to safely gamble online, but it is the very best way to gamble online while still minimizing your losses.

To easily demonstrate how it works, I’m going to explain how somebody would implement this strategy using two accounts: one to hold their money and one to gamble with.

The first account holds all of the money that you are willing to gamble with. We are going to call this PokerMain. Your total bankroll is located here. To start off using this system, find what 10% (or another number of your choosing) of your roll is. For this example, let’s say that you have got $2,000 in your main account. Now, take 10%, or $200, and transfer it to your gambling account, which we’ll refer to from here on out as PokerGamble. Also, remember that you started with $200 in PokerGamble. Now completely forget about PokerMain for the remainder of the day (playing anyway). The money that you’ve got in PokerGamble is the money that you’re allowed to use for the day. You can spend this however you wish. You can put it all on one table (although I wouldn’t recommend it) or you can decide to play 4 tables with $50 on each of them, or perhaps just 2 tables with $100 on each of them. It is up to you. Just know that once this account is empty, you are finished for the day.

Now, let’s say you’re doing well. You sit down to a $50 sit n go and win it. This pays out $225, and since you paid $50 as an entry fee and $5 as a rake, this puts about $370 in your account ($225 winnings plus the $145 that you didn’t use). Now stop. We agreed that you would only gamble with $200 for the day. That is, after all, how this system works. Since you have more, transfer all of the profit over to PokerMain. So now PokerMain should have $170 extra in it, and PokerGamble should still be at $200. Now you may sit down to another table if you wish. If you decide to sit at a cash table, evaluate where you’re at every 30 minutes or so. The important thing is to work out a system for yourself.

Let’s say you play two $55 SNGs and lose them both. Now you’re down to $90. You try your hand at one more and win it, putting $260 in your account. Stop and transfer $60 over to PokerMain.

The idea is to play until you’re broke. If you don’t feel like playing anymore, then stop. If you choose to play more, you can. You have that option, and you won’t lose all of your winnings for the day. Going along with what has been happening, let’s say you lose everything on PokerGamble before the night is over. You have already transferred over $170 from earlier, and an extra $60 later on. This means that even though you lost your 10%, you’re still up $30 for the day. Not quite as good as it was, but you also avoided turning a winning day into a losing day.

This is the bankroll management system that I use, and swear by. Now, there is a small complication with this system. In the examples, two accounts were used to explain how this works. The problem is that most poker sites only allow you to use one account. Even though it may be possible to sign up for more, I would not recommend doing this (I have personally had friends whose accounts were shut down because they had multiple accounts). This means you need to have one very important skill in your arsenal. That very important skill that you need is discipline.

Without discipline, you are not going to survive playing online poker anyway. To use this bankroll management system, you should probably have a notebook and paper at your side the entire day. Calculate what 10% of your entire roll is. Subtract this number from your total and write down how much that is. Now, when you reach this amount, stop playing. Also, continue to look at your total and watch your total. If playing a cash table, watch your total and every half hour, look at what your total is. If the total amount of money you have in your account is more than your initial total, then subtract your 10% from this new value and write that down. This is the new total you are allowed to drop down to. The important thing is to make sure you never lose more than the 10% that you initially let yourself start to gamble with.

The easiest way to implement this system is to do this. First decide what you would like to gamble with. For example, if you are using 10% in an account with $1,000, then you would decide to gamble with $100. Now, instead of keeping track of numbers the whole time, decide where you’re going to place your money. So, for example, you could decide to play two $20+$2 sit n gos, and then sit down at a cash table with $50. This total adds up to only $94, but this is okay. So, do what you planned and only what you planned. Play the two sit n gos, then sit down at the cash table and forget about everything else. When you’ve finished following this exact plan, reevaluate where you’re at. Just look at your total before you play any more poker, no matter how the games turned out. If you lost them all, then you’ve got about $6 to gamble with if you choose. If you won some money, then look at what your new total is. If your new total is larger than it was before, then figure out where you want to invest your new $100. If your total is less than what it was before, then figure out how much you can spend before you’ve used your 10% for the day, then decide where you’re going to invest your money. It is not as difficult as it might sound. Simply put, after calculating your initial 10%, you know that that’s the most you’re allowed to lose from ANY PEAK before you hang it up for the day. I’ve outlined exactly what needs to be done below along with an example following this step by step procedure.

The Outline
1. Write down what your total bankroll is.
2. Figure out what 10% of your total bankroll is and write it down.
3. Outline a plan for yourself exactly where you will be investing this money.
4. Implement your plan and write down your results.
5. Write down what your new total bankroll is.
6. Add the profits from your plan to your previous investment for up to a maximum of your initial investment.
7. Repeat steps 3-6.

Example
(1) Write down what your total bankroll is.
$1,255
(2) Figure out what 10% of your total bankroll is and write it down.
$125.50
(3) Outline a plan for yourself exactly where you will be investing this money.
Two 9-person SNGs: (1) $50+$5 and (1) $20+$2
Two 9-person SNGs: (2) $20+$2
Total investment: $121
(4) Implement your plan and write down your results.
In order listed above: 4th, 1st, 5th, 8th
Total profit: -$31.00
(5) Write down what your new total bankroll is.
New bankroll: $1,224
(6) Add the profits from your plan to your previous investment for up to a maximum of your initial investment.
$125.50 - $31 = $94.50
(3) Outline a plan for yourself exactly where you will be investing this money.
Two 9-person SNGs: (2) $20+$2
Sit down at a $0.50/$1 NL Hold’em cash table with $50
Total investment: $94
(4) Implement your plan and write down your results.
In order listed above: 7th, 1st
Cashed out $216 at the $0.50/$1 NL Hold’em table
Total profit: $207
(5) Write down what your new total bankroll is.
New bankroll: $1,431
(6) Add the profits from your plan to your previous investment for up to a maximum of your initial investment.
$94.50 + $207 = $301.50 -> $125.50
(3) Outline a plan for yourself exactly where you will be investing this money.
Two 9-person SNGs: (1) $110+$9 turbo and (1) $6+$0.50 turbo
Total investment: $125.50
(4) Implement your plan and write down your results.
In order listed above: 4th, 1st
Total profit: -$98.50
(5) Write down what your new total bankroll is.
New bankroll: $1,332.50
(6) Add the profits from your plan to your previous investment for up to a maximum of your initial investment.
$125.50 - $98.50 = $27
(3) Outline a plan for yourself exactly where you will be investing this money.
One 45-person SNG: (1) $24+$2
Total investment: $26
(4) Implement your plan and write down your results.
Finished 7th (just out of the money)
Total profit: -$26
(5) Write down what your new total bankroll is.
New bankroll: $1,306.50
(6) Add the profits from your plan to your previous investment for up to a maximum of your initial investment.
$27 - $26 = $1
Finished for the day