Building A Poker Bankroll: Mistakes To Avoid

While some players play poker for recreation, others see the game as an opportunity to boost their bankroll and make a full time living.

4 No-No’s When Creating A Bankroll

If you’re keen on building a strong bankroll, you need to avoid these 4 mistakes at all times.

1. Don’t Jump Into High-Stake Games

With the goal of making huge money, amateur and intermediate players risk a big part of their bankroll by playing high stake games. These games should only be played by experienced poker pros who have a strong bankroll back-up.

If you have a small bankroll, you’ll end up being a fish among the sharks. It is important to gauge your own skills and play within your level if you want to effectively manage your bankroll.

2. Don’t Take On Too Many Hands

This is another mistake commonly made by new poker players. While online poker can be engaging and fun, there are times when players become bored especially when particular hole cards are not giving them positive results. If their poker session turns dead, players tend to play each and every hand, which results in a smaller chip stack.

Online poker variants like Texas Hold’em and Omaha only allow players to play 16% hands leaving them with two choices — stick with few playable hands or just play all the hands altogether to overcome boredom.

3. Testing Too Many Variants

At all costs, avoid switching multiple games as it will only make you an incompetent player. When you keep on switching from one game variant to another, you will end up being the “jack of trades, master of none” player who tries hard at learning different skills but can’t really master a specific game. In the same manner, you must stop switching from poker tournaments to cash games and vice-versa to avoid disparity in managing your bankroll.

4. Micro-Manage Your Balance

Making money in poker is hard but losing money in poker is easy. A bankroll which keeps growing will make you feel good but do bear in mind that this feeling can drive you to make impulsive decisions. Always remember one bad beat can significantly reduce your balance. You should micro-manage your bankroll because you will be playing with chips and not real money at the tables which can cause you to lose track of your bankroll.

So whether it is live poker or online poker, if you want to grow your bankroll, do remember these four tips.