Bankroll Management Struggles..
BR Management is a pretty tough thing to keep in check. If you agree then do yourself a favor, take an hour or so to sit down and go over yours today. You’ll thank yourself for it
Like most, I had no idea what BR Management was when I started playing a few short years ago. I would deposit $25.00, find some $1/$2 mtt’s with good gtd’s and hope for the best. Guess I didn’t read the fine print for this sure win strategy as I quickly found myself waiting to make another deposit.
Thankfully, I did have a few key elements working in my favor. 1) A planned budget (and wife) told me how much I wanted to gamble with. This was also a key factor in keeping poker enjoyable while I was losing money. 2) Not using the plastic in my wallet for deposits was also a type of control I used to keep my budget in check. I would force myself to spend the extra on a prepaid card to make a deposit. Lastly, I knew I couldn’t play too high of stakes because the money (and skill for that matter) was not there but thought that $1/$2 mtt’s were well within my limits (Casual player syndrome). For the next while it was a rinse and repeat process of lose/deposit but things were looking up, I was getting closer and closer to the money which kept me motivated.
And then it happened........
The deposits, the time I spent yelling at people who couldn’t hear me. None of that mattered at this moment.....I was IN THE MONEY!! And did I get up outta my chair and do a little dance, fist pumps and all? You damn right I did. min cash ftw
Eventually, I started reading about poker and came across some info on Bankroll Management. That’s when it sort of sunk in that maybe I shouldn’t be playing the stakes I have been. So I dropped to the .10 360man and stayed there with the odd .25 90man’s thrown in as well. If I wanted to play higher stakes then I had to improve my game so I started soaking up as much info as I could find in the spare time that I had. I even signed up at DC for a month so I could start watching videos as well but that didn’t work out so well with 2 little ones at home to keep my focus away from poker. I was finding myself in the top 36 of the 360 turbo quite often so I knew that my reading was helping but realized it is very tough to build a roll at that lvl.
About a year ago, I started splashing around in the sng’s playing various stakes with no regard for my bankroll. I started having success in the $1.50 50/50’s and ended up playing quite a few of them with a few $1.00 45man’s in there as well. I was doing well, doubling my roll and then watching it hit $0.00 again. I did however, notice that my deposits were starting to last longer and longer and I could see my game improving as well. I ended up busting my roll again in March of this year. I decided to take some time off from playing and concentrate at reading to try and improve my game mentally.
In Sept. It occurred to me that I should take a look in HM to see where I’ve been having the most success.....$1.00 45man’s . So I loaded up and started focusing just on this one tourney even thought it was outside of what my BR was telling me.
Currently, my 45man stats are:
#40 / ROI:115.7% / ITM: 27.5%
I know it’s a very small sample it’s definitely showing some promise. My goal is to stay here until my BR says I can move up to the next lvl ($3.50 45man)
And now the reason I decided to make this post.....
Last night in a 45man, I started the FT in 9th place and ended up shipping it in 40 hands for $12.73 (Yay me!) I wanted to play more cards but the 45man’s stopped filling up. That caused me to get away from my BR management yet again. I registered in a few mtt’s and with coffee in hand; I started multitabling like a crazed maniac. I did end up running well in a $2.20 1r1a 4kgtd (didn’t use the rebuy), was sitting in the top 10 for a better part of the tourney but spewed off my stack after being card dead for what felt like....forever. Ended up in 21st for $20.00 @3am
Tired and frustrated with myself for losing my patience so close to the FT, I realized I had lost focus of my BR in just a few short hours. How quickly things can get flipped on their head eh? With the 21st finish, I did manage to cut some of my loses so it wasn’t all bad. Lol
Here’s hoping we can keep our heads screwed on tight with regards to BR Management.
Will
Like most, I had no idea what BR Management was when I started playing a few short years ago. I would deposit $25.00, find some $1/$2 mtt’s with good gtd’s and hope for the best. Guess I didn’t read the fine print for this sure win strategy as I quickly found myself waiting to make another deposit.
Thankfully, I did have a few key elements working in my favor. 1) A planned budget (and wife) told me how much I wanted to gamble with. This was also a key factor in keeping poker enjoyable while I was losing money. 2) Not using the plastic in my wallet for deposits was also a type of control I used to keep my budget in check. I would force myself to spend the extra on a prepaid card to make a deposit. Lastly, I knew I couldn’t play too high of stakes because the money (and skill for that matter) was not there but thought that $1/$2 mtt’s were well within my limits (Casual player syndrome). For the next while it was a rinse and repeat process of lose/deposit but things were looking up, I was getting closer and closer to the money which kept me motivated.
And then it happened........
The deposits, the time I spent yelling at people who couldn’t hear me. None of that mattered at this moment.....I was IN THE MONEY!! And did I get up outta my chair and do a little dance, fist pumps and all? You damn right I did. min cash ftw
Eventually, I started reading about poker and came across some info on Bankroll Management. That’s when it sort of sunk in that maybe I shouldn’t be playing the stakes I have been. So I dropped to the .10 360man and stayed there with the odd .25 90man’s thrown in as well. If I wanted to play higher stakes then I had to improve my game so I started soaking up as much info as I could find in the spare time that I had. I even signed up at DC for a month so I could start watching videos as well but that didn’t work out so well with 2 little ones at home to keep my focus away from poker. I was finding myself in the top 36 of the 360 turbo quite often so I knew that my reading was helping but realized it is very tough to build a roll at that lvl.
About a year ago, I started splashing around in the sng’s playing various stakes with no regard for my bankroll. I started having success in the $1.50 50/50’s and ended up playing quite a few of them with a few $1.00 45man’s in there as well. I was doing well, doubling my roll and then watching it hit $0.00 again. I did however, notice that my deposits were starting to last longer and longer and I could see my game improving as well. I ended up busting my roll again in March of this year. I decided to take some time off from playing and concentrate at reading to try and improve my game mentally.
In Sept. It occurred to me that I should take a look in HM to see where I’ve been having the most success.....$1.00 45man’s . So I loaded up and started focusing just on this one tourney even thought it was outside of what my BR was telling me.
Currently, my 45man stats are:
#40 / ROI:115.7% / ITM: 27.5%
I know it’s a very small sample it’s definitely showing some promise. My goal is to stay here until my BR says I can move up to the next lvl ($3.50 45man)
And now the reason I decided to make this post.....
Last night in a 45man, I started the FT in 9th place and ended up shipping it in 40 hands for $12.73 (Yay me!) I wanted to play more cards but the 45man’s stopped filling up. That caused me to get away from my BR management yet again. I registered in a few mtt’s and with coffee in hand; I started multitabling like a crazed maniac. I did end up running well in a $2.20 1r1a 4kgtd (didn’t use the rebuy), was sitting in the top 10 for a better part of the tourney but spewed off my stack after being card dead for what felt like....forever. Ended up in 21st for $20.00 @3am
Tired and frustrated with myself for losing my patience so close to the FT, I realized I had lost focus of my BR in just a few short hours. How quickly things can get flipped on their head eh? With the 21st finish, I did manage to cut some of my loses so it wasn’t all bad. Lol
Here’s hoping we can keep our heads screwed on tight with regards to BR Management.
Will
Comments
But I don't think it's as hard as you really think it is.
Mark