What is a bankroll? Poker theory for beginners

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Nerves of steel, fabulous payouts, daring strategies, reading opponents - it's all about poker. This game has been known to many for a long time, but right now it is experiencing its real peak of popularity. Every day there are hundreds, if not thousands of beginners, trying to learn a successful game strategy and grab their delicious piece from the constantly playing millions.

Bankroll basics - salvation for beginners

Whoever a person is - a talented mathematician, a professional psychologist or an experienced card player - in any case, at the first stage of learning poker, he will experience certain difficulties. The first thing that an inexperienced poker player needs to learn (and as quickly as possible) is what a bankroll is and how to manage it. After all, the duration of his "career" depends on it. Too many people fall into the same trap, and then, in despair, give up everything without even knowing all the delights of this card game.

Of course, it is worth considering what a bankroll is, ifyou play poker for money. After all, only when something valuable is lost, a person begins to make more balanced and adequate actions, evaluates every moment of the game, analyzes. But there is a downside to this: the burden of responsibility sometimes leads to rash risky actions that can lead to bankruptcy. This is exactly what bankroll rules are designed to save.

Dispersion inevitable

First of all, it is necessary for a real money poker player to understand that sooner or later a black streak will come. It is impossible to win all the time, even if you do everything absolutely right, soberly weighing every step. In this game, the share of luck is also important. In fact, any card can become the nuts, and, according to the laws of probability theory, you will not always have it. In order not to become prematurely bankrupt during these black days, you must strictly adhere to the rules that govern bankroll management.

So, some specifics. What is a bankroll? This is actually your bank. Buy-in - the amount that will be withdrawn from you for participating in the tournament. If you play cash games, the alternative is the blinds, which you will definitely have to put at the table. The rules of bankroll management just regulate the ratio of buy-ins and blinds to the player's bank in order to feel confident at the selected limit.

The cash bankroll theory

If from the first steps of conquering poker you decide to try your hand at cash games, you should adhere to an unshakable rule: play limits on the basis that your bank is equal to orexceeds 300 big blinds. For example, you have chosen a table at which blinds are played 1/2. It turns out that your bankroll should be at least 2 x 300=600. This is done so that you can feel relaxed at the table and not be afraid to play marginal hands, hoping for luck.

You should also follow one more rule: you can't lose more than 5% of the pot. For example, let's make a small calculation: you sat down at the table with a stack of 200 with blinds 1/2. If your buy-in is reduced to 170 due to a series of losses and bad hands, you are not eligible to continue playing at this limit - you can no longer afford it, consider moving to a lower one.

Bankroll theory for MTTs

Tournaments are different. The specifics of a multi-table game differ significantly from cash games. There is no time to wait here, the blinds automatically increase and sooner or later they will start biting your stack. You will have to play for many hours before the prize zone, and all this time you are hanging by a thread, risking being left without prize money. Despite the duration and complexity, MTTs are very popular, and this is due to the fact that they have the most “delicious” prize money. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of dollars can be played in one tournament.

You can't earn such fabulous cash prizes in one evening at the micros. But you should also not rush into expensive tournaments in the hope of earning more. There is also a bankroll rule for MTTs: you must have an amount equal to 40 buy-ins per tournament. Let's give an example: your bank is 100 conventional units, in thiscase, you can afford to play tournaments no more than 2, 50.

Adequate assessment of opportunities

With the search for answers to the question of what a bankroll is, beginners who decide to play for money in online rooms face. This is where you can immerse yourself in poker completely. You can play several tables at once for many hours, and these tables will be of a completely different plan: tournaments, cash games, limit hold'em, Omaha, SnG.

That's why bankroll management rules are created so that, having played too much, you don't fly into the red on the very first evening. Having known in advance what a bankroll is, you will ensure a longer existence in the poker arena, if not as a world star, but at least as an adequate and promising player. If you learn to strictly manage your bank, you will automatically have no problems of a psychological nature. Another black line in the game simply will not be able to knock you down, because poker wins who knows how to stand at a distance, and not in one hand.