Hi all,

First post in this specific forum. Normally post in NL Strategy. Hoping for some feedback about bankroll management.

I started playing 4-5 times a week at MGM National Harbor in March after a few months off. Previously I had been playing at MD Live and lost most of what I had won (around $1,200). Anyway, I took $200 to the casino and tried my luck. No bankroll to start really.

I had a great March (+$3,000) but a terrible April (-$3,000) after trying 2/5 and losing $1k and a horrific 24-hour session where I dumped $1,800 in just cooler after cooler (set over set, AK into AA, nut flush v. boat, etc.). This month I'm up around $1,000 so far. Any tips about bankroll management that can keep me from losing it all again? Do you set some of your winnings aside for example?

I have a somewhat steady income outside of poker but my goal is to make poker a supplement to that income and not just a break-even hobby.

Appreciate the feedback.

Thanks,
DT

+-3k days/weeks are relatively standard in some 2/5 games if you are playing a lot. So if those swings are too big for you, i'd highly suggest moving down.

If you wanna follow a strict bankroll management, you would need at least 20 BIs to whatever stake. So for 1/3 I suggest saving up at least $6,000 and then moving up to 2/5 when you have $10k. But one thing I see players struggle a lot with is moving up and then refusing to move back down when losing. Yes, moving up is nice because you can win more money, but at the same time you could lose more as well.

Also I highly recommend always buying in for at least 100 bb to whatever stake. If you buy in for $200 at a 1/3 table you're already at a disadvantage and the range of hands you can play become very narrow with 67 bb.

This contains some good points, i would also suggest keeping your life and poker rolls seperate which shouldn't be a problem since you have a job, GL.

So this month I'm up from starting at $200 to about $1,300 and I have decided that rather than risk losing it all again, I will deposit half my winnings into a retirement account and continue playing with the remainder. This will of course prevent me from playing 2/5 and keep me in 1/3, where I feel much more comfortable.

Also, I am setting a goal for myself of $3,000 this month. I feel like this is attainable because I was able to do it in March. But this time I will only play with half my winnings and deposit the rest into my IRA.

I scored another win last night ($450). Will deposit $400 of that into IRA today, leaving me around $700 to play with. So far so good this month: up $1,450, about half way to my $3k goal.

Great month! Between one tag team tournament cash and cash games I am up $3,318 in May, so I achieved my goal of 3K last month! I played 2/5 once and lost around $300 but more than made up for it in 1/3. And I stuck with my goal of depositing most of my winnings into my retirement account. I deposited $2,700 of my May earnings, leaving myself with a bankroll of around $700. Wohoo!

Went busto with my last $500 near the end of May, took June off until I got paid. Went back to the casino in mid-July with two buy-ins and have run it up to $2,200 in three sessions. ($400 was a high hand promotion.) Deposited $2,100 into my retirement account so I have three BI left. Here's hoping those last! Goal for the month is to max out my retirement account contributions for this year ($5,500), so $700 more to go!

Ah to run good....

Hit set over set last night at Maryland Live and stacked V for $600. Got it AI pre against a fish who jammed $275 with KQo against my KK. I won that “flip,” as he said. Up $700 that session. Another $400 today as Vs continue to amaze me with light calls AI pre (this time for 90BB with JJ v. my KK). Now just $300 short of my $5,500 goal but I can do it!

I do sometimes try too hard to win every pot. Example: I limp/call a button open with QJdd. Flop: 5-6-7 one diamond. He c-bets I float. Turn 4. I donk $40. He calls. River 2. I donk half pot $60 he tank calls with set of 4s. Oops. He said there weren’t enough combos of 8s in my range...? Oh well.

I did it! Today/yesterday I booked a win of $577 in 7 hours, taking me past my $5,500 goal and maxing out my retirement account for the year. Now everything I win will be put into my roll.

Hand of the session: I limp LP KQo, drunk dude there with douchy friend raises $15 BTN, three callers including me. Flop K-high. V bets $50, I call. Turn: K. I check V bets $125, I CRAI, V folds for his remaining $40 and calls it a night?! Dealer passes me the chips and says "Merry Christmas." :-D

Next goal: $10,000 bankroll challenge! I'll try to accomplish this over the next three to four months. I have been averaging $3k or more per month, so I think this is attainable.

Oh, why do Vs love to jam KQo pre like it's the nutz? :P

Deposited that last $300 today. I felt good to max out the retirement account.

I thought it was a good time to do some analysis of my overall session results.

I added up my sessions based on an *approximate* average session length of 10 hours and total playing time of around 650 hours since December 2017.

Mr first four months (approx. 325 hours) I netted $3,706: $11.4/hr. or 3.8BB/hr.

My second four months I netted $2,547: $7.8/hr. or 2.6BB/hr. (Two of these sessions were my biggest losses: -$1,000 and -$1,800.)

$1,850 of my total winnings were from high hand or other casino promotions, so I actually made $4,403 total or $6.77/hour (2.25BB/hr.) over eight months.

Anyone care to chime in on these results for someone playing live for less than a year? Much appreciated!

Thanks,
DT

Sorry, trying to read all of this and feel like I am missing things.

1. What is your current BR and how much are you buying in for per session?

2. Is it a life roll or bankroll? I am assuming you have a decent job outside of poker...sounds like you might.

3. How often are you playing? Hours a week and hours a month.

Thanks, and can't wait to keep following.

Hi, and thanks! I have $850 right now that I'm playing with. I buy in for $300 and will reload once. I have a job outside of poker (lawyer). I play every other day or so until I go busto. About 10-12 hours per session, so around 50 hours per week and around 200 hours per month, assuming I last the whole month without losing it all.

You might be wondering: how can you play so much with a full time job as a lawyer? Well, it's not truly full time at the moment. I have cases assigned to me periodically and right now I am at a lull in my workload, which means more time to play.

Your session lengths / hours per month / hours per year as a "part time" player are incredible. Can't quite decide if they are incredibly impressive or incredibly insane!

I find that life balance is important with everything, and I'm guessing it as helped with my poker results. For example, my after-work schedule this week will consist of a poker session, a round of golf, a rec hockey game, a couple of dinners out with family, some household chore night(s), and a party hosting night. I don't think life balance should be overlooked, but I guess it differs from person to person and what their situation is.

GgoodluckG

For me, no wife and kids means more free time, so I can afford to play long sessions often. It has its pro and cons. I am sure people get tons of fulfillment from a family life. For now I have my dogs, parents, and little sister. My "balance" comes from playing in a free poker league where I am ranked quite highly. Unlike casino poker, bar poker is a lot about camaraderie. I've made quite a few friends.

I played a 17 hour session yesterday. I slept from 4PM when I got home until 10AM the next morning! Woke up feeling hung over. Bleh. At least I made $600.

Was running about break even/down a little until two gems of hands popped up around hour 13. Called a raise with 10-10 OOP, flopped top set, called V's c-bet, called V's turn bet when he turned top pair, unfortunately he checked behind river. Still a nice pot. Then I limp A3cc BTN and flop is 5-6-Jccc. EP bets $20, V in MP calls, I raise to $45 (previously I would just call here, but I've learned to get max value from my monsters), EP folds, MP jams (!) Q4cc and I scoop a $700 pot.

Then I lost a couple small pots where I called a raise preflop and missed. Once with AK - didn't 3! because I was protecting my stack and V raised to $30 pre . . . dumb - and once with 88 flop 3-6-J. I missed and folded to flop bet bot hands. Meh. Good session anyway.

The end of July has been good for me. All but one winning session. One small loss (-$172) running a set into a straight and trips into a boat and missing a big draw.

Looks like my first four months and second four are turning out to me pretty comparable: around 2.8BB/hr. But if I remove my lone regrettable "garbage fire tilt" session where I lost $1,800 I am considerably better in my second four months (5.7BB/hr.). I am much better now at getting over coolers and other big losses than I used to me. Had set over set last night and barely fazed me.

Hand of the night yesterday: TAG raises in MP to $15, I have AdAc and make it $75 in SB. BB (fish on tilt) calls, with $104 behind. Rest fold. I bet $100 in the dark. Flop: Kd-10d-3s. Fish jams for $4 more, I call, and fish turns over 62dd. He misses. I scoop. He later returns to table with $85 and asks everyone to borrow $15 for the min buy in . . . .

#addictionisreal.

I've had 3 different players over the years ask to borrow money to buy into the game. One, a poker dealer who had dealt me a few times and whom I was playing a 4/8 Limit game with for only the second time. Two, a guy who was new to the scene and torching money (I have all my fish sliders way to the right on my PokerJournal tracking on him), who approached me at the casino bar regarding a BI for the game. Three, a guy who was from a small town where we knew some people in common but otherwise didn't know each other, hopping from table to table to ask for a few $ in order to scrounge together a BI.

Pretty sad.

Actually haven't seen any of those guys since they asked, so they are obviously long gone busto and out of the game.

GcluelessaddictionnoobG

Posted a small loss last night (-$143); was never up the entire session. A mixture of being card dead, missing draws, and a little bad luck (e.g., raise AK, c-bet K-high flop, V stubbornly calls and turns a set of 99s). I may have called a few too many raises with speculative hands and missed (low/mid pairs, suited broadways).

Thankfully I lost the minimum this one hand I had AK against an OMC. He raised to $17. I had limped planning on a l/rr but due to player profile I decided to flat. Flop K-high. He bet $50, I called. We checked the turn and river. I pretty confidently showed my hand first, expecting JJ or 10-10 (Q on river ruled out QQ). He had AA.... I told him he saved me a lot of money and he said he thought I might have had a set of Kings. God bless OMCs!

Also can attribute the loss to terrible tables. My first table became super tight about 4 hours in, so I left, only to be seated at another super tight table. No one called my raises. So I moved again. Finally table #3 was an action table. Lots of raises and jams preflop. I doubled up once with JJ, but missed a big opportunity with AQo....

I limped EP with AdQh expecting this LAG to my left raise. Unfortunately he folds. Instead the BTN, who seemed TAG, raised to $20. Then a short stack in EP l/rr AI for around $65. Because I didn't close the action, I folded. BTN called with 87cc and short stack tabled A-10o. I would have made the nut flush.

The action dynamic ended but then some new faces joined the table. They seemed fishy. One such player raised EP to $7 (?!), one caller, I flat (...) with KK. Flop 8-4-2r. Original raiser/V bets $10, one caller, I make it $40, V calls, other folds. Turn is 8, V checks, I bet $40 (should have gone $75...), V calls. River A and we both check. I'm good. He mucks his 99, 10-10, JJ, or QQ, I don't know which.

After botching the KK hand, I racked up since I was not playing my best and had been playing for 17 hours.

Even though I posted two small losses recently, I am pretty happy about them. Six months ago, I am pretty sure I would have gone on some sort of tilt and punted a lot more money. Instead, I stuck to my strategy and waited for premiums. So in a sense these two sessions have been wins.

My bankroll is still around $1,650 so I am in decent shape. Until next time.

Made around $300 at a home game Friday night, then two small (oh so small) wins Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday I chopped the top two in the home game tournament for $240 apiece and made around $95 in the cash game. One player in our game normally starts going on tilt at some point. Near the end of the session she raised to $9 (in a 0.25/0.5 game) and I woke up with QQ and went all in for her remaining $1. She called it off with 34dd. We ran it twice (because, hey, it's a home game!) and I scooped. Then she borrowed $5 from me so she could play in the last hand/bomb pot and went all in blind on the flop. I flopped top pair good kicker with AQ and quickly got my money back.

Saturday was uneventful. Nothing memorable happened. I won $51. Took advantage of my tight image to seal more than one pot.

Sunday was about getting unstuck for most of the session after I ran flopped trips into a flopped boat in a 3! pot. That stung. I finally got unstuck 14 hours in when I rivered the nut flush against turned two pair.

The last table on Sunday was interesting, with a guy and his buddy there for the Potomac Poker Open. One of them knew what he was doing; the newbie, not so much. The knowledgeable one kept asking people at the table to go up to his hotel room in the casino and bang his wife.

As usual, I was the quietest one at the table and the jocose player pointed that out. At some point when he found out how long I had been grinding that day he asked where he could get some Adderall. I gave him the name of the dealer sitting in the middle of the table.

There was one guy sitting on about $2,200. He had played 2/5 and 5/10 in the past. Limped pot, I have K-10hh in EP. Flop: 9h-Qh-3d. One $5 bet by the newbie, three callers. Turn: 4h. Another $5 by the newbie, I call, CO raises to $20, BTN (5/10 player) raises to $55, newbie folds, I call, CO calls. Turn: blank. I check, and it checks through. BTN announces two pair, I show and scoop. I guess the CO had the naked Ah? Poker can be so confusing. I ended up $31. Bankroll up to $1,920.

Decided to spend some of my poker winnings today. Someone has mentioned that it is important to treat yourself once in a while. I haven't read anything poker related in a few months, so I purchased Small Stakes No Limit Hold 'Em by Ed Miller. Hopefully it will be useful. Anyone else who has read it care to share their opinion?

I also stopped by The North Face store and bought a bright blue zip-up jacket to keep me warm in the poker room. (50% off on the sale rack.) Beats the drab maroon hoodie I used to wear. I think wearing something half decent while playing will be a nice boost to my self-esteem.

Bankroll: $1,790.

Good job controlling your tilt better. At only 6 buy-ins, you're really under-rolled for 1/3. Hope you stay on the good side of variance the next few months so you can run it up to a sufficient roll.

Thanks, friend. I appreciate it! I hope so too.

Another couple of good sessions. Notable hands: I should have a fishy image as I have been deliberately playing like a beluga whale for the first hour or so. UTG limps, I limp AK UTG+1, MP raises $15, BTN jams $80, UTG *calls*, I re-jam $300 effective, UTG calls with QQ and we outflop him. BTN had 10-10.

Another notable hand: I limped in MP with K-10o, fish raised to $7, BB fish 3! to $15, I called, initial raiser called. Flopped open ended, turned nuts (A on turn), raised turn, BB 3!, I jammed $300, he called with AKcc for flush draw and top pair. I hold. Heehee. Up $340 for the session.

Last night called $12 raise from EP Asian young gun (several other callers in between and I closed the action) with 10-9cc. Flop OESFD, raise flop, make nut straight on turn, bet big, jam river, he tank calls with QQ. Bam! Up $428 for the session.

Fugly hand from last night: card dead and isolated with 74hh in CO, HJ called, I c-bet K-high flop, HJ calls. Barreled turn and river and he called down. Ooph. So much for a tight image and position? Should have remembered "one and done" on the flop.

Bankroll: $2,466. 25% of the way to my $10k challenge.

Decent session last night. Hand of the night: raise AsAh BTN, BB calls, V (tough reg) limp calls CO. Flop: Qs-7-3s. I bet 1/2 pot, BB folds, CO c/r $60. I call. V jams turn for $220 effective. I tank call, he taps table and shows 10-9o. GG. I switched tables a couple times after this hand, second table broke pretty quickly, third one was uneventful.

I left about an hour after the AA hand. I was pretty stressed out calling it off with one pair and decided to book a modest win and call it a night after 6 hours. Up $193.

I started tracking my sessions using an app. Since I started tracking late last month, I've played 130 hours and made $16.07/hr. or 5.35 BB/hr. Bankroll: $2,554.*

*I spent $100 on new sneakers, socks, and insoles. Long overdue for the sneakers.

Tonight the line for 1/3 was too long so I got on the much shorter 2/5 list and bought in for $500. Only hand of note: BTN limps, I have KK in SB. I HATE playing big pots in SB so I limp hoping the BB has a hand or just play a smallish pot otherwise. BB raises $25, BTN folds, I 3! $150. BB jams, I snap. I hold against QQ. I take my 1/3 seat soon after and wasn’t feeling it so I called it a short session. Nothing like $461/hr. to help boost your hourly. Currently $19/hr.

Bankroll: $2,999.