havent updated this thread for a ridiculously long time - ended up having essentially a 6 week break from poker with no access to internet! thankfully thats resolved now, so i can get some vids up soon for u guys.
anyways, i wanted to make a big post kinda... im gonna split it into 2 parts tho: 1 part will be about bankroll management and the second will be a little bit about tilt control. arguably the 2 most important concepts in becoming a successful poker player, since without applying both of these principles, your ability becomes irrelevant - even if durrrr played when he was tilted or when he wasnt bankrolled, ineveitably he'd lose money.
they are a bit philosophical, although the references i make, i think, are totally valid and very useful in analysing the concepts in a new light to what you might have heard/ read before.
so this post is part 1:
Bankroll Management
definition: managing your bankroll simply means making sure theres enough money in your account such that you can cope with variance and not go busto.
variance cant be controlled, and it will happen to you at some stage so you need to be prepared for it. every time you sit down at any poker table and buy in (either cash game or tournament) you're putting part, or all, of your bankroll at risk. therefore, bankroll management extends beyond just the stakes you're playing. bankroll management
includes game selection.
common misconceptions that i always hear....
"i have x amount of buyins for the stake above me, im going to play some higher games"
"i dont need to game select below stake x because everyones fishy and i should be able to beat them"
reality: just because you are suddenly rolled for Xnl doesnt mean you should sit at any table you see fit. you should
know that you are going to be a favourite in that line up, and have a positive expectation in the game. dont just sit because theres a game running, or because you want to play higher. similarly, just because you find a lot of fish at a certain limit doesnt mean everyone is. theres regs at all limits. sometimes those regs congregate at 1 table, maybe accidently, but the point is that those tables are ones to avoid. sitting at those isnt +EV and is costing you money (because you could be making more at another table).
one of my housemates was playing 5nl on stars yesterday as he's been grinding up a roll from $35 that i gave him.
he was 4-tabling, and i said to him "why are u at these tables?". he didnt have any answer, he said just sat at them randomly.
i said "do you not think you should be looking for fish?". he said "everyone at 5nl is a fish".
for a few minutes he had to make a phone call so i played for him - one of the tables was 4 handed. the 3 others were all full stacked and had auto-reload on (tell-tale signs of regs). hardly, "fish" by any stretch.
clearly playing in this game is no where near as +EV as playing in games where you actively seek out fish (it may even be -EV). blanketing the entire community at a certain stake as "fish" is just pure ignorance.
now.... ignore poker for a minute, and contemplate this idea:
you decide to set up a business that invests in stocks and shares, or buys equity in various business. every investment you make is naturally in the hope that you will make a good return (thus the term, ROI - return on investment). you have $x to invest at the start of your business. if you lose all that money your business is bankrupt.
so lets think of your generic
strategy:
- you arent going to invest all your money in 1 stock/share/company. you are going to invest a fraction of your money such that you spread out your risk and are able to cope with a potential loss.
- every investment decision you make is going to be well thought out - you arent going to make sporadic investments. you're going to research the market, evaluate the risk of the investment, evaluate your potential reward and decide whether its worth it. you arent going to invest in markets/ companies whom you know nothing about.
- now, lets say you make a few good investments and start to build up some funds with which you can re-invest. you can start to look at bigger opportunities to invest more money for hopefully bigger rewards. naturally, theres bigger risk too. you're going to make sure you evaluate every investment even more since the money means more.
do you see a trend in how this can be applied to poker?
your bankroll is essentially your funds to play poker with, just as the cash in the business are your means for investing. make good investments and you make money, make bad investments and u lose money, same with business and poker.
whenever you look at the various tables within a certain stake (e.g. scrolling the list of 6max games at 25nl), you are effectively looking at various companies within a market - each has their own level of risk and profitability. investing in companies with a low level of profitability and high level of risk is bad in business. similarly, playing at a poker table with a bunch of regs isnt going to be profitable particularly, but it will carry a lot of risk - thus a bad investment. its not going to generate profit and help you move up the stakes - its just going to lead to losing part of your bankroll, and is effectively costing you money.
a good investor in business is one who invests in the things that are easiest to make money from - he isnt trying to turn a profit from companies which dont look fruitful. all he cares about is making money, and making it quickly. so should you be. your soul intention in poker should be:
"i want to make as much money as possible" - who cares if you take that money from fish or regs? why does ego have to come into it?? (i.e. trying to prove you can beat regs)
trying to make money from random tables without properly evaluating your opponents at that table, and the other options available is both ignorant (im not going to bother looking at the other tables), and arrogant (i dont need to look at the other games - i should be able to make money here).
from my experience.... i moved up the stakes pretty quickly. i was playing 6max 50nl in January, and within 80k hands i was beating 400nl. all my game was based on game selection. theres people who were playing 50nl in January that are probably playing 100nl now, maybe taking shots at 200nl. im playing 600nl as my main game, while taking shots at 1knl. im not saying that as a brag, im merely trying to illustrate the point of game selection.
i couldnt care less if i lose some money to a reg so long as i make it off a fish. if theres a table with 5 regs, im not going to sit down so that i can "prove" to myself that i can beat them. whats the point? time is money. the time im spending on that table breaking even, i could be spending playing with fish and taking their money. even if im sat a table and theres 1 fish, im still looking for others in the lobby -i scroll the lobby at least once every 10 minutes looking at the games. i colour code anyone whos a weak player so that i can easily spot them. if i see them i join the wait list (start joining wait lists they are well worth it). if my seat that comes up has direct position on a fish, i will sit. if im on his direct right instead, and the other 5 are regs, i wont. simple. didnt cost me anything to try and get into a good game, but the potential reward could be huge.
the most important point here, is that even if im at a table with 2 fish, theres
still going to be 3 regs. its not like im avoiding them as such. you arent going to not improve by searching for fish, because undoubtadely theres always going to be some regs sat in your games who you will have to face.
just think about what you aim is from poker (it should be to make as much money as possible) and work out the best way to achieve that (playing people who are easy to take money off).
Last edited by jackwilcox; 10-30-2009 at 04:21 PM.