Bank Roll

When it come to playing serious poker…. and by that I mean poker that makes a difference to the bread and butter on your table… not the stakes! … The most important thing has got to be bank roll.

I’ve posted variations on this post on the Blonde forum, the Hendon Mob forum and the Betfair forum in that past and it’s always been well received, while I’m maybe not the the greatest player ever , I’ve got mi head screwed on when it comes to control and discipline. :)

When u have to rely on poker for income it’s simply essential that you avoid going broke.

On one of the shows on the poker channel the other week someone said (cant remember who, may have been Mike C)

A fantastic player with poor bank roll management will make less money in the long run than an average player with fantastic bank roll management.

Ive been playing for about 30months now and gradually worked my way up the ladder playing mainly cash games with the odd tournie dabble. When I was thinking of going part time in Jan 2005 I posted on the HM forum and got a fantastic response from the community (thanks by the way to , Junior and JT etc)

http://www.thehendonmob.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5874&highlight=


Once I’d bit the bullet in Aug 2005 having to rely on poker to pay the rent / keep the mrs happy was a little scary, but it did help focus the mind.

Out of my bank roll every month now I must pay the short fall in wages and top up my pension with the difference, that was the deal with the mrs (plus some DIY round the house )

The only thing that could ruin this new found life style that I love so much is going broke, as such I worked out a fairly robust bank roll system to insure against that eventuality, so far it’s worked just fine………...

The only thing it needs to work is discipline. Harder than it sounds!!

Rule 1: Keep living money and poker money totally separate.

Rule 2: No leakage!! Roulette , BJ, the nags!

Rule 3: Keep detailed daily records.

Work on the principle of having two pots Main Bank roll and a Reserve.

I started out with a nominal figure as a main bank roll. For the sake of argument say £10k.

Out of this I need to pay myself a wage of say 1k a month come hell or high water. If I make more than the required 1k in a month.

50% of the excess is paid into the poker reserve (instant access high rate savings account) and 50% goes to the household slush fund for holidays and fun stuff for me and the Mrs….. as it worked out after a few months this turned out to be the Mrs maternity fund!!!

Continue like this each month until the reserve gets to a comfortable level.... say 5k or maybe 10k?

You can only dip into the reserve when the main bank roll drops to 10% of its starting level (not happened yet, but got close once!!!)

Associated with the BR are strict rules on the level of game I can play. When it drops below 30% of its starting level I have to drop limits to protect the bank roll etc. Having the safety net of a reserve just takes the pressure off on a bad run and building it up in the manner outlined means you tuck away a little for a rainy day every time you have a good month.

To most of you I guess this sounds fairly draconian! It does need strict discipline to enforce, however it was set up to maintain my new lifestyle for as long as possible.

I cant imagine going back to full time work now and if I went bust that’s what id have to do!!

Cheers Jim.