How do you track your bankroll?

    • Alleen86
      Alleen86
      Silver
      Joined: 27.05.2010 Posts: 5,091
      Hello guys!

      I think we all know that BRM is one of the most important parts of being succesfull in poker. Therefore, there is a necessity to track how many poker funds do you have, where do you have it, how does it change etc..

      So I would like to know how do you guys track your bankroll funds? Do you use some applications? Do you have your own ways of tracking it or you don't track it at all?

      I am trying to create some sort of bankroll management application in Excel 2007 and Visual Basic. I want to include not only played sessions, but also funds in bank accounts, e-wallets, poker rooms.. and transfers among them, so you could be aware of every aspect of you bankroll at any time.. I also want to include many graphs and statistics about overall earnings, and also cash, SnG and MTT earnings individually..

      What do you think about it? Would someone be willing to try it, possibly?
  • 28 replies
    • Ave27
      Ave27
      Bronze
      Joined: 14.01.2007 Posts: 171
      i have the free trial of elephant, but when i don't i actually just write it down in a little black book. i'll write down hands i think are important. not just hands i won hands i should think about. how much i started with, how much i end with and that sorta thing.
    • OZSA
      OZSA
      Bronze
      Joined: 18.05.2009 Posts: 804
      the best way to track ur bankroll and analyze is getting holdem manager... there u see every cent u won or lost and how..or elephant if u only want it for keeping track of ur bankroll, and thats free
    • adamsbake
      adamsbake
      Global
      Joined: 09.02.2011 Posts: 5
      Poker bankroll management is the most important part of playing poker. Every successful poker player keeps careful records of his poker bankroll. I would recommend you to use the Poker Junkie bankroll tracker as it's a free tool that will help you take control of your success.

      Integrity and security: Data you feed into the bankroll tracker will not be accessed by online site administration.

      Analyzing your playing patterns: Your statistics are displayed in clear tables and graphs, so that you can judge what's right and wrong with your game.
    • alejandrosh
      alejandrosh
      Bronze
      Joined: 02.07.2008 Posts: 4,346
      I track my bankroll with the cashier
    • NightFrostaSS
      NightFrostaSS
      Bronze
      Joined: 25.10.2008 Posts: 5,255
      Originally posted by alejandrosh
      I track my bankroll with the cashier
      Where can I get one? Does it work with pokerstars?
    • Huseens
      Huseens
      Bronze
      Joined: 02.07.2009 Posts: 709
      Originally posted by NightFrostaSS
      Originally posted by alejandrosh
      I track my bankroll with the cashier
      Where can I get one? Does it work with pokerstars?
      Also ain't it against FT rules?
    • Alleen86
      Alleen86
      Silver
      Joined: 27.05.2010 Posts: 5,091
      OK, but I was thinking of tracking all your funds for playing poker, including funds on every poker room you play at, funds for poker on your e-wallets, bank accounts.. Sometimes you deposit your own money, which increases your entire bankroll, sometimes you withdraw some of your poker funds because you need it for other purposes etc.. I think it is very important to be aware of total funds for playing poker at any time, so you could manage your funds better. Is there any software to manage this? Something like accounting software for poker funds.. :)
    • Doratti
      Doratti
      Bronze
      Joined: 23.10.2010 Posts: 17
      Looks like collusion between OP and that Basic status guy :f_cool: report them!
    • alejandrosh
      alejandrosh
      Bronze
      Joined: 02.07.2008 Posts: 4,346
      Originally posted by Huseens
      Originally posted by NightFrostaSS
      Originally posted by alejandrosh
      I track my bankroll with the cashier
      Where can I get one? Does it work with pokerstars?
      Also ain't it against FT rules?
      yes, they'll ban you if you use pokerstars
    • SPeedFANat1c
      SPeedFANat1c
      Bronze
      Joined: 04.01.2009 Posts: 5,150
      • 11.02.2011, 11:51
      • This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by SPeedFANat1c: 11.02.2011 11:54.
      I track it in excell file. Holdem manager is also a good tool, but it is laggy - lets say I want to see my whole bankroll, I need to make a report or graph of all my hands which causes lag till it reads all database. Also don't know if it is possible with it to add one time bonuses, like starting capital from pokerstrategy. Probably it is possible, but I am too lazy to search :D

      edit: one thing would be cool to make automatic in exell file - conversion between euros and dollars. Every time I check, the ration between dollar and euro differs, so it should somethow automatically read from some website the real ratio of current day. Probably this is done somehow using visual basic.
    • konkey
      konkey
      Bronze
      Joined: 29.12.2009 Posts: 385
      I think you should strictly divide your poker money from your real life money. Put your poker money to poker room, And if not absolutely neccessary, do not cash out from your poker money until you reach higher levels. So eventual cashout will be at most few buyins for you. Then it'll be also simpler to manage your poker money.
    • Hahaownedlolz
      Hahaownedlolz
      Bronze
      Joined: 24.04.2009 Posts: 1,755
      funds for poker on your e-wallets, bank accounts..



      I do not understand this. Why isn't that money in your poker accounts?


      I see very little to no reason to cash out till your making a decent amount of money (could live off your monthly winnings). Perhaps you could cash out a few times before that to reward yourself but not too much if you ask me. And the money you withdraw at that time shouldn't be going back into the poker account.. if things go right atleast..
    • opal99
      opal99
      Black
      Joined: 05.02.2008 Posts: 8,270
      Originally posted by Alleen86
      OK, but I was thinking of tracking all your funds for playing poker, including funds on every poker room you play at, funds for poker on your e-wallets, bank accounts.. Sometimes you deposit your own money, which increases your entire bankroll, sometimes you withdraw some of your poker funds because you need it for other purposes etc.. I think it is very important to be aware of total funds for playing poker at any time, so you could manage your funds better. Is there any software to manage this? Something like accounting software for poker funds.. :)
      Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Calculator

      I don't use anything else... used to use Excel sheet I created myself but spending time with that during downswing periods is even worse for your mindset than losing itself...
    • evertonroar
      evertonroar
      Bronze
      Joined: 26.06.2009 Posts: 737
      "I do not understand this. Why isn't that money in your poker accounts?"


      because you bamkrole is not the money in your poker account, its the total of all the money you have that you would spend on poker. For instance, I have a good job with a good steady income. If I lost all my money in my accounts (unlikely as about 400 buyin for sngs) I would have no issue desposting some more money. But i dont need to put it in now as that money is much better in th ebank reducing my home loan interest.
    • SPeedFANat1c
      SPeedFANat1c
      Bronze
      Joined: 04.01.2009 Posts: 5,150
      Originally posted by Hahaownedlolz
      funds for poker on your e-wallets, bank accounts..



      I do not understand this. Why isn't that money in your poker accounts?


      I think its safer to keep money in bank account than in poker room. Especially poker room that has low traffic and can go bankrupt any day and not pay you any money.
    • w34z3l
      w34z3l
      Coach
      Coach
      Joined: 03.08.2009 Posts: 13,315
      I just know what I've roughly got on each site and add it up in my head :f_cool:

      I keep track of winnings/losses in HEM by creating a 'player alias' with all my sites.
    • konkey
      konkey
      Bronze
      Joined: 29.12.2009 Posts: 385
      Originally posted by evertonroar
      "I do not understand this. Why isn't that money in your poker accounts?"


      because you bamkrole is not the money in your poker account, its the total of all the money you have that you would spend on poker. For instance, I have a good job with a good steady income. If I lost all my money in my accounts (unlikely as about 400 buyin for sngs) I would have no issue desposting some more money. But i dont need to put it in now as that money is much better in th ebank reducing my home loan interest.
      Well, I think it isn't good idea. You don't want to count expenses of travelling to your job into your poker losses. Neither you want to count your salary as win in poker. You should really tell ok, this is my poker money, and keep them absolutely separated from rl. And if you use reasonable BRM, and manage to lose all your poker money, then you should rather think about why this is the case, instead of creating new poker bankroll. You wuold probably lose it again. Or, you can first be rich and then it won't matter.
    • evertonroar
      evertonroar
      Bronze
      Joined: 26.06.2009 Posts: 737
      so i should get a few thousand dollars. give it to full tilt, never use it and pay higher interest on my morgage? i have about 350 buy in for my current level. If i manage to lose that well then it would be a huge downswing. BUT that doesnt mean i would quit poker.

      "Neither you want to count your salary as win in poker." Not sure what you mean by this. i track my winnings on Holden manager. and while i include rakeback I dont inlclude my fuel for going to work or my parking either for that matter. everyone is in a different situation. I make much more at work than i will ever make at poker but that doent mean i will quit my favourite hobbie if it cost me another days wages in a few years time
    • konkey
      konkey
      Bronze
      Joined: 29.12.2009 Posts: 385

      "Neither you want to count your salary as win in poker." Not sure what you mean by this.
      It's still mainly response to original post. He asked how to manage his money, but he also wanted to include funds in bank accounts and ewallets. And that's example why you don't want to treat money in your bank account as poker money. You don't want to include everyday expenses because when you'll look at grand total each day of last month, you won't be able to tell anything about your poker results.

      Of course, if poker is hobby for you, you are in absolutely different situation. But when he wanted to count money in bank accounts in poker money, he's most likely not working yet, probably student.
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