My Most Important Article

» KOLUMNE

My Most Important Article

von LuigiKwaysser

In this article, I want to deal with a very problematic topic:

Bankroll management – how can I move up?

I am sure that after reading this title, 50% of people turned the page, thinking that there is nothing new for him here. But as long as I can still see and hear players who are continuously nervy, short-tempered, shouting, abusing their opponents, mulling over bad beat stories, sounding off about the injustice of poker; I can only think that many play at stakes where the losses are beyond their tolerance. So, I also feel it really is necessary to gnaw at this bone of contention again. Put your pride and illusions on the shelf and read on carefully.

• Any time you plan to join the table, bear in mind your goal for the game.

I have bad news for you: you’ve managed to choose one of the costliest of hobbies. If you aren’t careful, you could not only lose an infinite amount of money, but also your livelihood, family, friends, health and joy of life. I am not writing this to frighten anybody but rather to call all beginner and greenhorn players' attention to the fact that - as with any game related to fortune - it can be addictive. Choosing the wrong stake can sweep the ground from under your feet at an unbelievable speed. I am not an old man, but even I have seen many guys whose respectable lives were derailed because of card tables and believe me, it is not an inspiring thing to see.

• If you are a hobby player, take it for granted that you will almost always lose the money you put on the table. Choose a stake that reflects this.

Even if you feel that the only thing preventing you from standing up from the table as a winner is mad misfortune. You may be unlucky, but it's more likely that there are thousands of gaping holes on your game, lots of elements are missing that you will never recognize by yourself, although this is what you need to do to avoid a bad beat.

Even if you win from time to time. If you expect a bad beat down early on, success will hit you as a sweet surprise. However, if you start expecting winnings, you will go home at the end of the majority of sessions with a bad taste in your mouth.

Even if you have been constantly winning for some time. Don't delude yourself. Just because you made eight final tables at races in the past two months, or you won X thousand dollars at cash games for example, doesn’t mean you’re a pro. The most malicious thing cards can do to people is to flow at first and let them believe they are good. However, when a long run takes shape with no results, they fall flat on their faces and have no idea where it all went wrong. (Regard it as a special favor if the deck doesn't go well at first, at least you have to develop and struggle for the initial results. You will have a more stable foundation than the knights of fortune who became successful very quickly, believe me.)

• Poker can be a great experience, but it can only offer you fun in the long run if you risk an amount that you can lose unflinchingly and with a smile on your face.

If you go to play poker with your friends obviously you may feel uncomfortable playing at smaller stakes than the others. But believe me, it is much less trouble and less embarrassing than staying at home some months later, or hiding from creditors a few years later.

Even if it doesn’t come to that, you will feel better at a smaller stake, where you can laugh at bad beats and dare to bluff in situations you would never do at higher stakes. Moreover, at smaller stakes the atmosphere is often more relaxed too, the game is laxer, the opponents are weaker, and you can finish successful sessions more often. In short: you get a more complete game experience for your money.

• Never forget that as a hobby player, you play for fun and not for stress and nervousness. Strive to be the most cheerful among the players who leave the card clubs.

If I can't help you with anything else, perhaps I can give you a piece of advice: visit a friend of yours and ask him to slap your face. The mist fogging your sight may disappear, and you may recognize that with this attitude you have the same chance at poker as playing a slot machine or the lottery. You have a minimal chance of getting it, but the likeliest outcome is that even years or decades later you will stroll about card clubs with empty pockets, hiding from old debtors, nosing for new dupes.

I will tell you something worse: many knights of fortune may make the big jack from time to time during their career. However, because of the gambling blood trickling through their veins they will certainly be broke again in a short time and the windmill-fight will start over again...

I would like to call your attention to the fact that after a few years with some deftness, consistent and hard learning, purposeful playing and disciplined bankroll management you can almost certainly earn immense sums of money.

However, if you are a real gambler, you will inevitably try to shorten the way, which in turn will lead to failure.

I believe that I can give you a lot of useful advice.

One of the most important points: if you still have your job, keep it under any circumstances. Only hand in your notice if you have been a stable winner for more than a year (have been playing live poker for many years) and have managed to save enough money to easily tide over a down-swing lasting for months. If you don't have a civilian job, find one! At least a part-time job. Get a secure income until your new job becomes successful.

Record statistics on your game with as detailed data as possible. This helps you to clearly see how successful your game is and you can prevent your subconscious from influencing your memories. Because the protection of our self-respect and self-confidence is an important function of the human brain and for this reason it seeks every possibility to make us appear more beautiful, better and cleverer than we really are. Poker offers countless possibilities to achieve the latter, so if you want to have a real picture of your game, you can only rely on the actual numbers.

Tighten the purse-strings, live on as little money as possible, reduce the monthly financial pressure on you as much as possible.

Set a weekly time frame you would like to and can devote to poker. (If you keep it, and use it well in an effective way, even 10-15 hours per week can be enough). Think of it as a professional training: you invest some time into learning how to have a much better job some years later, so you can earn and spend much more.

If you don't speak English, start learning immediately! You shouldn't be scared, because poker videos and poker books have a very simple, schematic language, you can easily get the knack of it after a few months practice. Basic English knowledge is of vital importance for your poker career. If you are unwilling to accept this, stop reading this article immediately and go back to work.

If you take my advice, you should tackle SnGs or cash games first, these will help you to devote your time to poker well, swings will be smaller too. In addition, a cash game is a more complicated game type than tournament poker, so you can get more valuable knowledge.

If I were a beginner, I would save $1,000 for this purpose, for 100 buy in 5c/10c, with this you can easily complete the junior section of poker. It is not a tragedy if you can't get lots of money, you can start with $100 too, although climbing the ladder will be a little more difficult. If I were you, I would get the capital from external sources and deposit it. If you don’t want to spend your own money on it, you can use PokerStrategy.com’s $50 starting capital to begin with. Or with a little effort you can even freeroll it together for yourself (as soon as you have the necessary amount, leave the freerolls to save yourself a lot of bad habits).

As far as the game itself is concerned, the emphasis is on learning too. By learning I do not mean practicing (playing), but theoretical training, development.

I suggest the following schedule:

1. Start with the classic, printed poker literature: David Sklansky: Theory of Poker and No Limit Hold’em Theory and Practice are the basics (I think the latter one is the best poker book for beginners); Dan Harrington's Harrington on Holdem I-III, and Harrington on Cash Games are also important; in addition Doyle Brunson's Super System is also worth reading (at least the chapter on NLH). Although these are far from new, they still provide excellent foundations. These are only the standard works, there are also several valuable works which are worth wading through. I have read the above mentioned books three times each, to understand all the accessible information perfectly and to make it an integral part of my thinking. (Besides the above mentioned writings, I devoured about another 10-15 books, but I have only read them once or twice. :)) I personally only have experience with the above mentioned books, but I have heard good things about Dusty Schmidt's books too, they are probably worth reading as well. Take notes during reading, as extensively as possible and if anything remains unclear, ask (e.g. here in the forum).
2. When you are done with the books, plan for about 50 hours playing time (at a stake where your starting capital guarantees 10,000 BB, e.g. $1,000 - 5c/10c). By playing I do not mean arbitrarily clicking, but one or maybe two table sessions played with maximum concentration for one or two hours, where you consider every decision carefully. Copy or save your problematic hand histories, every hand where you feel uncertain. (It's best if you record your sessions and watch them again, this will really help you to develop quickly).
3. After 50 hours of playing, read your basic books again. I am not kidding, with a little game experience you will be able to use the theories in the books even better.
4. After the books, take your saved problematic HHs (videos) and try to analyze them as carefully as possible. It is important not to decide whether you made a good or bad choice in a given hand based only on the final results. Try to evaluate with a long term approach and in the light of the all the available information at the moment of the decision. Don't be afraid to copy your problematic hands into forums and pay attention to the relevant players' opinions.
5. Another 50 hours of play under the conditions stated in point 2.
6. It's time you started watching training videos. Besides PokerStrategy.com I suggest you visit other websites as well. You have to subscribe to some and they cost about $25 per month, but I’ll risk stating that no investment will give bigger returns than this one. Always watch videos with a pen and paper in hand and with maximum concentration, but don't watch them if you are tired or just before going to bed, as if you were just watching some movie. Any time you hear something new, have a new idea or even just a hint at a new train of thought, stop the video and write it down immediately.
7. Record your game regularly (Camstudio, for example, is a program that you can download and use for free), watch it again after a few days or a week, and try to find the gaps in your strategy.
8. When you play again, organize the time you devote to poker as follows: 2/3 game, 1/3 video, provided you’re good enough. If you aren't good enough, then 2/3 video, 1/3 game.
9. If you have 10,000 BB you can climb up to higher stakes. GL.

You play more and more to “get over” your down-swing as soon as possible. You are grinding hard and in the meantime you have been anxious for months not to lose more than your rakeback. You keep changing your playing style, hoping the cash will start rolling in. But the debts are mounting and you run into more and more difficulties. You have no other choice, but to turn to tournaments, hoping they’ll put you back on your feet.

You don't even mind that there are a lot of leaks in this plan. Of all the poker variants, the biggest standard deviation can be expected at tournaments, it is highly likely that you won’t see the money you invest again for a very long time. In addition, if you want to be successful at tournaments, you have to be unaffected by the payout structure, which is impossible under financial pressure. It gets worse, life can play some dirty tricks. If the fervently sought tournament victory unexpectedly falls into your lap, without you taking the necessary steps to get it, you will be caught in your own trap many years later.

What you need is learning and development. Otherwise you’ll watch the poker society of the world catch you up and sail on past you.

I would tell you to jump back to case 3 and follow the steps for beginners who would like to become professionals, but you have to do more than that: you have to swallow your pride, forget about your usual stakes and start learning with enormous humility.

First choose the game you’re best at and focus on one poker type at a time.

Devote a third of your time to playing poker, at most, and concentrate on development for the remaining two-thirds.

Move down at least two, preferably three limits. Don't worry about the money, you can easily earn many times an average salary if you play well, even at small limits. What's more, you have a better chance at winning at the lower limits, and your self-confidence will return earlier.

Take the trouble and try to evaluate your hand histories, but do not only look at the biggest pots you lost, as your loss might be due to regular mistakes made with smaller pots.

Follow the learning process outlined in case 3. Don't move limits in a rush.

There’s only one thing to do: learn, learn, learn! Stick to the learning process detailed in case 3.

This may be true for now, but the world moves on and if you don't do everything to keep your advantage, the rest will catch up with you sooner or later. Basically, it is worth spending your time playing, but you also have to practice the appropriate elements of the above mentioned learning process diligently.

I hope you’ve found this article useful. Good luck at the tables and never stop learning!