Bankroll management: Keeping score

The approach to building my bankroll that I described in my previous post is somewhat similar to the from-the-ground-up gameplan that top pro Chris Ferguson (pictured above) used in his epic bankroll experiment of 2006-07.
While I started with $5, Ferguson’s degree of difficulty was considerably higher. The World Series of Poker main event champion in 2000, Ferguson decided to see whether he could build a $10,000 bankroll from zero on Full Tilt Poker.
Ferguson began with freerolls – free-to-enter tournaments with massive fields that pay pocket change to the winners. It took him a month to win $2, and a further eight months to crack the $100 plateau. But after 16 months of working at the project for about 10 hours a week, he had his $10,000.
Impressive stuff, no doubt. But as much as Ferguson’s playing skill had plenty to do with succeeding in this feat, his bankroll management strategy was perhaps more crucial. I’ll sprinkle in Ferguson’s wisdom liberally as I move forward with this discussion.
KEEP THE POKER MONEY SEPARATE
I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll say it again: I firmly believe the first step on the path to bankroll success for a recreational player is keeping the poker funds separate from the regular household income and expenses.
This boundary is beneficial in several ways. It allows your bankroll to serve as an accurate scoreboard, so to speak, of your poker successes/failures. It also prevents poker expenditures from becoming a point of contention with the family, because you’re not gambling with the grocery money. I can’t recommend this course of action strongly enough.
DON’T PLAY ABOVE YOUR MEANS
Ferguson’s rules of bankroll management are reflective of universal poker wisdom. He states that no more than five per cent of a player’s bankroll should be spent on a cash game buy-in or a sit-n-go; and that no more than two per cent should be spent on a tournament.
The principal is, a player must have enough of a bankroll to weather the inevitable downswings that accompany the variance of poker. Think of your bankroll as capital. Knowing you’ve got a comfortable reserve of funds prevents you from playing scared, and also helps to slow the onset of tilt during a losing streak.
I haven’t always been faithful to this strategy. In my previous post, I mentioned my massive spew-fest in the Mansion Poker cash game. That was a classic case of playing above my means. The max buy-in for the $2-$4 no-limit game was $400; when I began playing at that level, I had enough money on that site for just one of those buy-ins. Even after running up my account to $2,000, that only represented five buy-ins, and a few losing sessions quickly wiped me out.
Another classic mistake players tend to make is, when they’re on a losing streak, they play higher to recoup their losses. This is a somewhat natural reflex that I am prone to from time to time, but it’s counter-productive. After losing a string of sit-n-gos in the $20 to $50 range, I’ve sometimes succumbed to the lure of the $100 buy-in game. That’s exactly the wrong thing to do. Most of the time, it doesn’t stop the avalanche; it just speeds the descent.
To recap: If your bankroll is expanding, move up in stakes as you feel comfortable. If your bankroll is shrinking, swallow your pride and move down.
BE A STUDENT OF THE GAME
In an earlier post, I posed the question: “If I can’t have a regular expectation of winning, why on earth am I playing?”
You should be asking yourself the same thing. This next sentence probably isn’t in my best financial interest, but here it is: If you suck relentlessly at poker, you should either quit or get better. Read Dan Harrington’s books. Discuss hands with your friends. Figure it out, for goodness sakes.
That, to me, it the major goal of bankroll management – to figure out whether you’re good or whether you suck. If you don’t like the answer, do something about it. Take responsibility.
It’s probably easier for a recreational player like myself to manage a bankroll. Since the game is not my livelihood, I can take a break for a couple weeks when I go on tilt. I can move down to micro-stakes to satisfy my poker jones before moving back up when I’m feeling more confident. But even for me, it’s a pride-swallowing act to move down a buy-in level. It’s an area for growth.
I think that’s all I have to say on this subject. Bottom line: If poker is to be a presence in your life, make it a healthy presence. It can so easily be the opposite, and the right path begins with solid bankroll management.