Bankroll management is the most important issue for frequent players because it can be the source of a tremendous amount of stress when a player gets a bad run of cards. So first off, my players find that if you designate what money you are prepared to lose and consider it lost then it’s easier on your own mind. One way to think about is that it is the cost of entertainment! This process also designates what you can afford, and more importantly what you may be willing to lose. It is important because the amount you can muster up to afford to allocate for poker play should determine the size of games you’re playing. This way it helps you have the best chance of sitting at a table, playing, folding and betting enough times to come up with a profit and try to minimize that possibility of you going broke.

Now in the case of a casual player it’s not an issue so much, you can just throw a few dollars in here in there and play when you want, especially if you have the finances to do such. Nonetheless I would still suggest that a bankroll is employed because often times especially with cash games a person can just after a while lose track of their money and then realize their damage days later. A bankroll is really just the best way to dodge this unfortunately common situation.

However for the majority of us bankroll management is most certainly the epitome of importance in your off-the-felt game. First off all because you shouldn’t play poker like your trying to put a fire out with cash, you should play it to be good at it and with that make some money! Oddly enough the differences in poker bankrolls doesn’t usually change with the game but does with the style, for example cash games versus tournament playing. It is generally suggested that you have 20 times the amount of a maximum buy in before you enter a cash game table. This may seem like a lot, and it is, however it also helps you portion enough money that you have space to make up for bad beats and gives you the economic stamina to survive those nightmarish bad card streaks. For tournaments it is said that you should have enough money to buy in 40 times. Again the seemingly high volume is there as a buffer and even if you don’t buy in 40 times all at once it will give you something to fall back on and work with if you slip, and regardless of who you are…we all slip. These seemingly high amounts are suggestions and whether you meet those suggestions or not is certainly up to you but try to keep them in mind when playing.

Now you may be wondering what happens when you put that money in and you drop say 25% down from your bankroll? Well that’s when you have to consider switching up your table and level of play. So for example, if you were engaging games at the $0.50/$1.00 range perhaps you should drop down to the $0.25/$0.50 game level because that way your bank roll will be significantly sufficient for you to play in as well as provide a great opportunity to turn your game around and refresh the bankroll before moving back up. It should not be looked down on having to drop down a level for a bit, if anything it’s they sign of a solid player that can work back up to and ultimately surpass his original bankroll without having to add additional funds!