Poker Bankroll Requirements

Your bankroll is the amount of money you have set aside to play poker with. Some players can easily add to their bankroll from outside sources while others have no way to add if they lose theirs. If you fall into the latter category, it is very important to not play at limits that exceed your bankroll. One very important point you should know is that until you become a consistent winner it doesn’t matter how big your bankroll is. The only thing that will matter is how much you have to lose. For this reason, the information below is written for you assuming you are a winning player overall. The first rule is to not confuse bankroll and buy-in. A buy-in is the amount you sit down in a game with or the entry fee in a tournament, not the entire amount you have available to play poker with over a period of time. For example, you may have a bankroll of $10,000 to play 15/30-limit holdem. If this were the case you would probably buy-in for between $500 and $1,000. I have seen bankroll size suggestions ranging from 200 times the big bet at the level you are playing at ($800 at 2/4) to 300 times the big bet ($1200 at 2/4). My recommendation, particularly for holdem, is to start with 300 times the big bet. I play much better when I have this cushion. I have played at levels that I had much less than 300 times the big bet in bankroll and it sometimes hurts my play. This is a psychological hurdle but when reduced to facts it makes sense. 50 times the big bet is a common downswing, even for professional players, and nothing to become too concerned about if you are still playing well. However, if you start with only 100 times the big bet, if you are down 50 big bets you have lost 50% of your bankroll. If you had started with 300 big bets and are down 50, you have only lost roughly 17% of your bankroll. If you are a very sound Omaha/8 player, you can play with a 200 big bet bankroll. This is because Omaha/8 is a much more mathematically direct game than holdem, or in other words there is less short-term variance or luck. Because of the short-term variance in holdem, even professional players may see a 200 big bet downswing at times. For this reason, that extra 100 big bets may keep you from being forced to drop down a level before the cards turn in your favor. Featured Poker Rooms: AbsolutePoker.com Full Contact Poker Full Tilt Poker PokerStars Ultimate Bet About the Author: Wes Young runs a poker web site at http://www.pokermonger.com where you can find information about poker strategy, poker room reviews and unique poker articles. He also publishes a weekly poker column. For information visit thepokercolumn.com Read more articles by: Wes Young Article Source: www.iSnare.com

Playing Poker: What Motivates The Top Poker Players

Why do we play poker? But especially why do you play poker? This might strike you as an odd question but it is very important for your future success in the world of poker. The reason why you play poker is at least as important as the way you play poker. We can categorize somehow the reasons why we play poker, we can properly analyze them and after that we can use them to improve our actual gaming style. If we could ask several hundreds of players “Why do you play poker?” the odds are quite big that their answer would be “For the money”. But if we could access their last year statistics we would see that some just didn’t win any money at all, or at least that they didn’t win more that they lost. If money is the only reason these people play poker they why do they keep on doing it? Of course, there are many more answers that they don’t really want to admit. This happens because there are many other motivations that push us to play poker just as great as the desire to win many, but many of them are even greater. And when you come to think about it, you can surely find many many reasons: fun, the love of the game, competition, making friends, the desire to beat the best there is in the world of poker, and the list can go on and on. But if you understand the various reasons behind your game you will eventually manage to change your view about winning and losing or you will be able to choose the perfectly fit games for you, the ones that will bring you the most success. In his book, “The Psychology of Poker”, Alan N. Shoonmaker explains in detail the importance of understanding personal impulses in order to find the answer to the question “Why do we play poker?” I will take the liberty to speak a little bit about this theory. Take a pen and a piece of paper and write down the following: Money Making friends Relaxing Pleasure Competition Just passing time If you can think of additional reasons, write those down also. Now you will have to think hard and find within yourselves the real reasons you play poker for. Once you did that, write after each reason a percentage, even if it is 0%, just keep in mind that all of them added must equal 100%. If someone would play poker 20% for Money, 10% for relaxation, 50% for pleasure and the remaining 20% for competition, then he would be what is called a loose player most of the time, playing many hands and staying in the game as much as he can just for the thrill of being there. This is the most important thing for him and it influences his style of playing. If you manage to carefully and correctly analyze your own situation you can eventually change some parts of your game you don’t like or improve the ones that you consider are good. In many types of competitions, the battle is firstly within yourself and only after that with your opponents. Bad mistakes in poker are made when you are too proud, when you question your ability and doubt your self all the time, when you are too scared or shy when you must take an action or when your thoughts are just somewhere else. If you play poker just with friends to pass the time, then you must choose games with low bids, so your bankroll will last longer. If you are playing to relax then stay out of the games with poker fanatics and choose some games with less involved players. The answers can be various and they only depend on you. But answering the question is a must if you wish to improve your game. Featured Poker Rooms: AbsolutePoker.com Full Contact Poker Full Tilt Poker PokerStars Ultimate Bet About the Author: If you're searching for poker home games or a local poker tournament, visit http://www.find-local-poker.com today. Read more articles by: J Finney Article Source: www.iSnare.com

The Moderng Grinder Takes a Bad Beat

As you may have noticed it's been a while, too long in fact, since my last post. Many of you have emailed me expressing concern for the well being of the Modern Grinder. On January 20th my office was broken into and along with the computers over two years worth of work was stolen. Among what was lost were the articles written for the "Quit Your Job" project and a poker e-book that was going to be published later this year among many other things. At about the same time Neteller suddenly withdrew from the US market and the US government started applying pressure banks, payment processors and on-line gambling companies world wide. So the question became was it really worth it to redo all that lost work even though the future of on-line poker is in question? I was definitely thinking about folding. But after a lot of soul searching and reading many of your emails instead I decided to move all-in. So here is what you can expect from the Modern Grinder moving forward; poker strategy, reviews and event coverage on a weekly basis. I am in the process of re-writing "The Quit Your Job and Play Poker for a Living" project and I am convinced that it will be better than the original version and there will be even more opportunities for you to receive personalized poker coaching. I will make all the details available here very soon. Again, thank you for your support. Featured Poker Rooms: AbsolutePoker.com Full Contact Poker Full Tilt Poker PokerStars Ultimate Bet