Poker is not about depositing money in a poker room, playing and – hopefully – cashing out. Poker is about persistence, understanding of the variance and awareness of the long term concept. To pursue all these goals and build a proper poker career, you need to understand that money aren’t just money, but a way to reach your targets. That’s where bankroll management kicks in.

Bankroll: what is it?

Literally, management of your bankroll, where bankroll is all the money you have invested in poker in a given moment. Bankroll is not how much money you have, but how much you are willing to invest plus everything you won. Depositing, losing, deposing, etc. is exactly the loop poker pros are not in, therefore find some advices on how to avoid this awful scenario.

Learn how to manage your bankroll is in theory very easy. General rule of thumb: play only tournaments that costs 1/50 of your bankroll, or 2%. Have you deposited in an indian poker room Rs 5,000? Perfect, you just cannot play tournaments that cost more than Rs 100.

Are you thinking it doesn’t sound much funny? We do not could care less. On pokerpro.in we do care about making you winning some money, thanks to your skills and attitude. If you just wanna gamble a big tournament with 20 Lakhs guaranteed, go for it, but do not whine or tilt if poker is costing you money rather than working out for you.

Why manage bankroll

Because poker is evil. Think about the article where odds and outs have been discussed: we know when calling a bet has a long term positive value, but we still can lose. Having less than 100% of chances to win, means that somehow at some point you can lose.

Assuming you do not like losing money, then it’s clear why learn how to manage your bankroll and build a positive attitude around it.

Is the 50x buy ins rule always valid?

In most of the cases, yes. Where can you or should you treat it differently? Depends on some factors:

  • if you play turbo tournaments, with higher variance, then you definitely want to stick to the 50x rule
  • if you play big stacks, low blinds tournaments, where skills count most over borderline all in situations, then you can lower your level of confident up to 35x
  • if you play 4 or less tables at the same time, 40x might work out well, because action has you focus all the time, while if you multitable harder, then over 50x buy ins confidence is required

How much is a decent bankroll to start with?

If you study, play good talented poker, always focused and never tilted, then surely you will make your way in the poker business regardless the amount of your bankroll, because it will be increased very easily.

Do not think you have to start with Rs 50,000 to be someone who plays poker. Even small bankrolls are a good kick start for your first steps at the green tables, just remember to play accordingly when you find yourself at choosing the stakes. You are not gambling, you are playing an high skilled game, where playing better will make you earn money in the long term.

If you wanna boost your bankroll, have a look at all the current promotions running on Indian poker rooms, starting from the best welcome bonuses and reward system.

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