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I get a lot of questions about bankroll management. People wonder what level they should play on, how much they can risk, when to quit and change level etc. None of these questions are easy to answer.
First you have to determine why you play. Are you a recreational player or is poker your main (or only) source of income? If you want to make to make a living playing poker your margins need to be a lot larger than if you play only for fun. Your style of play and what kind of risks you are ready to take are also important factors. But if you, like me, want to make a living playing poker, you have to minimize your risks. I always quit if I have lost three buyins and I never like to risk more than 5 percent of my bankroll any given day. So if I want to play $10-20 limit holdem (regular buyin $500) I need to have a bankroll of at least $30,000, which means that if I loose $1,500 in a day, it is only 5% of my total bankroll. I am aware that the margins I speak about are pretty large. If you don’t play for a living or are ready to take larger risks you don’t need a bankroll that is as large. But to play professional I would still not recommend you to risk more than 10% of your bankroll in a day.
Steve Zolotow, one of my favorite poker writers, recently wrote a text about bankroll management in Card Player. (You can read it here.) Even though I like to risk less than what he talks about in general I think it is a very interesting article.
Good luck at the tables and Merry Christmas!
Mike G.
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