Online Poker Bankroll and Keeping it Healthy

With the introduction of online poker games, the poker playing community has seem themselves having to monitor their bankroll so much closer than if they were playing their games in a live situation.

The main reasoning behind this is that its hard to place a real value on funds that you are unable to pass through your hands, so a player is a lot more likely to place $20 bet into a pot of lesser value if they are not able to feel the chip or funds passing through their hands.

So with so many online poker players heading to their preferred sites and within a short period of time, sometimes within the hour of the funds hitting their player account, we thought that we look at how you can take steps to maintain your bankroll and keep your balance healthy.

Correct stakes selection

When you have successfully loaded your players account with the funds that you are looking to wager during your time playing poker on your chosen online line poker room, you have to select the variant of poker that you are wanting to play, we strongly advise that you stick to the games that you know if you are looking to gamble your funds.

Although the desire to win large amounts of money in a quick time can something overrule your head, you need to over look the thoughts that you can make that $100 into $1000 in one sitting and find a stake level that suits the amount that you have available as disposable income, also seen as the amount that you can afford to gamble with.

When taking to the site, think carefully about the math of your choice, are you able to post a minimum of 100 big blinds? This is seen as an unwritten guideline for players as it means that you have more than enough time to get your hands on playable hands, regardless of your approach to the game.

Don’t Over Think You Remaining Bankroll

If you are a player who is having to keep an eye on your poker bankroll while you are playing due to the fear of losing your funds and what difficulties that you could face after your account hits rock bottom then your playing the game when you shouldn’t be.

Showing too much caution about your bankroll will mean that your judgment surrounding your betting stance will become clouded, meaning that you are not going to act on your feeling that a player is holding a lower strength hand as strongly as you would have should you not have too much concern for the funds in play.

There have been a lot of instances where players have entered a game, taken too cautious an approach to their game and have seen themselves lose all of their funds due to their lack of conviction allowing other players to take advantage of them.

Approach Every Game Seriously

You have to treat each and every game seriously if you are going to make your poker playing payoff, so regardless of the stakes, treat it as if it was your high stakes.

Failure to treat any real money game seriously will result in you losing money, mostly due to the fact that you won’t be entering the game with an ‘A Game’ mentality which is the mentality that is required if you are going to be able to turn a profit from your playing.

So with you needing to treat each game within its own merit, you have to eliminate the distractions that could prevent you from making the decisions that you feel are correct, leaving you wide open for your opponents to be able to take advantage of you.

Distractions are there to break your concentration so watch out for players in live games that will be constantly looking for new ways to shine your attention elsewhere, simple things such as wearing outfits with bright colours down to rolling their chips into the pot so that they end up on your side of the table.

If you find that your concentration is breaking from the game, its time to move away from the table and regroup, you have to listen to your body. If its telling you your tired then its time for you to rest, forcing it to play a further session could well result in you undoing any profitable play that your earlier sessions had created.

Recognise That Tilting is the Biggest Bankroll Killer

Its been seen so many times before by so many players who take to the tables in the hope that they can turn over a handsome return for their initial staking, they have featured in a hand that has not gone their way and they have seen their game fall from there.

The name given to this process is ‘Tilting’ meaning that a player is at a mental state where they are unable to make carefully thought out decisions and so make expensive rash choices that see them playing hands or staying within a hand where they would usually fold.

Inexperienced players are often unable to realise when they are falling into a situation that would warrant them being considered to be entering a tilt frame of mind, leaving them open to being exploited financially.

Being able to eliminate the tilt frame of mind from your game is something that is key if you are thinking about making a full time career out of the game, with Full Tilt Poker professional Phil Ivey been considered to be the best player in the world.

Phil Ivey has spent years battling the threat of falling into the negative frame of mentality and now he is considered to be the hardest player to place on tilt in the whole of the professional poker circuit.

Remembering that these guidelines are there to help you battle the threat of tilting will mean that you are able to play your poker to guidelines that will reduce your chances of being found to be on tilt, allowing you to see that should you break one of these suggestions, the likelihood is that you will quickly fall into negative thoughts and unthoughtout play, identify you have broken a rule early and leave the table to consolidate your bankroll.