Why bankroll management is overrated

Preface: If you are a professional poker player, or make a good portion of your income from poker STOP READING THIS NOW! Ok, now that all the sharks have left the room let me explain why casual poker players have no use for bankroll management.

Here is the reality of a poker bankroll: If you are a casual poker player you only ever need to have a couple of buy-ins in your pocket to get into a game. If you bomb-out of #1/$2 No limit game at the local casino and lose a couple of buy-ins, all you need to do is go to work for a couple weeks and come back with a fresh $300-$400 in your pocket. There is no reason for this type of player to ever have more than 10 buy-ins saved for poker.

In my experience casual players with a decent bankroll are the most dangerous people in the casino… To themselves! To a casual player any money in their pocket is just extra money, and it’s far more likely they will do something silly with it; like play in a higher-stakes game or hit the blackjack or craps tables.

Now, if you are a new player and are playing $25 NLHE online, once again there is no logical reason why you need more than $100 or $200! If you lose it all, it’s not a big deal; you just pull out your credit card and deposit another $200. The point is, that someone who plays poker once a week or less has no use for a bankroll; neither does someone who is playing for stakes where if they lose five buy-ins (or 10 buy-ins) it might sting a little, but it won’t be a lifestyle-changer.

On the flip-side are the semi-pro and professional poker players.  It’s these players that need to have conservative money-management guidelines if they want to continue to thrive. Not because these players will have bigger swings, or are facing stiffer competition: These players need to use better bankroll management because when they lose five, or god forbid 10, buy-ins IT IS a lifestyle-changer.

Think of it this way, unlike the $25 NLHE player who loses $200, a semi-pro player grinding $400 NLHE tables that loses eight-buy-ins can’t simply punch in their credit card numbers and reload -you’re talking about $3,200! Not to mention that if you lose 80% of your bankroll and can’t reload -for financial reasons-you have to move way down in limits, and now you are making far less money, and your profits are now going towards rebuilding your bankroll and not in your pocket. 

This is why you need to play with a large bankroll when you are playing poker games where you cannot easily replace your losses -and the more of your income you derive from poker this becomes exponentially more important.