Why think much about bankroll management (BRM) if it works also without it
Every good poker player says that good bankroll management is a foundation for long-term success. Although everyone knows, only a few are interested in it. Of course, there is nothing to be said against it if you want to gamble a little and have fun at the tables. If you sit down at the virtual tables with this intention, then everything is fine.
However, if you want to be successful in the long term by playing online poker and also earn something, solid bankroll management must be a top priority.
You don’t believe how many really good players are out there who could really reach something and crush the high limits if they were clear in their heads and if they planned their bankroll and played limits better. Since this is not done, the whole thing always ends in the same way and you are broke.
There are many reasons why players ignore the BRM
First of all, the tilt problem is one of the main factors why poker players ignore the BRM and go broke in a single session. The way to work your way up in the limits step-by-step is tedious, it can take weeks or months until the desired success starts, which many players cannot cope with; therefore, lose patience. It is annoying when you have played for 2 weeks to get 10 buy-ins and then 8 buy-ins are gone within 2 hours. Uncomfortably, but that’s part of the game. There are also sessions where you can get the same thing back and even more within 2 hours. But it often doesn’t come to that, since the bankroll has already been destroyed and the game starts all over again.
It often fails because of patience. Everyone wants to be successful and does not want to play on the micro limits forever. It is even more depressing if a close colleague may have started at the same time and is already playing two limits higher. With that, you get to lose patience, feel hurt in your ego and think that it will be fine if you go up with fewer buy-ins.
Definitely, it is possible to go up with fewer buy-ins in theory, but only very rarely or not at all in practice. There are so many factors involved, such as variance or scared money to name a few. Poker is a complex game if you want to be successful in the long run.
As beautiful as the upswing is, it also poses a great danger to players that don’t know it. You always hit the set on the flop, the opponent calls his top pair to the river, your draw always arrives, everything just works. Your confidence increases and you think you are unbeatable. You ignore the maths and probabilities; deviate from your A-Game because you are the best and you cannot lose. Additionally, you directly increase a limit and since it continues to go so well, you go up again. The higher the limit, the more you earn. Plans are already being made to stir up the high roller scene until the upswing stops. You miss every flop, the bad calls you made to hit your draw no longer work, the fish calls through to the river and hits, etc. Of course, you could go back to your original limit and continue to grind normally, but since it went so well and you are the boss at the tables, 25 buy-ins have to be enough to pull the rude around again. 1-2 days later, you are broke again!
There are only two possibilities:
- Take a look at bankroll management (BRM), be patient and have long-term success.
- Ignore it, gamble a little but don’t be surprised if it goes wrong in the long run.
