OTB #059: Master The Art of Bankroll Management

Tournament poker is exciting.

The changing dynamics, stack sizes and stages of the tournament make MTTs much more exciting than cash games.

But without proper bankroll management, the excitement can quickly turn into frustration.

And in extreme cases...

No bankroll at all.

So today I'm going to break down the essential principles of bankroll management to give you the best possible chance at growing your roll and succeeding in MTTs.

Let's dive in...

What is bankroll management?

Bankroll management in poker refers to the process of managing the amount of money (your bankroll) that you use for playing poker in a way that minimises your risk of going broke while maximising your chances of long-term success.

I like to think of it as a form of financial discipline - it's exciting to play higher stakes and play for a lot more money, but you can't do that until your bankroll is big enough.

Your bankroll dictates which stakes and games you can play.

Why is it important?

If you play too many tournaments outside your roll, you're on the fast train to Brokesville.

And you don't want that.

Your bankroll is the only way you can stay in the games and continue to play.

Also, if you have too much of your roll on the line, you're unlikely to play your best poker.

You never want to play sub-optimally because you're playing in a game that's too big.

Similarly, you don't want to be too conservative where you aren't maximising your opportunity to grow your bankroll.

You end up staying stuck at low stakes where you're paying more rake and having to play a lot more volume in order to move up.

What is variance?

Variance in poker is a measure of how much a player's upswings and downswings differ from their expected results.

And in tournaments variance can be insane, especially in big field MTTs.

But the good thing is that the higher your ROI, the lower the variance.

And the smaller the field, the lower the variance. But also, the lower the achievable ROI, which causes a bit more variance.

The bigger the field, the higher the achievable ROI, but also the higher the variance, even though a higher ROI tends to lead to less variance.

Still with me?

Basically, the bigger field size brings with it more variance.

So when you're thinking about bankroll management, you want a strategy that tells you what games to play based on your ROI and the field size...

The last bankroll management strategy you'll ever need

Here are my recommendations for effective bankroll management organised by field size and sorted by ROI, based on the Kelly criterion:

100 runners

250 runners

1,000 runners

5,000 runners

10,000 runners

Summary

Bankroll management is the cornerstone of a successful tournament poker career.

By practising proper bankroll management, you ensure that your poker career is sustainable and you give yourself the best chance of long-term profitability.

Remember, tournament poker is a marathon, not a sprint—so manage your bankroll wisely, and the results will come.

Oh, and one final point: poker players notoriously over-estimate their own ability. So whatever you think your ROI is... half it.

That's it for this week.

See you next time.