Live Play - Bankroll Development

Published on Oct 23, 2024

Bankroll management in live poker is essential to ensure long-term sustainability and reduce the emotional impact of variance. It involves setting rules for buy-ins, profit-taking, and stop-loss limits to protect your bankroll and decision-making. Let’s break down the meaning and implications of each strategy you mentioned.

Anchor

- Take profits at 300bb
- Stop losses at 200bb
- Evaluate play at 6hrs

1. Evaluate Playing After 6 Hours

  • Purpose:
    This rule protects you from fatigue, which can lead to bad decision-making. Live poker is mentally taxing, and after several hours of play, your cognitive abilities can decline, especially if you’re multi-tabling or engaged in high-pressure situations.

  • Benefits:

    • Prevents mental fatigue from affecting your strategy.
    • Helps you avoid tilt from long, tiring sessions.
    • Creates discipline by setting a limit, which ensures your sessions remain sharp and focused.

  • Potential Drawbacks:

    • If you’re at a highly profitable table (bad players or a soft game), leaving can cost you valuable opportunities.
    • Requires discipline to follow through even if you feel fresh or you’re running hot.

2. Take Profits After Winning 300bb

  • Purpose:
    This strategy aims to lock in profits after a big win and prevents you from giving back your gains by playing longer than necessary. The idea is that after hitting a substantial win, it's wise to leave the table rather than risk emotional swings that can arise when your stack fluctuates.

  • Benefits:

    • Avoids "winner's tilt," where players who have won big become overconfident and reckless.
    • Preserves profits by banking a sizable win before variance turns against you.
    • Promotes a disciplined mindset to take profits and not chase more action unnecessarily.

  • Potential Drawbacks:

    • If the game is still soft, leaving may sacrifice opportunities for further profit.
    • Can lead to opportunity cost if your edge at the table remains high after winning 300bb.

3. Stop Losses After Losing 200bb

  • Purpose:
    The goal here is to limit losses and avoid going on tilt after a significant loss. Losing 200 big blinds can be mentally draining and make it difficult to continue making good decisions. This rule helps you cut off bad sessions early and prevents emotional decisions that can arise from chasing losses.

  • Benefits:

    • Avoids "chasing losses" when you're emotionally compromised.
    • Helps maintain emotional stability by walking away from bad sessions.
    • Protects your bankroll and minimizes the impact of a losing session.

  • Potential Drawbacks:

    • Variance is natural in poker, and stopping early may mean cutting off a potential comeback.
    • Some situations (like deep-stacked play) might justify going beyond a 200bb loss, depending on your bankroll and table conditions.

Summary and Strategic Alignment

These rules—limiting session length, taking profits, and setting stop-losses—work together to create structured and disciplined play. The goal is to ensure that you’re maximizing opportunities while minimizing emotional variance. However, context matters. For example:

  • In a soft game, it might make sense to break the 6-hour rule or stay longer after hitting 300bb if the table conditions are great.
  • In a tough game, quitting after a loss of 200bb might be prudent to avoid compounding mistakes.

Bankroll Management Implications:

  • A healthy bankroll for live poker, depending on the stakes, typically requires 20-50 buy-ins (e.g., $1/$2 NL might need $10,000 to $15,000).
  • The stop-loss of 200bb protects you from blowing multiple buy-ins in a single session, which can impact your bankroll and emotional state.
  • Profit-taking at 300bb builds your bankroll steadily and helps you maintain confidence, which is crucial for long-term success.

In practice, these rules form part of a self-discipline framework to balance emotional swings, maximize your edge, and avoid destructive behavior over the long term.