Why is Discipline Important in Bankroll Management?

Your bankroll is your gambling budget, plain and simple. It’s the money that you have set aside to play poker games with. Whether you are playing in brick and mortar casinos or online in a poker room, you need a bankroll to play. While a hefty bankroll will allow you to play more games or at higher stakes, knowing how to properly manage it is the one thing that will truly enable you to improve as a player and allow you to move up in stakes.

Bankroll Management and Discipline

Why is Bankroll Management important? Because it will determine how fast you can grow as a poker player, how easily you can increase your bankroll and conversely, how easily you can wipe it all out in one fell swoop.

Choosing your games wisely is the first step in managing your poker bankroll. Obviously, playing games you’re not adept with or are not as skilled at as compared to other players present at the table, will ultimately result in you losing money before the night is over.

Discipline in bankroll management comes into play by practicing restraint in your game. If you are starting to lose a lot and feel you are playing bad poker (making bad decisions), then you should get up and leave your table before you start betting off your whole bankroll – and then some.

Setting the Rules

When you first start to practice bankroll management, you need to create some rules and stick to them. For instance, before you start playing, you should already know how much you are willing to lose in your games and up to what point you would be willing to play for that session.

The fastest way to stray from good bankroll management is to keep on playing even when you are already on a losing streak – hoping that the next game will be different. Most often, players who think this way start playing more based on their emotions rather than their rational thinking.

What happens then is they become careless with their moves and hence; they find their money dwindling down as the night wears on. So  putting appropriate limitations on your game is one of the best ways to be disciplined when it comes to bankroll management.

Related posts:

1. Bankroll Management – Part I: Cash Games
2. Bankroll Management – Part II: SnG and MTT’s