Bankroll Management & Rakeback to Advance Stakes

Bankroll management is a tricky thing for many poker players and is the sole reason for even some of the best players in the world going broke. Whether they play at stakes that are too high for their bankroll, use their bankroll for recreational activities or it just plain disappears, some poker players just cannot seem to keep control of their funds. Another scenario would include newer players to the game. They tend to have difficulty keeping money in their accounts as they pay for their poker education.

But whether you are new or old to the game, a poker player with the right bankroll management strategy can benefit from having a rakeback account. In fact, with the right strategies in place a break-even player can become a winner and start focusing on taking shots at higher stakes. And when you take shots at higher stakes you open more opportunities to becoming challenged and in return, becoming a better player.

You will also be able to earn more money as well as more rakeback at the higher stakes. But before we show you the opportunities that lie ahead, let's look at a few bankroll strategies that you should integrate into your game so you do not lose that money as fast as you earn it.

Poker Bankroll Strategies

It is important to note that although we are providing you with bankroll guidelines it may be in your best interest to tweak them to better fit your needs. Not everyone is the same and some players may want to set up tighter guidelines to prevent going broke.

Now the first thing you will want to concern yourself with is the minimum that you will need in order to play specific stakes. In other words, how much extra money do you want to have in case something goes wrong? To be sure you are properly bankrolled for a cash game, you will want to have anywhere from 200 to 400 times the big blind of the stakes you wish to play. So for example, if you want to play at $.50/$1.00 stakes you will want to have $200-$400 before considering playing at those stakes.

This will ensure that you can withstand the variances that you may encounter. Once you have reached $200-$400 times the $2/$4 stakes, then you can consider moving up. But even as much fun as moving up is, at times, you may have to move down. If you fall below what your minimum for those stakes are, then you need to consider dropping down in stakes to ensure that you can play poker properly without having to fear going broke.

Tournaments and sit n go's are different. Since you will face more variance while playing these you will want to have a significant bankroll in relation to the stakes you want to play. Suggestions will vary but Poker Pro Chris Ferguson used 2.5% as his guidelines when achieving his $10k goal. That would mean that for you to play at a $2.50 sit n go or tourney, you would have to have a minimum of $100 in your bankroll to do so.

Although it is on the other side of the spectrum, other suggestions are to have 100 times the stakes you want to play in your bankroll. So using the same example for buying into a $2.50 sit n go, you would want to have a minimum of $250 in your bankroll.

How Does Rakeback Help Your Bankroll?

Rakeback is excellent for your bankroll because it can accomplish several things. For starters, it can help you lessen variances and help you keep from having to drop down in stakes so quickly. If you happen to be running normal or even better, running hot, then it is possible to jump up in stakes a little bit faster with the use of rakeback.

For example, if you started playing $1+$.50 sit n go's, you would want at least $50 for every $1 table you wish to play. What you will gain from rakeback is about $.15 for every game you play. If you played 10 per day for a month, you would have gained $45 which is enough to start playing 2 tables simultaneously. If you manage to do the same thing for a month on 2 tables, you would have earned $90 which will allow you a big enough bankroll to play 4 tables at once.

As you can see, it is simply a snowball effect and only gets bigger as you go. This is not even including the money that you may win from placing in any of those games, just the rakeback that you will earn. You will find that by moving up in stakes as you build your bankroll that it will only go faster. Once you move to $10+$1.00 tables you will be earning $.30 for every game you play.

Play 4 at once and you earn $1.20. Play 20 games in a day and earn $6 for the day. By the end of the month, you have brought in $180 which is good for adding another table and possibly moving up in stakes. Without the aid of rakeback, you still might be grinding out the $1 sit n gos.

Cash games are a little bit different, as most times you will want to have a bigger bankroll in relation to the stakes that you are playing. But just like tournaments and sit n go's, rakeback will not only help you in maintaining such a bankroll, but can also help you move up in stakes. And the process can be very quick.

For example, if you happen to play $.25/$.50 stakes you will be required to have a minimum of a $100 bankroll. If you happen to earn $.05 on average in rake every hand, it is possible to accumulate $2.50 an hour per table in rakeback assuming you play 50 hands. If you happen to play for 8 hours per day, you will earn $20 in rakeback per table. By playing only one table, you will earn $600 in a month. This will serve as a nice cushion to your bankroll and will allow you to take a shot at the $1/$2 stakes which is a nice jump and will prove to be profitable in many ways.

Although other variables are not taken in account such as a decrease in bankroll during game play or some other unforeseen dilemma, the concept is still clear. Having rakeback serves as a nice little boost in your bankroll and can help you move up quickly if you wish.

Bankroll Management and Rakeback Strategies

By using proper bankroll management and rakeback, it should be fairly easy to keep your bankroll afloat not to mention that it should make it easier to move up in stakes. Even if you are a fairly "average" player, it should help keep you from having to move down in stakes often and give you a few more opportunities to make sure your bankroll is nicely cushioned. If you play your cards right, you can definitely use bankroll management and rakeback to ensure you have a nice stream of income as well.