Turn $200 into $5,000
Bankroll management is one of the key ingredients to long-term success.
The term bankroll is thrown around so casually these days that its true meaning has been lost by many and misinterpreted by even more. But to be a long-term winning poker player, a bankroll is of the utmost importance.
Bankroll management is – dare I say it - more important than the skill of the player.
To be a winning player, you must understand that losing is sometimes the norm. You can play an entire session perfectly, and still be down. You will be dealt phenomenal bad beats, get runner-runnered and lose to someone hitting their miracle card on the river. It happens every day – so you better get used to it.
But a proper bankroll provides a cushion to absorb bad beats, bad sessions and occasional bad play. That is all well and good, but how do you get a bankroll big enough to act as a cushion? Well, here we will show you how to turn $200 into $5,000 over a six-month period.
I’m going to assume that most readers hold a full or part-time job, where the hours you can put into playing are limited. I’ll also assume that you have an expendable amount of money with which to risk. Given your restrictions on time, I will advise a high-risk starting strategy, slowing down as your roll builds. We don’t want to be hanging around too long at the very low stakes.
From $200 to $5,000 in 9 months
- Initial Deposit: $200
- Target: $5,000
- Timescale: 6-9 Months
Month 1-3
Playing cash games is a more dangerous way to build a bankroll. It can be so easy to lose money on tilt playing cash games that a whole bankroll can be drained in moments. If you know you are one of those players who takes a beat badly, then don’t even consider using cash games to build up substantial sums of money.
Cash game poker is a game where you have to be mean, ruthless and remorseless, but that’s also what makes it so utterly intoxicating. To win you must demonstrate the qualities of a cold killer, specifically targeting the ‘fish’ in order to get paid. Let’s assume you understand pot odds, and implied odds. (If not, then go and learn them.)
If you do, then deposit $200 and load a nine-handed $25 No-Limit Hold’em table, where the maximum buy-in is $25 and the blinds are $0.10/$0.25. (Playing any lower than this will only succeed in developing bad habits.)
- Sit down with 50 big blinds ($12.5) and play a very tight, aggressive game.
- Play very aggressively pre-flop with all the biggest hands: A-A, K-K, Q-Qand A-K.
- Raise and re-raise pre-flop. Other hands you should play aggressively and raise with are A-Q, J-J, 10-10, 9-9, 8-8 and 7-7. These are the only ones you should play at this level.
- You should always be raising coming into the pot to try and narrow the field and always seeing a flop with these hands to a normal raise.
If you can beat this game – and you should be able to – you can realistically expect to be winning around $5 a day if you put a good three-to-four hour session in.
Obviously there are some days you will win (and lose) far more, but this is a realistic average target. It may take as long as three months to reach $600 and you will learn a lot along the way. As you get more comfortable at this level you can speed things up by experimenting with multi-tabling – but stick to a maximum of two tables.
Month 4-5
Once you have reached our first target we can try taking a shot at a slightly bigger game by playing $50 No-Limit Hold’em and buying in short. If you buy-in for $25, it gives you more action and less difficult decisions against (mainly) weak players.
- Add to the list of hands you play at this stage. Play all pocket pairs if you are getting the correct implied odds and raise with A-J, K-Q and K-J if you are first to enter the pot.
- Don’t call a raise pre-flop with anything but pocket pairs, A-K and A-Q. The no-set-no-bet principle is easy to follow for all pairs under 7-7, but a certain amount of feel should be used when playing 8-8 through to 10-10.
- Keep playing aggressively at all times, as betting gets you information that calling doesn’t.
- Don’t ’slow play’ at these stakes – there is no need. Plenty of calling stations will play you faster if you bet as soon as you hit your monster.
By now you should be comfortable playing two tables at once, and your daily rate can realistically be expected to be up around the $10-$20 level. It should take in the region of two months to reach your next target of $1,500.
Once you have reached this, we can start to play real poker.
Month 6-9
Whilst you might want to start playing $100 No-Limit Hold’em, you should focus on developing a deep stack game at $50 No-Limit Hold’em. Drawing to a gutshot or trying to hit two pair after the flop are very good strategies for making money at this level.
When drawing, remember the golden rules: always make sure that you are getting good odds to draw and don’t chase non-nut draws.
- If there are three spades on the flop, don’t chase a straight. In multi-way pots, be very wary of drawing to anything that isn’t close to, or very near, the stone-cold nuts.
- With your daily rate now in the $20-$30 range, it will take one-two months to reach $2,500, at which point you can start playing $100 no-limit.
- Experiment with short-handed tables and start varying your play, mixing up your game and playing hands with big flop potential such as Ace-rag suited.
- Download PokerTracker and start analysing your game and dissecting opponents. It’s important you learn that a bet means ‘I think I have the best hand’, a raise means ‘I know I have the best hand’ and a re-raise means ‘I’m committed’.
- Use your knowledge of a deep stack and implied odds to punish those players that overplay big pairs post-flop, that’s the single biggest tip you can have to beat $100 No-Limit Hold’em.
If you find yourself crushing the game, take a shot at a higher game. If you log three winning sessions on the trot, buy-in to a game of $200 No-Limit Hold’em. Some players have won fortunes in relatively no time like this. But just as many have lost it all – so never put your whole bankroll on the line.
Once you reach $5,000 you will be a very cool customer. You will have spent nine months learning that making money is secondary to making first-class decisions. Keep learning and respecting your bankroll. Don’t be a flash in the pan! Use your bankroll properly and you won’t regret it.
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