Many veteran poker players agree that poker is a game of skill, even though those same players will also agree that chance plays a large role in poker as well. Even mediocre players can enjoy a streak of wins, and good players may experience a string of losses. It's all part of the game, and veterans expect to have losing days every now and then. What truly separates good players from mediocre players is the ability of good players to bounce back after a loss. One of the important skills required to be able to consistently bounce back after losses is bankroll management. A player with good bankroll management skills will be able to, as the adage goes, come back to play another day. Basically, a bankroll is the amount of money or chips that a player has set aside to play poker. In online poker, the money left in the cashier is considered a player's bankroll. Ideally a player's bankroll should be able to cover several buy-ins, which of course means that a player should never join a table which requires the entirety of his bankroll as the buy-in.


The basic strategy of bankroll management is fairly simple. Play only at tables where the buy in is equal to 10 to 20% of your bankroll, and make sure you buy in for fifty to a hundred times the big blind. For example, for a table that has a big blind of 10 cents, a player should buy in for at least 5 to 10 dollars, and should have anywhere from 25 to 200 dollars in the cashier. The numbers will vary depending on the specific bankroll strategy employed. Numbers may be higher or lower depending on how aggressive or conservative a particular strategy is, but generally aggressive strategies have a greater element of risk involved.


Another element of bankroll management is knowing when to move up to higher stakes tables, and when to move down to lower stakes tables. The general principle is that one can move to a higher stakes table when their bankroll has grown to the point that it can match the set ratio with that table. Moving down is a little more difficult to do, but it is very important for a player to know when to do so. If a player is unable or unwilling to move to a lower stakes table, then that player risks losing their entire bankroll. Much like the game of poker itself, bankroll management required both discipline and patience. Discipline is required to keep to the rules one has set for their personal strategy for bankroll management, while patience is important because employing a bankroll management strategy often will require a lot of time, and many games played.


Players must also realize that, no matter how skilled they are, they will eventually experience some losses, but then that's the reason one makes use of a bankroll strategy to begin with. These are just some of the basic ideas behind bankroll management, and a complete bankroll strategy will involve other elements, such as taking advantage of bonuses, what kinds of games to play, and even what casinos or poker rooms to play in. In addition to this, a bankroll strategy should also take into consideration the skill level of the player, which will help determine whether a more aggressive or conservative approach is best. Bankroll management is an important skill for poker players, but it is also important to develop the right poker skills as well. Even with a good strategy for bankroll management, if a player is unable to consistently win games, that player will end up zeroing their bankroll over and over again.