Joined: Feb '12
Location: India
Age: 36 (M)
Posts: 8
I play both cash as well as tournament games. But a series of bad run and i went broke playing tournaments. Now I have to work back to build my bankroll.
But my question to all the poker players is how to balance cash games and tournaments so as to not go broke? When to stop pushing all your bankroll?
Joined: Nov '11
Location: Poland
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 1081
I stopped playing cash games, because I've always got broke there... I switched to SnG Fifty50 on PS - the prize is relatively easy to get - it's not too big, but statistically you win in about 50% of games
About your question - you must read more about bankroll management - when you stop push bankroll etc It really helps!
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 6786
If you are always "pushing all your bankroll" you will go broke, no matter what you are playing. A short string of bad results, and you are broke. Concentrade on one thing, and apply proper BRM there.
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
G'day mate
I hate to say it bur you do need to practice Bankroll Management or you are gonna go broke every time. It does not matter who you are mate. Even the top pros sometimes go broke for a time because they stop use BRM. If you are going to play MTT's then the buy in should be no more then 5% of you total bankroll.
Joined: May '08
Location: Lithuania
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 10090
i think the safest way to go is to have separate bankroll fro cash games & tournaments- the tournaments roll can be even split into sng & mtt rolls. how big each of them should be depends from a lot of factors- what type of game, how good of player you are, what limits you are playing etc.
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 1646
It definitely helps to concentrate on just one form of poker at a time. mtt's and cash games are totally different beasts. so i would suggest finding the one that suits your play the most and stick to it for a good year or so. So that you can master the format that you choose. whichever one you do choose, read everything you can about it. watch videos, read threads and talk about it. Don't start mixing until you become really comfortable (and hopefully, profitable) at one format. A couple of years ago all i used to play was 6max cash games. i barely ever played an mtt. now i play more mtt's than cash games. i switched because i found my game was changing and my style suited mtt's better.
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
G'day mates
Well i must say that bullet makes a good point. Splinting your efforts can be a very bad plan. Each type of game does require a different mindset and technique to play well and mastery only comes with time. Good luck to you at the tables. Ronin Harper
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
I'm not sure 'balancing' different formats has much to do with not going broke. It's more just having a good bankroll management strategy for any/all formats, regards of your balance between them in regards to how often you play each type of game.
Joined: Jul '11
Location: Serbia
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 57
This is very good and serious topic... OK, bankroll management is most important,but if you are good and comfortable in cash games,try to play only similar tourneys with cash games like 6 handed turbos. good luck,and profitable new year
Joined: May '11
Location: Canada
Age: 34 (M)
Posts: 979
IF your going to push your bankroll, do like i do, put it all on the line in a cash game and hope for the double up otherwise im going broke but if i double up then i can drop a few limits and play safely. also note that my style of play is not for the weak hearted because it hurts when you do go broke, no one likes it
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
Oh also - apart from bankroll management, it's also important to only move up stakes when you're able to beat the next stake up.. So if you're better at a specific format (MTT for example) then it is important to remember that your bankroll management doesn't just reflect how many buyins you have for a limit, but also take into your account your skills for that format.
For example if your bankroll is $1,000, using a 100 BI rule for all formats (to keep it simple) you could play:
nl10 for ring games $10 SNG $10 MTT
However - if you are best at MTTs, then SNG, then ring, it may be best to develop a different strategy like:
$10-$15 MTTs $5 SNGs nl4 for ring
Even though you can afford higher limits using a 100BI rule, it's no good moving up in SNGs or Ring game if all your bankroll came from beating MTTs and you may in fact still be break-even / losing for the SNGs/Ring games you were playing.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
There's a tendence to go all the way with all the money left in cash games, like if something pushes us to do that. It's a matter of control. Sometimes i'm playing cash for two hours and suddenly, if i decide to end my session, instead of just sit out and leave the table, i opt to increase my level of aggressiveness and many times i end up blowing my dollars just before i leave the tables. I don't know why i do it, it's crazy, but the best in this case is either stop earlier or not even think about playing them.
