A friend gave me great advice when I started playing limit poker. He said to me, that when you play limit games you should limit everything. It turned our to work extremely well with online poker for a number of reasons.
Setting Limits With Your Bankroll
As time goes on and you play more and more online poker, you will gain a better understanding of what is a good win for the level you have chosen to play at. You may choose to measure it a number of different ways. Some guys I know have a target of a certain number of big blinds, some just have a number in mind, whatever it is, once you have an idea of what that amount is, that should become your goal for every sit. You may also have an idea of this amount based on your regular play at brick and mortar casinos.
There are some differing opinions on this managing strategy. There are some pros that believe when things are going well with the session and other players are "feeding" you lots of chips, then you stay. I agree that is good advice. In my experience there are reasons to do it a little differently with online play.
Generally with online play you want to stick around when you have an edge over the other players at the table. However, you will find with online play that you will play significantly way more hands than you would in an actual casino. As such, you will hit your target amounts much faster than you would in a regular casino. This also means that the hands can start to slip away from you just as quickly. Remember, you can't win every hand. Not only that, you can't win every hand that you were winning until the river. That tends to be the type of hand that drives people crazy. By setting a target amount to win, you allow yourself to stay fresh and get to it in a relatively quick period of time.
I would often hit my target amount in half an hour to forty-five minutes. I could then leave the game and go about my day. That's pretty good work for one day. If I felt like it, I could go back for another session later in the day. The same limit rules apply. It makes playing the game easier and keeps you focused. Sure, if things are going well and you are playing well, you might decide to stay and see how much more above your target amount you can win. However, the longer you stay, the greater the likelihood things can turn, players at the table will change and you will get tired and not be as focused as you should. When this starts to happen, you can start taking hits that were completely unnecessary.
Just as you set limits to your wins, you should set limits to your losses. This amount obviously should be less than the amount you have allowed yourself to win. This way every winning session outweighs your losses and over time, you continue to move forward with your bankroll. In my experience, setting the loss limit is the biggest challenge for players. They always feel as though they have to keep playing until they climb out of the hole they are in. It could take a ridiculous amount of time just to break even or worse only cut the loss. Sometimes, players just get deeper and deeper in the hold and can't climb out. When do you stop then? When you are totally tapped out? That is just the wrong approach to take.
By limiting your loss per session, you allow yourself the same benefits as if you were winning. You stay fresh and confident about your game. You want to maintain a good mind set about your play online and not allow negative thoughts to creep in otherwise you won't be playing your game anymore. Remember, losses will happen and they are part of the game. Especially, online where you will see many more hands and many varieties of losses. Accept that they will happen, manage your bankroll accordingly at those moments, and you will come out ahead over time. Keep in mind, playing online poker should be looked at over a long period of time, not in short spurts. You want to win a decent amount each time you play over a long period of time. That way when you lose, it won't really affect you in long run. There is always another session waiting for you.
Trust me, stick to this rule, especially online, and you will be surprised at how quickly your bankroll can grow and how you won't have to spend that much time in front of a computer screen.
Setting Limits With Your Bankroll
As time goes on and you play more and more online poker, you will gain a better understanding of what is a good win for the level you have chosen to play at. You may choose to measure it a number of different ways. Some guys I know have a target of a certain number of big blinds, some just have a number in mind, whatever it is, once you have an idea of what that amount is, that should become your goal for every sit. You may also have an idea of this amount based on your regular play at brick and mortar casinos.
There are some differing opinions on this managing strategy. There are some pros that believe when things are going well with the session and other players are "feeding" you lots of chips, then you stay. I agree that is good advice. In my experience there are reasons to do it a little differently with online play.
Generally with online play you want to stick around when you have an edge over the other players at the table. However, you will find with online play that you will play significantly way more hands than you would in an actual casino. As such, you will hit your target amounts much faster than you would in a regular casino. This also means that the hands can start to slip away from you just as quickly. Remember, you can't win every hand. Not only that, you can't win every hand that you were winning until the river. That tends to be the type of hand that drives people crazy. By setting a target amount to win, you allow yourself to stay fresh and get to it in a relatively quick period of time.
I would often hit my target amount in half an hour to forty-five minutes. I could then leave the game and go about my day. That's pretty good work for one day. If I felt like it, I could go back for another session later in the day. The same limit rules apply. It makes playing the game easier and keeps you focused. Sure, if things are going well and you are playing well, you might decide to stay and see how much more above your target amount you can win. However, the longer you stay, the greater the likelihood things can turn, players at the table will change and you will get tired and not be as focused as you should. When this starts to happen, you can start taking hits that were completely unnecessary.
Just as you set limits to your wins, you should set limits to your losses. This amount obviously should be less than the amount you have allowed yourself to win. This way every winning session outweighs your losses and over time, you continue to move forward with your bankroll. In my experience, setting the loss limit is the biggest challenge for players. They always feel as though they have to keep playing until they climb out of the hole they are in. It could take a ridiculous amount of time just to break even or worse only cut the loss. Sometimes, players just get deeper and deeper in the hold and can't climb out. When do you stop then? When you are totally tapped out? That is just the wrong approach to take.
By limiting your loss per session, you allow yourself the same benefits as if you were winning. You stay fresh and confident about your game. You want to maintain a good mind set about your play online and not allow negative thoughts to creep in otherwise you won't be playing your game anymore. Remember, losses will happen and they are part of the game. Especially, online where you will see many more hands and many varieties of losses. Accept that they will happen, manage your bankroll accordingly at those moments, and you will come out ahead over time. Keep in mind, playing online poker should be looked at over a long period of time, not in short spurts. You want to win a decent amount each time you play over a long period of time. That way when you lose, it won't really affect you in long run. There is always another session waiting for you.
Trust me, stick to this rule, especially online, and you will be surprised at how quickly your bankroll can grow and how you won't have to spend that much time in front of a computer screen.
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