As promised, I’m playing a lot more this month and plan on playing even more in November. One of the new things I’m doing is poker propping.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, a poker prop is someone who receives a large percentage of the rake (usually between 70% and 125%) for playing at a certain poker room and following certain seating rules.

The rules generally require that you play shorthanded. For example, the room I’m propping for only allows me to sit at a full ring table if there are 7 or less players and a 6-max table if there are 4 or less players. If one of my tables fills up, I have to join another table following the same rules. If none are available, I have to start one and wait for other players. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of shorthanded and heads-up play involved.

However, the benefits are well worth the risk. I deposited $400 on the site last week and it’s already around $750 and about $65 of that money is my rakeback. I’ve already generated another $42 in rake this week that I’ll get on Monday.

If you’re a breakeven player or better, poker propping is a great way to give your bankroll a boost. My total bankroll just crossed the $3k mark and I’m on target to reach my $5k goal by the end of the year and I don’t even play that often!

Click on the banner below if you’re interested in becoming a poker prop. It costs nothing to apply and pretty much everyone gets approved. The site below is the best poker propping site I’ve found and it’s the one I use. They also offer rakeback and give you points that you can use to get some pretty kickass stuff. Check it out.

Click Here to See the Best Rackback Deals Now

Poker rakeback deals are gravy for any poker player.  Even losing players can benefit from rackback deals since it’ll cause them to lose less money.  Winning players, however, benefit the most from rakeback.  Here’s an example of how a good rakeback deal can turn a solid win rate into a sustainable income.

This is the money you could be earning with rakeback deals.

Let’s say that you grind the $30+3 Sit N Goes at Full Tilt Poker and you make a 10% return on investment (ROI) when you 6-table.  That means you’re spending $198 to play and winning $217.80 for a profit of $19.80.  If you’re playing 6 tables in an hour, that’s not a bad hourly rate.  Now let’s see what happens when you add good rakeback deals to the mix.

In the above example, you’re making $19.80 and paying $18 to Full Tilt in rake.  If you took advantage of this rakeback deal, you would get 27% of your rakeback or $4.86.  Now you’re making $24.66/hour ($19.80 + $4.86).  If you were a professional player playing 40 hours a week, your annual income would jump from $41,184 to $51,292.80.  That’s a jump of over $10,000 just for getting a good rakeback deal.

I learned that good rakeback deals could make a big difference a couple of weeks ago when I signed up for rakeback at Full Tilt Poker.  After that I thought, “Why not offer rakeback to my readers?” So I did a little research and found the best rakeback deals I could find.  Here they are:

Rakeback Deals For US Players

Let’s face it.  Ever since the UIGEA passed, US Players have been getting the short end of the stick.  Fortunately I was able to find some solid rakeback deals for those of us who live in “the land of the free*”

*freedom does not apply to online poker -the bureaucrats

Minted Poker – 40% Rackback

Cellsino Poker – 40% Rakeback

Cake Poker – 33% Rakeback

Aced – 30% Rakeback

Ultimate Bet – 30% Rakeback

Full Tilt Poker – 27% Rakeback

Rakeback Deals For Non-US Players

For all you lucky bastards living outside the US, you can take advantage of the above offers, or one of these:

Fat Bet Poker – 50% Rakeback

PKR – 30% Rakeback

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If you’re not getting rakeback, you’re missing out on a boat load of money.  Check out the rakeback deals I have from you and start earning more money immediately.

I was naïve about poker bankroll management when I started playing poker seriously.  I followed the standard advice about how to manage your poker bankroll which basically amounts to Chris Ferguson’s bankroll rules for his “zero to hero” challenge.  While Ferguson’s poker bankroll rules are great for a professional moving up in limits for a prop bet, they’re not so great for a person trying to establish a solid bankroll for playing in the long run.  When I figured out my Risk of Ruin, it turned out to be almost 20%.  That’s a 1-in-5 chance of going broke.

These are my babies. Don't fuck with my babies.

The truth is; I almost did go broke.  When I was playing the $20 Sit ‘N Goes I went through a downswing that brought me 15 buy-ins away from going broke before I realized what was happening.  Fortunately, I was able to pull out of my nosedive and build my bankroll back to a reasonable level. Now I follow new poker bankroll rules.  Here they are.

Determine Acceptable Risk

Before you determine what your poker bankroll should be, you should figure out how willing you are to go broke.  For me, a 1-in-5 chance of going broke was unacceptable but I decided I could live with a 1-in-20 chance of going broke so my acceptable Risk of Ruin is 5%.  Here’s how I figure out my comfort level given my acceptable Risk of Ruin.

Risk of Ruin = (1/7)^comfort

.05 =(1/7)^comfort

Comfort ~ 1.54

So my comfort level is approximately 1.54.  That might not make sense now but stick with me, I’m going somewhere with this.

What is The Standard Deviation of Your Game?

Standard Deviation is a statistical term that encompasses the average set of numbers around the mean.  The standard deviation varies depending on whether you play cash, Sit ‘N Goes or Multi-table tournaments.  Personally, I play SNGs and the standard deviation for a SNG is 1.6 buy-ins.

What Should My Poker Bankroll Be?

Now that I know my Standard Deviation (SD) and my Comfort level, all I have to do is plug in my Return on Investment (ROI) and I’ll find out how much of a bankroll I need to play.  My ROI is around 12%.  Here’s the formula:

# of buy-ins = (Comfort x SD^2) /ROI

# of buy-ins = (1.54 x(1.6)^2 )/0.12

# of buy-ins =  32.85

I play the $30+3 SNGs on Full Tilt, but I plan on moving up to the $50+5s in the next month or two so here are the bankrolls I need to play:

$30+3 = 32.85 x $33 = $1084.05

$50+5 = 32.85 x $55 = $1806.75

Of course there are other considerations as well.

Flies in the Ointment

There are a couple of problems with the formulas.  First of all, my Risk of Ruin assumes that I’ll never move down in limits.  Of course that’s not true.  Like I explained in How I Like To Move Up In Limits, I slowly ease my way into higher limits and move back down when things don’t look so good.  My bankroll is much safer and my Risk of Ruin is much less if I’m willing to move down in limits.

The formulas also assume that I’ll always have a 12% ROI.  That’s also not true.  I could have an epiphany and become a much better player.  In that case, my ROI will go up.  The opposite could also be true.  I could be a 12% player at the $30+3 level, but only a 5% player at the $50+5 level.  In that case I’ll need a much larger bankroll to move up.

There are other factors to consider as well.  What if I decide to add more tables to my sessions?  Right now I 6-table, but what happens if I decide to 10-table?  My ROI is likely to go down and I should raise my poker bankroll requirements accordingly.

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As you can see, poker bankrolls are dynamic.  You can’t go by any static rules when it comes to choosing the size of your poker bankroll.  These formulas will give you a good guideline for setting a reasonable bankroll, but it’s only a guideline.  Make sure you revisit your bankroll management strategy frequently and make the necessary adjustments to avoid going broke.

Today I hit a milestone in my quest to build my bankroll to a level that befits my cocky stature.  I doubled my deposit at Full Tilt in just a couple of weeks and now I have a decision to make. Should I move up in limits?

With my bankroll now a little over $200, my bankroll management strategy allows me to play $10 Sit N Goes.  I’m comfortable with these because it’s the level I used to play back in the day, and yet, the thought of potentially losing 25% of my bankroll in a single session (I five-table) is sickening.  I also don’t want to stay at the $5 Sit N Goes and miss out on profits, so here’s what I do:

How To Move Up in Limits

Whenever I’m ready to move up in limits, I ease into the new territory.  Instead of jumping right in and opening up five $10 SNG windows, I open up four $5 windows and one $10 window.  As I start racking up winning sessions, I increase my $10-to-$5 SNG ratio; first two $10 SNGs, then three, then four and finally all five.  There are a few reasons this system works well for me.

First off, I’m risking less of my bankroll and gradually increasing my risk tolerance.  Instead of jumping from $25 to $50 in a single session, I slowly increase my expose from $25 to $30, then $35, and so on until I finally get to $50.  If it turns out that my new limit is too tough, I’ll find out quickly and with a minimal loss.

Second, my system gives me a chance to build my confidence at the new limit.  If I were to jump in, I might start playing scared money.  After all, when you move to a new limit you’re usually risking significantly more money.  That change causes a lot of players to tense up and start playing passively – which, of course, causes them to lose money.

By slowly adding the new limit into the mix, you almost forget which table it is and you continue playing the same game that was a winner for you at the lower limit.

Finally, my system helps me spot limits that are fundamentally different.  There’s not much difference in moving from $2 to $5 SNGs or from $5 to $10 SNGs, but I’ve heard that the level of play is much different in $20 SNGs than it is in $10 SNGs.  By moving up slowly I can spot these changes and adapt my game quickly and without hurting my bankroll.

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Moving up in limits isn’t just about numbers.  Your bankroll can’t tell you when you’re ready.  Test the waters in a way that minimizes the impact to your bankroll and maximizes your confidence.  Play it smart and the money will come.

This is an old post. For better advice on how to determine your poker bankroll, please see my newer post on how to define your poker bankroll.

Since Full Tilt Poker has seen fit to crash while I was at one of the final two tables of a 350+ person tournament, I thought I would write about my poker bankroll management strategy to keep from killing innocent bystanders.

I’d venture a guess that most poker players know that they should manage their bankrolls, but I’d also guess that few do.  Poker players are gamblers at heart.  Unfortunately, that works against them in the long run.  Sure it’s fun to create your own Step Tournament by moving up in Sit N’ Goes as you win, but it’s not going to make you more money in the long run.  If you’re serious about profiting from poker, you need an effective poker bankroll management strategy.

My strategy is no secret.  It was pioneered by Chris Ferguson when he did his $10k challenge on Full Tilt Poker.  Here it is in all its glory.

My Poker Bankroll Management Strategy

Cash Games and Sit ‘N Goes: Must use 5% of my bankroll or less.  Must leave a cash game when the money on the table exceeds 10% of my bankroll.

Multi-Table Tournaments: Must use 2% of my bankroll or less.

There are, of course, other strategies.  I hear that Daniel Negreanu is doing his own Ferguson Challenge at Poker Stars and Negreanu’s rules are waaay more relaxed.  Negreanu is okay with buying in for up to 1/5^th of his bankroll.  I like Ferguson’s approach personally – especially since I turn into a major tilt monkey when I’m on a downswing.  But if you can stomach the big swings, go ahead and give the Negreanu ‘s system a try and drop me a line if you do.  I’d be interested to see how it goes.

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Poker bankroll management may not be the most exciting facet of poker, but it’s necessary if you want to make money.  It’s a risk tolerance thing.  The more you can stomach, the more you can risk.  The point is to have rules to keep you from taking shots at higher limits when you’re not ready (or on tilt).  What’s your strategy?