Bankroll Management can mean the difference between a long-term winning player and a losing player. It is a skill that is based all around self-control, yet many poker players have extremely bad bankroll management skills. Bankroll Management is centered around the idea that each player has a certain amount of money in their bankrolls and based on that number, they should not be playing any games that have a buy-in over a certain number. Imagine if a player had $500 in their Full Tilt bankroll. Although it is obvious that player should not be playing in $200 tournaments, that is exactly what many players do.
The point of using a bankroll is to give yourself as many shots a big score as possible. If a player is playing $200 tournaments with a $500 bankroll, he is going to have 2.5 shots at a big score. However, if that player adjusts and starts to play $5 tournaments with his $500 bankroll, he is going to have 100 shots at a big score. The difference is staggering and should not be overlooked by any player.
Under each game, there are going to be three categories, “Pro”, “Protected” and “Unprotected”. Pro means the player is using bankroll management that a professional player would abide by. Protected shows the bankroll management skills of a conservative player while unprotected shows the bankroll management skills of someone who is “taking shots” at FullTiltPoker.com bigger tournaments and ignoring his bankroll.
No Limit Hold Em Cash
For a “Pro,” proper bankroll management skills would say that the player should not play at a game level where he has less than 45 buy-ins. This means that if he sits down with $11, he should at least have a $4500 bankroll. When a player drops down to just being conservative, then he should not play where he has less than 25 buy-ins. Lastly, when a player is playing with poor bankroll management, he never plays where he has less than 15 buy-ins.
Sit and Go
A Pro never plays at a level where he has less than 65 buy-ins, a conservative player never plays where he has less than 45 buy-in and an unprotected player never plays where he has less than 20 buy-ins.
MTT
A Pro never plays at a level where he has less than 200 buy-ins, a conservative player never plays where he has less than 100 buy-in and an unprotected player never plays where he has less than 40 buy-ins.
Watching for patterns in opposing Full Tilt Poker player’s play is perhaps the best way to gain an edge against your opposition. Many players spend a significant amount of time attempting to perfect their poker face, looking to identify, reduce, and eliminate any physical tells they give off. While eliminating tells is not simple, it is just as difficult to eliminate patterned behavior during a poker game. Many poker players fail to become creative and deceptive. Watching for predictable poker players can help you pad your bottom line.
By nature, people tend to act the same in similar conditions. Behavior is somewhat predictable. When paying attention, you will notice players only entering the pot with a top ten hand when playing under the gun. Other players may raise from late position and bet out only when they flop a draw, while checking when the board hits them. Still other players may bet automatically on the flop, or even when checked to. Each of these patterns says something about our opposition’s game. When patterns of this nature are identified, it takes a small amount of effort to exploit these patterns.
How to Exploit Betting Patterns
After identifying betting patterns in our opposition, we want to devise a strategy to punish them for playing predictable. When encountering a player who bets draws, putting in a raise behind them when you suspect they are drawing. When the turn comes, bet out and watch them fold. Other players get into the habit of raising with superior preflop hands such as Ace – Queen suited, yet they check when they are without a pair and holding overs to the board. Betting out on the flop regardless of your holdings will pressure these weak players into folding when they miss. In the event they hit the FullTiltPoker.net board, they will often raise. Over the long haul, this move is profitable when encountering the player who habitually checks when flopping overs after a preflop raise.
Other players play top hands from early position, betting when they miss, checking when they hit. When encountering this player, check behind when checked to while raising when they lead out. They will become frustrated while watching you take their money, wondering how it is you have their number.
By identifying trends in opposing player’s poker play, we can devise a strategy to maximize our profits against these predictable players by punishing them with tactics designed to exploit their ABC poker play.