Anyone playing poker should have a cursory understanding of bankroll management. People usually identify number of buy-ins as the key and perhaps sole factor when it comes to sustaining a bankroll. However, there are other aspects for maintaining and in fact growing a bankroll when playing poker. In this post we will share some other elements you should be constantly reviewing to enable you to do make sensible decisions in game selection in the future.

Tracking Tournament Win Rate

Many tournament players play multi-table tournaments without a thought to their record. They enjoy tournaments and that’s what they will play. However, even the most beginner of tournament players should be tracking their poker tournament win rate. It’s an easy calculation to do and when monitored regularly, can reveal insights into how a player is performing and whether it’s worth their time.

To work it out, all you need to do is add up the total number of cashes, deduct the total amount of buy-ins and then divide the net figure by the amount of buy-ins. This will reveal how much you are up or down as a percentage of your buy-ins. We suggest performing this calculation at timed intervals e.g., monthly to see how you are doing month to month and whether tournaments are worthwhile.

Recording Time Played

Another metric relevant to keeping a bankroll is recording how long you play. By noting how long your sessions are and the profit or loss of specific sessions, you will gauge what session durations you are geared for.

It could be that you perform better with 2 hours than your “usual” 5. Perhaps your attention and proclivity toward errors go up after a number of hours. Recording the time of your sessions is a great way to understand where your best game is played and tweaking session lengths in the future as a result. This is something amateurs pay less attention to but professionals regularly monitor.

Rakeback Opportunities

It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned professional or a newbie, rakeback schemes are great opportunities to earn free money. Some sites have loyalty schemes with rakeback already implemented though. The problem some people have is that they casually disregard opportunities to move site or switch rakeback provider. This is a gross error and you should always be on the look out for better rakeback deals.

Even saving a few percentage points in rakeback can be extremely profitable in the long run. For instance, if you usually earn 30% but can get on a deal with 35%. That additional 5% is in fact worth almost 17% more than the previous deal. Players don’t see it like that and don’t compute the difference this could be worth annually. If you play part-time and historically earn $100 a month, you’ll now be earning $117 a month which could be worth an extra $204 each year.

Additionally, the ability to earn quicker could mean you will move up stakes sooner too. This compounding impact means the potential to earn more is exponential. In short, keep your eyes peeled for the best rakeback schemes as they are an easy way to build your poker bankroll.

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