Lots of good poker players burn through their online bankrolls during downswings in one or two bad sessions. Being a successful poker player means being disciplined enough to properly manage your bankroll and playing habits to ensure that you are being profitable while not exposing yourself to too much risk.
The first thing you can do to ensure that you never go broke is to play within your bankroll. The general rule is to never have more than 5% of your bankroll on the table at any one time, but if you are playing seriously, you should really never have more than 2% of your bankroll on the table. Since your bankroll is finite, poker swings can bring your balance down to zero if you risk too much of your money on a single table or hand.
Second, you should train yourself not to tilt. Even good players often get tilted, and tilt can drive even a good player to irrationally bet, raise, and call. Tilt can come from anywhere, and it is almost impossible to avoid all kinds of tilt all the time. If you feel yourself tilting, go and do something else. Don’t sit back down at the table until you understand that you tilted, are completely done tilting, and have forgiven yourself for tilting.
Third, never play poker when high, drunk, tired, or uncomfortable. If you’re not at the top of your mental game, you are likely to lose money by playing poker. Poker players have to think quickly and accurately about a large number of factors. Mentally compromised individuals are not capable of exercising the judgment required for poker at a high level.
Though following these rules will reduce your risk of going broke, the only way to ensure that you never go broke is to be willing to move down in stakes if you hit a rough patch. Poker is not a race to the highest stake, and refusing to move down if the games get tougher is the quickest way to go broke. Remember, playing in a game with a negative expectation has a risk of ruin of 100%, because you will always, in the long run, go broke.
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