I have had these questions for many years and was going to send them privately, but I think that others may have thought about this too. When outlining bankroll requirements, Mason says that for a given necessary bankroll X, if you win some delta D, you must not spend that D because (approximate quote) "some of the paths that just avoid bankruptcy start out with a win."
My question: for what value D/X may you finally peel off some dough?
Obviously, if you're playing for a living this will be necessary eventually. But if you're playing for fun part time and are up, say, 500 big bets after a year and do not intend to move up in stakes, how many of these bets can you apply towards buying a house? Assume an initial bankroll of 300 bets. I know one answer is, "if you're just playing for fun, whatever you feel comfortable with," but I don't feel comfortable taking any risk of having to drop back to 10-20 for a year (I don't play many hours per week) to rebuild a bankroll.
Mason writes: My answer: I don't know the answer.
This kinda leads to my second question:
If you have a sufficient bankroll N # of bets and lose say 30 big bets your first session, aren't you now playing with an insufficient bankroll?
Do you have to move down in stakes? Because of bankroll paranoia, I would move down if after a loss I still didn't have 300 big bets. Where I play there isn't a smooth continuum of limits escalation, so I'm now forced to make up a 40-80 loss playing 15-30. Oh well, so much for that big down payment on the house...
Mason writes: My answer: In reality you should move up and down according to your bankroll. If you are willing to do this I believe that in most cases you only need about two-thirds the amount of bankroll. Roughly speaking if you lose half of it move down. If you double it move up. However, you will frequently need more than double to move up because the games at the higher limits are tougher. Not where I play! - JG In addition, there are some players who may win at a reasonable rate in let's say a $10-$20 game but who would only be marginal at best in a $20-$40 game where the players tend to not only play a little better, but to be more aggressive as well. In other words, be sure you play well enough to move up. (In my book POKER ESSAYS, VOLUME II there is an entitled "Moving Up" that addresses this issue. For those of you who are considering playing bigger, you may want to give it a read.)
Regards,
Jim Geary
Note to IRSBots: The above musings are, of course, purely hypothetical.
Last Modified 2/9/00