CasinoGaming.com


	Sundays: Inside Gaming Tuesdays: Video Poker Wednesdays: Off the Shelf Fridays: Richard Eng, Player's Edge Saturdays: Pocket Aces

POCKET ACES

Columns

• Back to Maryann's index

• Back to columnists' index

Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Feb 23, 2008

More Money Management Stuff

I'm surprised at the feedback that came from last week's article on percentage of bankroll for poker. I was just rolling some thoughts around in my head and decided to put them on paper so I'd be able to research further at a later date. Then it occurred to me that it was more than food for my thought; it could also feed a few brainac types in my limited readership.

It did. But not all the comments came as compliments or suggestions as I had hoped. (Don't worry, I'm used to having insult and injury tossed in my direction.)

Let's say I had ten feedbacks -- it could have been more; it could have been less but I like things that come in tens. (Besides, it makes it easier to do the math.) So we'll use ten.

Four people said that by constantly harping (What? Harping? Is that like nagging?) about money management and record keeping, and concentration, I was taking the fun out of poker.

And to that I ask, "Really?" If you're learning to drive and I constantly urge you to watch out for drunken drivers, speeders, and little children, does that take the fun out of driving? You can enjoy a leisurely cruise around the lake or through the campgrounds, or even on Route 66 and have fun without ever forgetting caution. More to the point, it's fun to play poker but the fun stops (or should) when the silk purse you keep your bankroll in begins to look like an empty sow's ear. And if you're addicted to poker rather than life, then there's no hope for you anyway. I've been to the bottom of my bankroll enough times to realize I won't have to scrape around for pennies if I follow some kind of discipline.

So, no, incorporating sound business skills into your poker game won't take the fun out of it. Frankly, I think this will give you more enjoyment because you'll be making money.

Five people complained because my suggestions made poker seem too much like work. Excuse me but, isn't it work?

Like the guys on the football field on Sundays, we're playing a game, sure, but yes it is work. Of course they don't have to put their money up to play, which to me means only that poker is even harder (but usually much safer physically) work than professional sports. Poker is risky business. Sitting in a closer-off room with dozens and dozens of people who are smoking, coughing, passing germs around on their money and chips isn't exactly healthy.

But we digress, so on to the last of our sample.

We've seen nine of the ten feedbacks. Only one inquiring mind wanted more information. Just one individual wanted to know if I had any data to back up my theory (It wasn't a theory; it was a thought. But if it works out to be successful, I'll take credit for the theory thing.)

So just to appease that one soul (and myself, actually) I'm going to dust off my Wilson Software Turbo Texas Hold'em CD and give this percentage of bankroll issue a go. If it works out, maybe I'll just email it to the one person who expressed an interest and between the two of us we'll have a great, secret method.

Then again, maybe this one person won't keep it a secret. Maybe he'll put it into pamphlet form and call Billy Mays or Kevin Trudeau about making an infomercial about it or maybe he'll get Howard Schwartz at Gambler's Book Shop to publish it and end up selling thousands at $19.95. (But wait, if you order right away, he'll throw in a free set of poker chips!)

I guess it's a chance I'll have to take. I'll just go ahead and run some trials and report back as soon as I've finished and we'll go from there.

I hope at least one other person is pleasantly surprised.