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Resources:
Below are a list of resources that Home Poker Tour members should find useful.
Are You Ready to Play Online With Real Money?
NO YOU ARE NOT!
Did you know that less than 10% of online players actually make money? I found out the hard way, and I'm hoping this article will
encourage you to prepare yourself before you throw your hard earned money away.
You should NOT be playing online poker for real money unless, at the VERY MINIMUM, you understand the concepts of
Bankroll Management and Calculating Outs & Odds. If you have
been playing online, or your are considering playing online, and you do not understand these concepts, I would say
you are either ignorant (like I was when I started), or you have a Gambling Problem.
Here's how things went for me when I started playing online:
- Like a lot of first time online players, I watched poker on TV, saw an ad for Poker Stars, signed up, and deposited $100.
- My first mistake was playing $10+1 single table sit and go's. I should have AT LEAST had a $200 bankroll to play these stakes.
- My other first mistake was not understanding the mathematics involved in poker (calculating outs and odds).
- My second mistake was not knowing that I should be taking advantage of deposit bonuses - Poker Stars gave me nothing.
- A few weeks later I lost all my money.
DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES I DID!!!
You should also ask yourself why you want to play online poker.
You want to make money? As a recreational poker player who's never played online before, playing to make money is the wrong reason.
First of all, you should not be allocating too much money to your online bankroll as you have very little expereince. So lets say
you decide to deposit $100 online and buy in to the .05/.10 No Limit Hold'em cash game tables with $5. Thats great, you are responsibly
managing your bankroll! Unfortunately the reality is that you will be grinding it out for hours, and you're not going to make any
significant amount of money.
You want to play for fun? Online poker is NOT FUN, it is BORING. OK maybe it is fun when you pull off a big bluff, or double up,
but how often do you do this? The majority of the time you spend online is a boring grind. In my opinion, online poker feels more
like a job.
So why should you want to play online poker? I believe there is only one answer to this question: Experience. You enjoy the game, and you
want to improve at it. With this attitude, you will get a LOT of experience, your game will improve, your bankroll will grow,
and eventually you will be playing to make money.
If you are still interested in playing online, please read Home Poker Tour's articles on
Bankroll Management,
Calculating Outs & Odds, and
Building an Online Bankroll with Home Poker Tour.
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Bankroll Management
Bankroll management is the MOST IMPORTANT subject-area a Poker Player should understand. I STRONGLY encourage you to
read this article!
If you don't plan on reading this article, check out this one.
DISCLAIMER: The views on bankroll managment expessed below are the personal opinion of a recreational poker player.
Please do your own research on this subject area. If you have any suggestions, please contact
Home Poker Tour.
What is bankroll management?
It is choosing a reasonable amount of money to play poker with, keeping track of your winnings/losses, and ensuring that
the stakes your are playing (ring game/tournament buy ins) are within an acceptable limit of your bankroll.
How much money should I allocate to my bankroll?
As a recreational home poker player, ask yourself what you'd be
doing for entertainment if you weren't playing poker. Going out for dinner with friends, movies, bars/nightclubs? Most
recreational players take a portion of the money they normally budget for entertainment, and allocate it to playing
poker instead.
What stakes should I play?
I had an opportunity to ask Phil Hellmuth and
Johnny Chan this question. As a professional player who
is supporting himself and family, Phil said he would want a bankroll of 200 to 250 times the buyin for No Limit ring games
and multi table tournaments. As a recreational a poker player (like most of us) with a full time jobs, Johnny and Phil recommended
20-30 times the buy in for No Limit ring games and multi table tournaments.
The general rule is: the stakes you play should depend on the size of your bankroll and the type of poker
games you are playing. Here are some minimum recommendations for a recreational poker player's bankroll size:
- Sit N Go's (Single Table Tournaments) - 20 times the buy in.
- Multi Table Tournaments - 30 times the buy in.
- Limit Cash Games - 300 times the big blind.
- No Limit/Pot Limit Cash Games - 20 times the amount you buy in with at the table.
For example, if you want to play .25/.50 NL Hold'em cash games and buy in with $50 at each table, your bankroll should be $1000.
Why do I need such a big bankroll?
Poker is a long term game - if you make the correct decisions, you should come out ahead in the long run. However, because poker is a
game of chance - even if you make the correct decision, you may lose your money in the short run.
For example, you may push all in pre flop with pocket Ace's thousands of times. You will win the majority of these times,
but sometimes you will get unlucky and that 2 outer will suck you out on the river. When you run into a long period of continuous suckouts,
you will quickly start losing your bankroll, you will feel desperate, you will tilt, you will start making bad decisions,
and you will start losing a lot of money. If this continues you WILL bust out. This WILL happen.
You need a large bankroll to ensure that you can overcome a long run of bad beats without the fear of busting out.
How should I keep track of my bankroll?
Use Home Poker Tour's Bankroll Tracker!
This allows you to privately log each of your poker buy ins in the HPT database, and view a summary of your buy ins,
cash outs, ROI, and profit/losses by category and location.
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Calculating Outs & Odds
Calculating your outs & odds before you put your money in the pot is CRITICAL if you want to be a winning poker player!
Why? Because if you always put your money in the pot when the odds are favorable, it is mathematically impossible
for you to lose in the long run (assuming you know what your opponent has and you know what you need to win).
Calculating Outs
To calculate your outs, simply count how many cards remain in the deck will give you the winning hand. For
example:
- You have Ace King of Spades.
- Four community cards have been exposed, and 2 of them are Spades.
- You believe that you need a flush to win.
You have 9 outs - there are 9 more Spades remaining that will give you the winning hand.
Here are the outs for some common drawing hands. You will eventually memorize them all:
| Draw | Outs |
| Gutshot (inside) straight draw | 4 |
| 2 over cards | 6 |
| Open ended straight draw | 8 |
| Flush draw | 9 |
| Gutshot straight & flush draw | 12 |
| Open ended straight & flush draw | 15 |
Calculating Odds Against You Winning
To calculate the odds against you winning the hand, you will need to know your outs, and you
will need to calculate some simple division - dividing your outs into one of three numbers:
- 50 - the number of unkown cards before the flop.
- 47 - the number of unkown cards after the flop.
- 46 - the number of unkown cards after the turn.
Going back to our last example, you need a flush to win the hand, there are 9 cards left in the deck that will
give you a flush, and there are 46 unknown cards. 9 goes into 46 roughly 5 times, so the odds against you
winning are 4:1 (four-to-one).
Calculating Your Pot Odds
To calculate your pot odds, simply divide the total amount of money in the pot by the amount you are required
to put in.
Going back to our example, you are on a flush draw, your opponents bets $20, and the total pot is $100. It
will cost your $20 to call your opponent's bet and remain in the hand. 20 goes into 100 5 times, so your pot
odds are 5:1 (five-to-one).
Odds Against vs. Pot Odds
Because the odds against your winning (4:1) are less than your pot odds (5:1), you should call this bet.
If you were to play this hand over and over again, your would come out a winner in the long run.
Implied Odds
What if you don't have the correct odds to call a bet on the turn, but you believe your opponent will either bet on the river,
or call your bet on the river, when you hit your winning hand? These are your implied odds, and they should be taken into
consideration too.
For example, you are on a flush draw, your opponents bets $33, and the total pot is $100. It
will cost your $33 to call your opponent's bet and remain in the hand. 33 goes into 100 3 times, so your pot
odds are 3:1.
The odds against you winning (4:1) are greater than your pot odds, but you believe your opponent will call
a $50 bet on the river if you hit your flush. 33 goes into 183 (183 = $100 pot + your $33 call + the expected $50 call on the river)
5.5 times, so your implied pot odds are 5.5:1.
Here a call would be acceptable too, just make sure you KNOW that your opponent will call!
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Managing Tilt
You have Ac As and the board is showing Ad 2d Kc 6s. You know your opponent is on a flush draw,
so you bet just over the size of the pot to protect your hand. Your opponenent calls anyways,
rivers a 3d and shows 7d10d to take the pot with a flush. You played the hand perfectly, but some
donkey at your table made a horrible call and got lucky.
What happens next? You go on Tilt. You start playing loose, you start making bad decisions,
and you end up losing a lot of money.
So what is the best way to manage tilt? Stop playing. Do not try to play through it. Get away from your
computer/leave the casino, and do something else.
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Protecting Your Hand
In the Calculating Outs & Odds example, we talk about calling your opponent's bets
with a flush draw only if your pot odds are favorable. Now consider what to do when you have the best hand, and
your opponent is drawing to a hand that will beat yours. In this case you want to protect your hand by
giving your opponent the incorrect odds to call.
For example, you believe you have the best hand on the turn, there are 3 more people involved in the hand, and there are
two cards of the same suit on the board. Do not bet $20 into an $80 pot! This gives anyone with a flush draw favorable
odds to call your bet - your opponent would be getting 5:1 pot odds, and the odds against him winning are only 4:1.
The correct amount to bet here is between 3/4 of the pot and the entire pot.
Now you may ask yourself "why give your opponent an opportunity to win more of my money if his flush draw hits?"
You MUST remember that poker is about long term results, and your opponent may get lucky and hit his flush now, but in
the long term, it is mathematically impossible for your opponent to come out ahead. For example, lets look analyze playing
both of the above betting scenarios over the long run, 100 hands:
The Wrong Bet - Betting $20 into an $80 pot:
- The odds of your opponent winning the hand are 4:1 against; therefore, he will win this hand 20% of the time.
- Your opponent will be risking a total of $2000 (the cost to call a $20 bet times the number of hands, 100).
- Your opponent will have a chance to win a total of $12000 (the amount of the pot after he calls, $120, times the number of hands, 100).
- After 100 hands, your opponent will win a total of $2400 (20% of $12000), a profit of $400 ($2400 less $2000).
The Right Bet - Betting $80 into an $80 pot:
- The odds of your opponent winning the hand are 4:1 against; therefore, he will win this hand 20% of the time.
- Your opponent will be risking a total of $8000 (the cost to call a $80 bet times the number of hands, 100).
- Your opponent will have a chance to win a total of $16000 (the amount of the pot after he calls, $160, times the number of hands, 100).
- After 100 hands, your opponent will win a total of $3200 (20% of $16000), a LOSS of $4800 ($8000 less $3200).
As you can see, it is MUCH more profitable for you to give your opponent the incorrect odds to call your bets.
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Gambling Problems
Do you think you have a gambling problem? Please help yourself by visiting
National Council on Problem Gambling.
Start out by being honest with yourself and answering their
Questions.
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Poker Chip Calculator
If you need to get some poker chips for your tournaments, the poker chip calculator will help you decide how
many chips you will need.
The chip calulator displays: a players starting stack size,
starting dollar value, total chips required for your tournament, and the total value of chips in your tournament.
Don't forget to account for rebuys/add-ons!
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