Rules of Play

Hello all,

This is something that I have been thinking about for a while. Especially after listening to Chris Ferguson's podcast $1 to $20,000. He talks a lot about bankroll management, getting out of a table once you double up, etc etc.

This got me on to the idea of putting together a list of rules to live my poker life by. For example I find a lot of times, I will make a good amount of money and then get greedy and lose a lot of my winnings. So what I am looking for is rules surrounding the table for better overall management.

Here are what I have started with.

1) Take a break after a bad beat, to ensure not going on tilt.

2) Stop for the day if over 2 buyins down.
I probably chase loses to much.

3) Stop for the session/day if over 2 buyins up, to protect profit
This comes from what the England rugby team did. They changed there shirts at half time to give them a fresh start, as even if they were winning, it triggered focus for the second half.

4) Take 15 minutes to analyse previous session before starting a new session, in order to refresh the mistakes you make.
Always do my review after my session which then I forget the critical bits.

5) Never risk more than 5% of bankroll on one table.

6) If felted, leave the table and join a new one, in order to draw a line under that loss.

Let me know of any others people use for good game management, as I feel this is the area I need to improve the most, as spend a lot of time improving my game and not much on surrounding the cards....

seems fine tho point 4 is easier said than done

I don't like 3 at all

Otherwise nice work.

I concur with bigspenda. Omit #3.

You should never stop when you're winning, unless you absolutely cannot play longer. Having the big stack at the table opens up more opportunities for further profit.

Originally Posted by bigspenda73

I don't like 3 at all

Otherwise nice work.

I just find my game seems to suffer a lot when I am more than a $100 up for a session. I kind of get careless, don't focus as much. Call to many small stacks with marginal hands etc., I also end up playing for longer than I should, so if I have a trigger this should solve this.

Originally Posted by Da GOAT

seems fine tho point 4 is easier said than done

I use poker tracker, so I always preference the day in question and look at my worst hands for the day. It is also good for filling the time waiting for a table....

Thanks for the feedback. Any other points that I can/should add?

i mean that your commitment and discipline to actualy review hands routinely can be tough, not the actual way you review them.

u should never leave when your winning unless you have too. focus on tighting up more with a big stack till your comfortable

Originally Posted by Da GOAT

u should never leave when your winning unless you have too. focus on tighting up more with a big stack till your comfortable

Good advice, thanks. I am going to give that a go, as I am a bit loose with a big stack and I find that people go after big stacks...

Originally Posted by acrafty

...and I find that people go after big stacks...

This is not a bad thing....

i dont agree with #6.
when im losing a stack to a lucky donk, i hit rebuy and wait for the next time he calls me as a 8:1 dog.

Originally Posted by XTR1000

i dont agree with #6.
when im losing a stack to a lucky donk, i hit rebuy and wait for the next time he calls me as a 8:1 dog.

I'm not sure that he feels confident enough yet to know that he's losing to lucky donks. Perhaps he feels he's being outplayed at the table, in which case he should leave the table.

Originally Posted by Xianti

Originally Posted by XTR1000

i dont agree with #6.
when im losing a stack to a lucky donk, i hit rebuy and wait for the next time he calls me as a 8:1 dog.

I'm not sure that he feels confident enough yet to know that he's losing to lucky donks. Perhaps he feels he's being outplayed at the table, in which case he should leave the table.

I am confident enough when it is a lucky hit. But I think that my problem is that I go after them to much, with out waiting for an opportunity. Point 6 was not about bad beats but more about being outplayed....

Just play your game. Don't get personal.

Originally Posted by acrafty

1) Take a break after a bad beat, to ensure not going on tilt.

I don't tilt. and if I'm 6 tabling, I'm not getting up from the good tables to stop because of one beat.

2) Stop for the day if over 2 buyins down.

I'd have to quit half of my profitable sessions then, I almost always start down a buy in or two unless I get lucky as hell.

3) Stop for the session/day if over 2 buyins up, to protect profit

Never quit a good table or session. I don't care if I need to work in in the morning, i'l sleep later

4) Take 15 minutes to analyse previous session before starting a new session, in order to refresh the mistakes you make.

What is a session, one night, one table, 200 hands. i sometimes play on 15 tables within one night. If I stop 15 minutes everytime, that could be 4 hours of analysis.

5) Never risk more than 5% of bankroll on one table.

Impossible. If your Bankroll is $1K and you sit down at one table with $50 that's 5% of your roll. If I win one pot, I have more than 5% on the table.

6) If felted, leave the table and join a new one, in order to draw a line under that loss.

Never, ever leave a table when you lose a stack. If for example, your at a table with 5 others, all with 100BB, When you lose your stack, the table now has 700BB on the table. Assume others have lost money previously, why would you leave a table with 800 or more BB's and move to another table where you have no stats, less money on the table and most of all having to find a good table, assuming you were practicing good table selection in the first place.

I get where you were trying to go with this, but you need to rethink some of the thoughts you have about tables and playing. Don't base any decisions about tables because of wins and losses insuch a short span of hands. Leave tables and sessions when things are not profitable, either at the table or because of your play. never leave a profitable table because your winning, unless the table dynamic changes. Watch your tables and decide when to stay or leave because of the table itself.

Originally Posted by acrafty

I am a bit loose with a big stack

Rather than try to think of ways to prevent mistakes you make because of lack of discipline, you should be trying to increase your discipline so that you don't make these mistakes in the first place. You will never be a good poker player until you develop this discipline. You should not start spewing just because you have a big stack at a table.

Nice post though

Thanks for all the feedback, it is really given me something to think about, and I am glad that it has provoked some thought. I think that courtiebee as nailed it on the head, DISCIPLINE. I am fine at making a good start on a table, but I tend to tail off.