ONLINE POKER TOP10 Beginner’s Tips No Limit Hold ‘em – Part I

Short Stack Strategy and Bankroll Management

Our tips for No Limit Hold'em (NLH) will be based on the Short Stack Strategy. By using probability and poker theory, these methods have been proven to be a successful winning method in No Limit Poker. The 'stack' refers to the chips you have in front of you at the table, a short stack is a player with few chips, or fewer chips than most other players at the table.

Short Stack Strategy refers to the fact that you buy-in with little money and play with a short stack. For you to be successful as the short stack, you need to play at a full table where the other players have big stacks.

To be a successful online poker player, you need to work your way up in the limits. Whether you chose to start with a bankroll of $5, $100 or even $1,000, remember that starting off with $1,000 will only save you some time and a few steps on your poker career ladder. The key to any poker player’s success is Bankroll Management, because without it, you will never be a winner.

Why do you need Bankroll Management?

The size of your bankroll determines the limit you can afford to play. If you choose a limit that is too small, you won't make as much profit as you could. If you choose a limit that is too high for your bankroll, you will go broke and have to quit or reload your Bankroll and start over. There is no way to always win when you play poker. There will be sessions when you just can't win. When this happens and you consistently lose money, budgeting accordingly will help you survive and keep money in your Bankroll to try again. This is the time to move down in limits, to slow down and take a step back until you recoup your losses. In poker, the skillful and better player wins in the long run, but during that run, setbacks are inevitable. By strictly following a Bankroll Management plan, you will be able to weather any storm and stay in the game.

Basic Principles for Bankroll Management, the 30 buy-in rule:

 
Move up a limit when your Bankroll has at least 30 buy-ins for that limit.
Move down a limit if your Bankroll only has 30 buy-ins for a limit.

A buy-in is the amount you take to the table, or the amount you buy into the game with.  For example you sit down at the table with $2.00, your buy-in is $2.00. In this case 30 buy-ins would be $60. When you play the Short Stack Strategy, the amount you buy-in depends of course on the limit you play.

If you sit in a NLH $0.05/$0.10 limit game, you would buy-in for $2.00. The next limit up would be $0.10/$0.25 and your buy-in for this limit is $5.00. In order to move-up from NLH $0.05/$0.10 to NLH $0.10/$0.25 you will need 30 x $5.00 = $150 in your Bankroll. If you don’t win after you move-up, you will have to move back down to $0.05/$0.10 when you only have $60 of the original $150 in your Bankroll.
 
If your goal is to be a successful winning poker player, you have to know when to move up and/or down a limit when your Bankroll fluctuates. If you lose too much at a limit and don't move down, you will lose your whole Bankroll and go broke. If you stay at the same limit too long, your career will be at a standstill and you will not make the profits you should be making.