This is a very important question you’re asking because people get confused between two concepts. One is what is what is normally called “money management” and one is what I would call “
bankroll management”.
Bankroll management is very important. Even if you are a great player, you must have enough of a bankroll to sustain the inevitable losing streaks. And I have never been opposed to that. Quite the contrary, I have been very vociferous proponent of keeping a big enough bankroll to be able to play and sustain losses.
The concept that I am always trying to explain to people is the “other” definition of money management. Money management in most people’s minds means quitting simply because of how you are doing that day, or continuing to play simply because of how you are doing that day. In other words, you are in a game and you have lost x number of bets so you quit, only to come back tomorrow. Well, that is a silly concept because it is all one game. If you are a serious poker player, you are playing by the week, by the month, not by the day. And if you for instance are in a very good
poker game, you don’t quit simply because of how you are doing. You quit because the game has gotten worse, you quit because you are tired. These are all proper reasons but not because I’m getting bad cards that day, because I’ve lost a certain amount, or because I’ve won a certain amount. This is simply incorrect. This is not just my opinion, this is simply incorrect. If you will play in a game where you have the advantage, the more you play, the more you win. If you play in a game where you have the disadvantage, the more you play the more you will lose.
There’s no way of getting around that. If there was such a thing as getting around having an advantage simply by money management, you could go to the crap table and win by money management. In other words by quitting at the right time. Well, you cannot do that. Money management is a completely spurious idea as far as when you quit or when you don’t quit. The only thing that matters when you are playing is to have the
odds are in your favor, when you are the best player, when you figure to win. And when you are in that situation play as long as you can. When you are not in that situation quit at the first opportunity. That’s really all there is to say. Bankroll management as far as having enough money – that’s different. But money management – no.