How to minimise your losses

If you want to ensure the downward spiral can be mitigated i have a simple formula which has proven quite effective @ the 2NL-16NL range.

My bankroll at any stake is 50Buy ins (100BB)... Currently @ 16NL so bankroll is >$800.
In any given session on the tables (usually 4-6 multi tabling) I will focus on playing Tight aggressive poker. If i start well and my win rate is above 5BB/100hands im happy and enjoy my current stakes. If i however am having a bad day and i notice i am down 2 Buy ins. In my case ($32). i will start to cut down my 16NL tables and instead sit on the 10NL tables....

It is not unusual to experience loss streaks of 10 Buy ins.... so instead of losing ($160 or 20% of Bankroll) @ 16NL i will lose:

-$32 @ 16NL
-$20 @ 10NL
-$10 @ 5NL
-$8 @ 2NL

=$70 (8.75% Bankroll)

It does seem counter intuitive and im sure many players out there would not even bother with this mitigation (each to their own) but having been a heavy gambler and learning the hard way, i force myself to follow these guidelines.... it has helped to take the gamblers edge out of my poker and gives me a chance to play multiple stake levels and alot more hands for the long term growth and development of my game.

It must be understood, that to move up in stakes once again, at each level you must win back the 2 Buy ins at the above stakes... sometimes i move back up when i win back 1 buy in at the higher stake but if i lose 1 again im back down quick smart.

i.e you lose 2Buy ins @16NL so you drop to $10NL... you must now play 10NL and win back 2 buy ins @10NL (you are still down from your original amount but atleast you have somewhat mitigated some of your losses... if you move back up and again lose 2 Buyins you simply move back down ....

I hope that this will in some way help you! (anybody have any other mitigation strategy that they use??????)

peace

Seems pretty pointless to have to win back 2 buy-ins at each limit after a bad run. Unless you are tilting it's a waste of time to play 2nl with a roll of over $700 imo.

Also what if you are on really fishy tables but lose a few buy-ins through suckouts etc, do you leave all those fish and move down a limit immediately?

Yes, you already use a super tight BRM, see no point in this.

Thanks. This was interesting info.

Bankroll management makes since in this case

Maybe slightly too conservative.... could be good to limit this loss mitigation to situations when you are attempting a move up in stakes. also if there are many fish on the table and you are simply experiencing bad beats i would use my discretion.... "never do the same thing 100% of the time".....

I always buy in for 1/2 the max buy in for cash games ,it keeeps swings of losing and winning down.

micromachine said:

Seems pretty pointless to have to win back 2 buy-ins at each limit after a bad run. Unless you are tilting it's a waste of time to play 2nl with a roll of over $700 imo.

Also what if you are on really fishy tables but lose a few buy-ins through suckouts etc, do you leave all those fish and move down a limit immediately?

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Agreed. It only makes sense if you're tilting, and in that case it's probably better just to stop playing for a bit.

JUDGE1018 said:

I always buy in for 1/2 the max buy in for cash games ,it keeeps swings of losing and winning down.

Click to expand...

Yeah those winning swings are really awful, I hate them