Regular deposits vs self sustained bankroll

I'd like to open a discussion concerning what I see as two different methods of bankroll management. For the longest time, I tried to build and sustain a bankroll for poker with no outside deposits or just one--starting with freerolls or putting money in intending to just use it as a bankroll. I flat out couldn't do it. Every loss seemed amplified, I couldn't deal with the variance. It was only after I got the ability to actually deposit a bit more if and when I need to that I was able to get enough peace of mind to actually play my best. Is this relatable to any of you? And if not, what is your bankroll experience like and how do you cope with the sort of thing I'm talking about?

I am currently trying to build bankroll from freerolls without deposit and it is definitely slow process but i plan to use that time to improve my game so it is no worry. I like the idea to not invest any of my real money and to earn everything from scratch but this is good for new players. If you are better player and have some more experience depositing is definitely faster way to get the things going.

I noticed that if I make a Deposit then be sure to lose him but if I win money on freerolls the more often I even have time to withdraw without losing

I think, it is quite possible to play freerolls and increase your bankroll, without replenishing your deposit. Personally, I replenished my deposit more than a year ago. Since then, I am actually playing freerolls and earning money for the game.

BUILD AND SUSTAIN, BY PLAYING OVER YOUR HEAD YOU WILL KEEP ON ADDING, ALSO MAKES YOU PLAY LOOSER ADDING

I prefer not to make many deposits, but to build a bankroll with winnings in freerolls.

I prefer to make an initial deposit of $50-$100. Freerollls are great but grinding your first $20 can be ridiculous. I'm withdrawing my bankroll and restarting with $50 later this week!

I used to deposit regularly small amounts and tell myself it was part of my "roll" and that I was solidly "winning." Well reality check...while it wasn't breaking the bank or life "roll" it was a waste and I humbled myself to realize I was simply self selecting stakes I felt comfortable at, not ones I was necessarily beating. It took a while and a lot of self reflection and hours a day at the tables and studying just recently the past 6 months or so to become a winning player at much lower stakes.

I have a friend who claims to crush poker...but they don't track their winnings and losings so really are they crushing poker or just lying to themselves?

There's nothing wrong with regular deposits if you keep a poker only roll outside the site and track it AND track your progress using PT4 or HM2 and move up/down according to good BRM.

And hey there's nothing wrong with ignoring that and depositing $50-100 here and there that you can afford to lose just for some fun and gamble.

All that aside decide what you want out of poker. For me redepositing just felt more like a gamble where as grinding up a roll or trying to from a single deposit to grind it up while seeing in raw stats that I'm winning.

quick said:

I used to deposit regularly small amounts and tell myself it was part of my "roll" and that I was solidly "winning." Well reality check...while it wasn't breaking the bank or life "roll" it was a waste and I humbled myself to realize I was simply self selecting stakes I felt comfortable at, not ones I was necessarily beating. It took a while and a lot of self reflection and hours a day at the tables and studying just recently the past 6 months or so to become a winning player at much lower stakes.

I have a friend who claims to crush poker...but they don't track their winnings and losings so really are they crushing poker or just lying to themselves?

There's nothing wrong with regular deposits if you keep a poker only roll outside the site and track it AND track your progress using PT4 or HM2 and move up/down according to good BRM.

And hey there's nothing wrong with ignoring that and depositing $50-100 here and there that you can afford to lose just for some fun and gamble.

All that aside decide what you want out of poker. For me redepositing just felt more like a gamble where as grinding up a roll or trying to from a single deposit to grind it up while seeing in raw stats that I'm winning.

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To me, I don't feel like I'm good enough or have the kind of time to invest to "grind it out" as a lot of people put it. I have done extremely well in tournaments on occasion, so I more want to try and get that kind of result in, shall we say, the RIGHT tournament. Being a strict non cash game player, I found myself fixating way too much on avoiding losing whatever portion of my bankroll I'm investing in a given tournament or sit and go to play effectively.

Of course I'd LIKE to not lose all the money I deposit, but I've found that if I can at least use the thought that yes, I can deposit again if I lose, and losing that money doesn't mean I'm a failure as a poker player, it's a lot more possible for me to play to the best of my ability without stressing over things.

I withdraw regularly, no deposits.

it clearly depends upon your nature. If you are a hectic regular player then deposit is must to taste all the types of poker games and if you are a freeroll player then there is no requirement of any deposit but it takes time to build something from scratch.

if you feel that you are inclined to the tilt it is better not to make a deposit but to play freerolls until you learn to master the tilt

Lheticus said:

To me, I don't feel like I'm good enough or have the kind of time to invest to "grind it out" as a lot of people put it. I have done extremely well in tournaments on occasion, so I more want to try and get that kind of result in, shall we say, the RIGHT tournament. Being a strict non cash game player, I found myself fixating way too much on avoiding losing whatever portion of my bankroll I'm investing in a given tournament or sit and go to play effectively.

Of course I'd LIKE to not lose all the money I deposit, but I've found that if I can at least use the thought that yes, I can deposit again if I lose, and losing that money doesn't mean I'm a failure as a poker player, it's a lot more possible for me to play to the best of my ability without stressing over things.

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That’s interesting for sure. I used to feel the same about deposits but more recently feel like that made me take it less seriously and less focused (after all I can always reload!). Granted at micro stakes it might be ok thinking but the best comment I ever read in defense of good BRM is that “sure you might be able and willing to replace a lost small amount but what happens if you win or grind up a big roll that would be hard to replace if you lost most of it ?”

As for grinding it up from small amounts I read a blog post once about a great motivational reason for it : “when you eventually make it up to higher stakes and make money from the game you’ll look back fondly and appreciate the time spent grinding the penny stakes.” For me that’s huge motivation , imagine one day playing for higher stake pots and looking back and saying “wow this all was from a small final deposit years ago !” That’s powerful.

To be clear by deposits I don’t necessarily mean money on a site , rather money set aside for poker but not added to from external sources other than poker.

I mean to each their own but I definitely see the value now in motivational power of saying this deposit will last and will be protected and will grow over time.

Plus , and this shouldn’t happen often if we follow BRM and tilt control, even if we grind up and lose a lot of it , if we started with a small deposit we only ever really lost that small amount of our own money.


I just take it more seriously I think if I treat it like it’s the last deposit I could ever do.

The bankrolls I have were created through freerolls. It takes forever and patience... forever.
Before 2011, there were more freerolls. The sites were giving away large sums of money.
I am not playing my best game. back then I was better practiced and more able to handle downswings.
However, it is a beautiful feeling getting a check from playing poker without risking a dime.

quick said:

That’s interesting for sure. I used to feel the same about deposits but more recently feel like that made me take it less seriously and less focused (after all I can always reload!).

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Well, if I get myself to that point mentally, that'll definitely be a good thing for my chances of making serious money with poker all right.

Lheticus said:

Well, if I get myself to that point mentally, that'll definitely be a good thing for my chances of making serious money with poker all right.

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It's probably cliche at this point for these forums, but The Mental Game of Poker book as well as the Zen and Art of Poker book completely changed my mindset for the better in my poker journey. Even the book How to Treat Your Poker Like a Business gave me a vastly different perspective. Some might disagree here but I'd argue that these books are perhaps more valuable to players today than even books of poker theory and poker strategy as most of that content is either are available free online OR changes over time making older books on theory/strategy outdated, so these "mental poker" books should be read by every player who wants to at least try to "freeroll" their poker journey after that last deposit .

I like to keep an actual bankroll on acr that I play from. I pull from profits from it when needed and continue to grind the micros and watch the roll grow .

I've managed to build a self-sustaining amount on ACR with no deposit. The same can be said with the SportsBetting site (obviously, before they ended the majority of their FRs).

I prefer to build my bankroll from 0 and sustain and grow slowly. I value my earnings better.

I stopped making deposits. I know myself, I can not hold the bankroll. Last week, there was luck on two freerolls, resulting in a bank of 70 dollars. By the end of this week, they left ten. I'm a weak player. If a person is confident in himself, in that he plays a plus, then he can make a deposit.

it is very slow to create a bankroll from the freerolls, but I feel that depositing the game makes it more difficult

I would say that playing freerolls alone would take you a decade to be able to make a decent playing bankroll for 2k+. What is GTD, combined with variance. Makes it almost impossible to make more then a couple dollars a day. Now some will argue that playing on GlobalPoker can be a way to do it. I completely agree with that statement, coming from someone that has won the weekly twice in the past 3 months. Yes it's possible. Highly unlikely though. Even if you do manage to pull off wins like I have on that site. The min you try and move up stakes from the freeroll area to what I call "good play"area. You will lose it all faster then you can say Bad Beat. You're so use to playing agianst "freeroll players" you have no clue how to handle a real game at say 200NL or a $30+ rebuy add on worth 100k GTD.

I suggest putting $300 in, and start playing 1 table at a time at 50NL. Start to get a feel for the higher staked game. While still playing your freerolls regularly. The last piece of advice I can give you is... DON'T PLAY TO MAKE YOUR MONEY BACK EVER! the min you do that, your bankroll will be gone. Just accept the fact you lost $50 (your last big win on a freeroll) and call it a day. If you drop under $200 just withdraw, and take a break, then come back in a couple weeks. If you cant do that then you actually have a problem and should get some help. Hope that helps.