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The Poker Professionals Association
Research Chapter
06
MONETARY REQUIREMENT
(BANK-ROLL)
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Bank-roll requirement in order to become a pro naturally is dependent upon many factors. Some of the factors to consider include whether it is your intention to become a full time professional or just to supplement your current income. Naturally, the amount of cash you need will also depend upon whether you will specialize in tournaments or live play, and at what levels you choose to play.
For purposes of our discussion, we will assume that you intend to become a full time pro. In other words, you will have no other source of income and that you will specialize in live games, not tournaments.
Several respected poker authors have discussed this subject and though opinions vary, there is a general consensus concerning the range of monetary requirements, which varies from 40 small bets to 80 large bets, depending on the game and level of play.
Although it is commonly thought that most poker games such as 7 card stud and Texas hold'em requires the same bankroll if playing at similar levels, we find this is not true as the standard deviation or luck factor is distinctly different for these two games.
After considerable research, we have arrived at what we feel are suitable bankroll requirements for several of the most popular live/money poker games. Please note that the figures is playing capital only and does not include personal expenses. We further presume that you, as a new full time poker professional will use discretion by beginning at lower level games (those below $10-$20) and slowly work up to middle limit games and eventually to higher limit games as you gain playing experience. You will note that our figures are higher than some poker "experts" recommend; however, it is our experience that standard deviation (luck) can be a short term killer of small bankrolls. Further, we are taking into consideration that you are embarking on a long term career, not just sitting down once or twice to give it a shot. Remember these are recommended minimum requirements, more is needed if your skill or experience is not yet at the expert level.
7 card Stud= $6,000
Texas Hold'em= $5,000
Blackjack (21)= $50,000 to $75,000
We strongly advise that you gain several years of lower and middle limit play winning experience (and build up your bankroll) before tackling higher limits, pot limit or no limit games. Only if you are a consistent winner at the lower levels should you even consider moving up. Remember, the natural tendency is for games to get tougher the higher the play. Thus, you may find that often your earnings may at times go down, as you move up in limits, often caused by a combination of factors: As you move up, your opponents are more skilled, good games are harder to find, your opponents have more practice at this new level than you, and lastly, your opponents are usually better financed and able to intimidate you with larger bets than you are used to seeing.
Please note that we are assuming that you are already a very good to great player to consider turning full time pro. If you are merely good, have only played a short time or have just had more than your share of good luck, do not even consider turning pro, particularly at middle or higher limits, rather take the time to perfect your playing skill part time and at lower limits.
Earnings expectations:
Your earnings expectations will depend on the game or games you choose as your primary games. We highly recommend that you perfect your skills in all the major money games, as it will be easier for you to find good games if you are not limited to just one or two types of games. We also recommend that you stay open to playing games at lower limits than you are used to if you spot a particularly good game. Often slightly lower limit games will offer you much higher earnings, with less risk than your regular game.
Presuming you are playing solid optimum strategy poker your earnings expectation for the most popular games are:
7 Card Stud= 1 to 3 big bets per hour.
Texas Hold'em= 1 to 2 big bets per hour.
Blackjack= Slightly less than 1% of the total dollars bet per hour.
Please note the variance for each of the above games. This is due in large part to the standard deviation or luck factor differences in each game along with the ability to use different winning strategies in each game type.
If you will look at 7 Card Stud for a moment, you will notice that even though it appears to have a potentially larger earnings expectation than Texas Hold'em, this is offset by a larger standard deviation or short term luck inherent in the game. Meaning that although you can often win more per hour, your losses when you incur them will also be larger.
As for Hold'em poker, it offers one of the best options for a good poker player to make money, as it often has the least swings of bad luck, or standard deviation, of most poker games. We are hereby assuming that you are playing limit Hold'em as No Limit has the inherent disadvantage in that it encourages aggressive big bet which can mean big profits for you. Naturally, it can also mean disastrous losses and great swings in your bankroll. Unless you are an excellent player, we recommend confining your poker playing to lower limits.
As for Blackjack, Even though a number of popular authors claim great success with various strategies, from basic strategy to more complex tactics; unfortunately, the odds in your favor, even if you are an expert player, seldom exceed 1%. Additionally, you often have to bet large amounts of money to earn this 1% advantage. If, for example, you were to want to earn $20 per hour, you would have to bet $2,000 per hour to achieve this, on an average. Please note that even at this level of play, there is no guarantee that you will, in fact, win the $20; you may actually loose hundreds in a one hour session. Then there is also the concern that since you are playing against the casino, unlike regular poker, you may be asked to leave, since most casinos consider card counters or strategy players cheaters. Therefore we do not generally recommend that most players consider playing blackjack for a profession as it is just too risky for the rewards and requires too large a bankroll for most people to consider. In addition, your odds, as a good player, for Hold'em and Stud are substantially better.
For your convenience in relationship to the current topic, and as a continous reference, the poker point system is attached below.
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POKER PRO POINT SYSTEM
With the point system we assign each card a specific relative value or points. As expected, the Ace receives the highest value; however, you will note that cards rankings from 8 down receive no value, unless paired, connected or suited.
For learning purposes, we are using Texas Hold'em Poker game primarily because it is currently the leading money game both for tournaments and live play and it the easiest to use to demonstrate the point system, as only two cards are dealt each player initially. Naturally we will cover the use of the Point System in other primary poker games in later research chapters.
Individual Card Point Values:
- A= 6 points
- K= 5 points
- Q= 4 points
- J = 3 points
- 10=2 points
- 9 = 1 points
- 8 = 0 points
- 7 = 0 points
- 6 = 0 points
- 5 = 0 points
- 4 = 0 points
- 3 = 0 points
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2 = 0 points
Pairs receive an extra value of 8 points.
Suited cards receive an extra value of 3 points.
Connected cards receive an extra value of 2 points.
Suited cards are written with a small "s" as: KJ's
Connected cards refers to directly adjacent cards such as: KQ or AK or KQ or QJ, not KJ or AQ.
Examples of values of first two cards dealt in Texas Hold'em:
- AA=20 points (6 points for each ace plus 8 points for a pair)
- KK=18 points (5 points for each king plus 8 points for a pair)
- QQ=16 points (4 points for each queen plus 8 points for a pair)
- AK's=16 points (6 points for the ace, 5 points for the king plus 3 points for being suited and 2 points for being connected)
- JJ=14 points (3 points for each jack plus 8 points for a pair)
- KQ's=14 points (5 points for the king, 4 points for the queen plus 3 points for being suited and 2 points for being connected)
- AK=13 points (6 points for the ace, 5 points for the king plus 2 points for being connected)
- AQ's=13 points (6 points for the ace, 4 points for the queen plus 3 points for being suited)
- T,T=12 points (2 points for each ten plus 8 points for a pair)
- AJ's=12 points (6 points for the ace, 3 points for the jack plus 3 points for being suited)
- AT's=11 points (6 points for the ace, 2 points for the ten plus 3 points for being suited)
- KJ's=11 points (5 points for the king, 3 points for the jack plus 3 points for being suited)
- KQ=11 points (5 points for the king, 4 points for the queen plus 2 points for being connected)
- 9,9=10 points (1 point for each 9 plus 8 points for a pair)
- AQ=10 points (6 points for the ace, 4 points for the queen)
It is interesting to note the value difference of 3 points between AQ's and AQ. This demonstrates the importance of suiting and is helpful in evaluating the correct value of a AQ starting hand. Suited it is definitely playable while unsuited it can be a marginal hand often played for more than it's worth.