Ways to stop losing at poker - even on unlucky days

Learning how to stop losing at poker isn’t easy but it starts with accepting your weaknesses and working on them.

Understanding variance, swings, bad days & unlucky months. Having the right mindset helps too.

You can’t always control your results but you can avoid many of the mistakes holding you back.

Do you remember the last time you had a bad day at the tables? We mean really bad? Like, “what did I do to deserve this?” bad? Your post-mortem probably went something like this:

• “Great,” you thought as you took your seat at the table, “the fish is in my chair.”
• Ten hands in you’ve already lost two bets with AK versus AQ and KQ.
• 15 hands in and you’re down $20 after getting felted by cow-boys yet again;
• The table gets a steal with J-9 and hits a boat on the flop against two callers who held QQ and AA;
• You shove 8-6o and run into AA;
• And to top it all off, you river a straight while playing ace-high against a fish who calls your final bet with bottom pair.

Welcome to Pokerstonia, population: you.

More importantly, welcome to Poker Variance 101.

The Reality of Negative Swings in Poker

Table of Contents

It’s important to understand that poker is mostly a skill game but it also has a very large luck component (read more in our dedicated guide on ).

Even if you’re the best player at the table, and even if you’re slightly better than everyone else combined, that won’t protect you from going broke during an unlucky run. And vice versa – if you’re the worst player at the table, but have things running your way, you can make some money.

The skilled player will eventually pull away from the unskilled player over the long term because they are making mathematically correct decisions which result in positive expectations, but in the short term anything can happen. This short-term period of time where results don’t necessarily mirror skill level is called variance. It can be difficult to learn how to stop losing at poker but it's possible.

Dealing With Bad Beats and Coolers

Bad beats and coolers are just part of the deal when you play poker.

If you plan on sitting down with the cards, you have to accept that there will be times when you get wiped out by something completely out of your control.

For example, you can play a million pots of Limit Hold’em in your life and never see a single river card straight. Or see nothing but river straights. That’s just the way it works.

And while we’re on the subject, let’s dispel a common myth – the idea of a ‘poker curse’. There is no such thing. Stop blaming fate, karma or whatever other absurd superstition you can think up.

Free Casino Slots You Can Play Online for Fun

Stating out loud that your computer just lost connection ‘for the third time in one hour!’, or muttering something about 'always getting rubbed out' is just silly. Not only does it label you a moron in the eyes of others, it also hinders your own mental game.

How to Deal with Bad Beats in Poker

Learning how to stop losing at poker means taking bad beats like a man. Period. If you can’t handle the occasional bad beat, maybe you shouldn’t be playing a game where they happen … well, all the time.

There are, however, some very simple guidelines you should follow when you do get smashed by the felt. Here are three rules to minimize the damage when a bad beat has you down:

• Rule 1: Don’t discuss the hand. Ever. Never ever ever. OK? OK. Moving on.
• Rule 2: Take a deep breath, relax, and concentrate on the next hand.
• Rule 3: If you feel yourself getting angry, leave the table. Go for a walk. Do some stretches. Have a banana. Anything to take your mind off the cooler. Come back when you’re relaxed.

How to Avoid Tilt

‘Tilt’ is a term used to describe a player who has been thrown out of alignment due to frustration or anger. When you’re on tilt, you’re not playing rationally any more. You’re playing out of anger, or sadness, or pride.

Basically, anything other than a desire to make the most profitable decision. And when you’re on tilt, you’re not making any decisions correctly. Tilt looks different in every player. Some players become super-aggressive.

Some players become complete timid. Other players start raising every hand. Some players ‘tilt backwards’, becoming overly tight and folding everything. Learn what puts you on tilt, and do whatever you can to avoid those situations.

If you know that bad-beat coolers put you on an emotional rollercoaster, then don’t watch them. Simple as that. If you know that people constantly talking at the table drives you crazy, then find a quieter table.

If you know that losing a big pot because your opponent made a brilliant laydown will send you over the edge, then try to stay away from brilliant laydowns. Obviously avoiding tilt requires discipline and self awareness.

You might not realize you’re on tilt half the time since being on tilt usually impairs that sense. One good indicator is if you’re not having fun anymore. Poker should be fun. Well, profitable too, but porn stars tend to ruin the fun part so let’s just stick with profitable for now.

When you’re not having fun, either alone or looking back on your session, it’s a pretty clear sign that you might be on tilt. On tilt, you’ll make irrational plays, put in excessive bets and lose a lot more money than you need to. Sometimes you’ll even be wondering why you kept calling some guy’s raises with trash even though you ‘knew’ it was a bad idea.

Because you were on tilt, that’s why. While there’s no cure-all for tilt, here are some pieces of advice that may help:

• Sit out and compose yourself: If you recognize the signs of going on tilt (see above), the single most effective thing you can do is remove yourself from the situation before you do something stupid
• Take a break: If you’ve just taken a bad beat or made a bad play, sometimes the best thing you can do is just move on. Don’t sit there dwelling on it. Chances are you’re not going to make good decisions for the next 20 plays anyway. So log out, get some food, clear your head, come back refreshed.
• Enjoy poker as a game: If you go in with an attitude that poker owes you something, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Poker is a game. It’s meant to be fun. If you approach it with a positive frame of mind, and focus on the enjoyable aspects of the game, you’ll enjoy it more.

Related Reading:

How to Accept Bad Beats in Poker

Poker is a game where you can make all the right decisions and still lose to someone who makes a mistake. In fact, over the long run, if you only play with opponents who make mistakes, you’ll have better results. But in the short term, you’re going to run into some good players and you’re going to run into some luck.

Sometimes, despite making the best possible decision, you’re still going to get felted by Cowboy Cowboy. And there’s nothing you can do about it. This is variance. This is poker. Embrace it or get out.

One exercise you can do to prepare yourself mentally for tough beats is to watch some hands played by high-stakes pros. Head over to , for example, and check out some of the biggest high-stakes hands played online. Guys like Phil Ivey, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Reed Montgomery and Gus Hansen are playing.

Money is huge – we’re talking millions of dollars per hand. And the swings are colossal. Watch a few hands and see how these pros behave. Then read the chat logs to see what they had.

Ibetta714: Reed Montgomery

awayzgo: Gus Hansen

av8tor27: Phil Ivey

Nukemz: Tom Dwan

phholdem: Phil Hellmuth

2023's Best Poker Rooms in Fort Myers, FL - Where to Play Live Poker

fudger12: Mike Matusow

These are some of the best players in the world. And they are showing their hands, and discussing with each other what a tough spot one of them is in, and nodding in agreement when one of them says he would make the same move in that tough spot.

And then, in the public chat, you’ll see messages like this:

• “awayzgo lays it out there every hand and gets crushed”
• “ibetta714 is the biggest fish in this field by far. Always making moves, getting owned”
• “Av8or27 is running like absolute dogshit”
• “Nukemz gets felted yet again”
• “Phholdem on absolute brutal streak”
• “Fudger12 gets felted yet again”

These players are some of the best in the world. They have hundreds of thousands of hands of experience. They’re making thousands upon thousands of dollars per hour. And they’re being hailed as fish and being badgered for running bad. Welcome to the life of a poker player.

Related Reading:

How Not to Lose Money in Poker

Here’s another secret about pro players: they get coolered all the time. All the time. Every hand. Okay, not every hand, but you get the point. These guys are getting coolered right and left. And they are paying thousands of dollars per hour to get coolered.

They are clicking the “YES, THIS ROUGHLY Equals Supernova Elite, please" button to get coolered some more. And in the chat they are referring to you, and me, and everyone who isn’t playing as much money as them, as fish, for getting away from these same hands.

Getting cooled is a part of poker. It happens. A lot. Especially if you’re playing above micro stakes. There’s no escaping it. No whining about it. And no complaining that the felt is out to get you.

So the next time you push with pocket kings and run into Aces, just smile and say “Thanks, I needed that”. Because getting coolered is just part of the game. If you can accept that, you’re already ahead of the game.

Related Reading:

The Role of Luck in Poker

Is poker purely a game of skill or chance? Since the early 2000's when the game became extremely popular there has been a lot of discussion about it. Some experts argue that success at poker is largely dependent on luck, while others claim it ultimately boils down to skill and experience. Both sides might actually be right - at least according to a new study by Jake R. Freeman, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Manchester in England.

online casino lists

He said that "there's overwhelming evidence that in the long run, people who are more skilled at the game win more money. But in the short term - even an extremely short term - it could just as easily work out that the less skilled person wins." He also added: "What we're saying is that, yes, there's skill involved; yes, practice makes you a better poker player; but occasionally, you would expect, even frequently occasionally, much better players will be beaten by luck."

The team recruited 200 students who were split into groups of similar ability. Each member of a group competed against the others in a tournament. There were five rounds, with the winner of each round choosing a card from a pack, face down, and then giving the same caller a multiple-choice question about poker strategy. If the caller answered correctly, they got to choose another card.

After five successful questions, they would win the round, and the right to choose one more card. If they got a question wrong, play passed to the next highest-ranking player. The winner was the one who ended up with the best card. And, indeed, the researchers found that the best players consistently chose the best cards.

But they also found that “on several occasions, the worse players beat the best players”, and concluded that if luck turns against skilled poker players they can go bust. Indeed, the team calculated that, in a typical tournament, around half of the winners would finish by virtue of being better players, while the rest would win solely due to the lucky cards they were dealt and their ability to choose evenly-distributed cards was not significantly different from that of lesser players.

Read more in our dedicated article:

What is Poker Variance?

Poker variance has nothing to do with telecommunications. It’s just one of many unique expressions originating from the poker felt. **Variance (**also known as standard deviation) refers to short-term fluctuations in winning or profits that occur in any game where outcomes are partly based on chance.

Best High 5 Casino Games List (and How to Play Them)

In simpler words it’s the amount of money or expected value range you can expect to lose/make in a certain time period given your average profit/loss and standard deviation from x number of samples (hands, tournaments, sit & goes). It’s essentially the distance between usual outcome and the expected result.

Let’s put it this way. You could make $18/$hour instead of $16/$hour as a result of reducing a $4/$hour leak. However, your variance also increases from 40BB to 60BB per 1000 hands. This means that even though your average earnings increase from $16/hour to $18/hour, you could now show a loss of $36/hour over a couple of sessions (well within the realm of what’s normal).

Of course you’ll eventually return to show an average profit of $18/hour but the bum steers either way could be quite alarming if you don’t comprehend the concept of increased variance. Basically, it takes more time spent playing to smooth out erratic results.

Another good example is Flutter Entertainment plc's poker brand , formerly known as PokerStars. The company reports quarterly results and full years’ worth, although easily one of the most profitable businesses in the world of gambling, it still refuses to report monthly or even bi-monthly numbers because of variance.

In simpler terms it’s the amount of money you can expect to lose in a certain time period given your average profit/loss and standard deviation from X number of samples (hands, tournaments, sit & goes)

Short Term vs Long Term in Poker

New poker players often ask experienced poker players how much they’re going to make if they play X hours. Experienced players will nearly unanimously dodge the question or reply with something along the lines of, “It depends on how good you are and whether you get lucky.”

That response frustrates new players because they’ve studied and feel they’re close to the ‘expert’ level. The problem, their irritated interrogator hasn’t yet realized, is that they’re thinking about poker profitability the wrong way.

They’re approaching the question as a query about long-term expectation, when what was actually asked were two separate questions about two very distinct time periods: one short and one long. Any poker veteran worth his salt knows that short-term poker profitability is almost completely dependent on luck while the long term is dominated by skill.

Skill Versus Luck in Poker

As outlined by Jake R. Freeman’s team's findings in the university study mentioned above, in the short term, luck dominates. Who wins individual hands or poker games is predominantly determined by luck.

According to Doyle Brunson’s book , for every hand played, a professional player will make a mistake Approximately 20% of the time. That means a professional player, over a large sample size, will make more correct decisions which will translate into profits.

Amateur players make roughly 50% more mistakes than pros when playing at the same limit. Those mistakes should equate to bigger losses but when the variace associated with luck is taken into account, the amateur player will often outlast and out-win a group of professionals.

Over a very large sample size it’s nigh impossible for luck to skew the results that much. That’s why the top live tournament earners include both juicy banksrolls and relatively small ones while online it tends to favor smaller risks or those with impeccably disciplined bankroll management.

Live poker relies on players willing to ponied up stacks worth six figures to keep top performers going. Online, it’s much harder to buy in for multiple sessions in a row without going broke so many players simply can’t compete in back-to-back events. But over the course of a year or more those who start with less have the same opportunity to accrue earnings as the rich kids.

Related reading :

Dealt hands and seen hands in poker

“Being dealt premium starting hands is largely a function of luck, but knowing how to exploit these hands is a skill.”

Everyone remembers getting dealt pocket aces and driving throughout the house to push everyone around and get paid off. Everyone also remembers getting stuck with pocket connectors and having to put their newly purchased Take a Seat kit to use for the fourth time that night.

Through pure volume of hands played, it would stand to reason that where you wind up at the end of the night depends entirely on Lady Luck. Usually, she’s the deciding factor in what hand you’re dealing in a particular hand. Those are the hand that make poker exciting and fun but, over the long haul, the true players separate themselves from the recreationals.

Being dealt premium starting hands is largely a function of luck, but knowing how to exploit these hands is a skill. For instance, a 6’5”, 250 lb. muscle bound guy with tattoos all over his body will get more free drinks at the bar because of how he’s perceived. But once he needs the bathroom, he’ll hit up the staff area because that’s a skill he’s learned.

He was dealt a bad boy in life but he exploits it. On the felt, it’s exactly the same thing. You’re going to get dealt good hands and bad hands. The trick is making as much money as possible when you’re in a good hand situation and minimizing losses when you’re in a bad hand scenario.

That, my friends, is a skill. And one that can be taught, practiced and perfected. The dealt hands we’ve all come to love and hate are purely a matter of luck but what you do with them is a skill. And skill pays the bills while luck tends to be more short term.

The variant represents the amount of money you can expect to lose in a certain time period given your average profit/loss and standard deviation from x number of samples (hands, tournaments, sit & goes).

It’s the distance between actual outcome and expected result. For example, you could show a $18/hour win rate instead of $16/hour as a result of reducing a $4/hour leak. However, your variance also increases from 40BB to 60BB per 1000 hands. This means that you could show a loss of $36/hour over a couple of sessions (well within the realm of what’s normal)

Of course, you’ll eventually return to show an average profit of $18/hour but the downward trends (blem on eye-popping profitability) could be quite disturbing if you don’t comprehend the concept of increased variance. Basicly, it takes more time spent playing to smooth out erratic results.

A good example is Flutter Entertainment plc's poker brand , the company reports quarterly results and full years’ worth, although it’s easily one of the most profitable businesses in the world of gambling, it still refuses to report monthly or even bi-monthly numbers because of variance.

How to Calculate Poker Variance

Standard Deviation = square root (Pot size * (1 – win percentage))

Let’s assume you play 100 hands per hour and win 60bb per hour. Your BB/hr remains constant regardless of the variance you introduce into your game because your win percentage stays the same. The standard deviation (SD) tells you how much your results can vary from the expected mean.

For example, if you’re winning 60bb/hr but your SD is 40bb/hr your results could vary anywhere from +100bb/hr to -80bb/hr. Over a long enough period of time your BB/hr settles at 60 but in the short term your results can vary greatly. The higher the standard deviation compared to your BB/hr the greater the risk you’re taking on.

For instance, if your BB/hr is 50 with an SD of 20bb/hr it means you’re making fairly consistent money and your risk of ruin is low but if your BB/hr is 50 with an SD of 75bb/hr it shows you’re swinging for the fences and your results are going to be all over the place. The larger your sample size the quicker your results will revert to the mean.

Expected Value (EV) in Poker

Expected value (EV) refers to the profit/loss you take on average over an infinite number of samples. Let’s look at an example to illustrate EV:

You’re playing $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em and there’s $200 in the pot. You believe there’s a 55% chance you’re going to win the hand and a 45% chance you’re going to lose it. If you bet $10, you’re going to gain $10 * 0.55 = $0.55 on average each time you make the play. Another way to look at it is that you’re profiting $5.50 per bet whilst incurring a $4.50 loss per bet.

Since you’re making a dollar bet at a 1.2 to 1 ratio (plus pot odds) it’s an obvious and straightforward good bet because your profit on average will be a dollar every time you make the play. This is the definition of a positive EV. 

Positive expectations mean you’re making mathematically correct decisions in the long run. As stated earlier, skill prevails in the long run since the random element of luck tends to even itself out over a large enough sample size.

Implied Variance in Poker

Implied variance refers to variation in potential future action by your opponents based on the current state of the pot and table dynamics. Essentially, implied variance grows with increasing pot odds and bets made by your opponents after you’ve acted.

For example, if you move all-in for 8BB with 40BB in your stack behind and the button calls with a 100BB stack you’re obviously dealing with a significant amount of implied variance. If you’re up against AA your stack will be wiped out and you’ll suffer a 100% loss on your investment whereas if you’re up against 7-6o you’ll potentially turn your 25BB into 100BB plus whatever else he decides to throw into the pot on later streets.

The actual result of your play is self evident but the additional money your opponent chooses to put into the pot post-flop introduces variance because you have no control over what he decides to do. More specifically, you have no idea what he’s going to do. Thus, more money in the pot means more implied variance.

The key to successfully minimizing implied variance is accurately reading your opponents and situational table dynamics. If you know your opponent is a nit who will fold average to good hands when pushed then there isn’t much implied variance in the pot.

The fewer possibilities for your opponent to outplay you the lower the amount of implied variance you’re dealing with. It takes experience to adequately gauge implied variance and it’s one of the toughest skills for new players to master but understanding implied variance is imperative if you want to quit being a losing player.

Related Reading:

Bad Beats and Coolers in Poker

The most common reasons why people lose money in poker are bad beats and coolers. A bad beat is when you lose a substantial portion of your stack to a coincidentally superior hand.

Mathematically, nobody can win 100% of the time so sooner or later everybody experiences a bad beat. Some players claim they never get them but either they’re lying, delusional or they’ve defined the term ‘bad beat’ to mean something entirely different than everybody else.

For example, Player A moves all-in with pocket aces, Player B calls with pocket queens and doesn’t improve while the board runs dry. Player B has been ‘bad beat’. The reality of holds true in this scenario but it hardly qualifies as a bad beat. Most players would define a bad beat as a situation where they lose a substantial portion of their stack.

Player A moves all-in with pocket aces and gets called by two players, one with 8-7o and the other with 7-6o. The 8-7o hits a miracle flamecard and beats Aces up and down. Player A has just been bad beat. Coincidentally inferior hands that pop up from time to time and force players to swallow a hefty dose of humility.

Coolers are the same thing but typically referred to when there’s a set up. For instance, Player A pushes his Tourney chip lead relentlessly, knocking everyone off their game with his god complex. Everyone hates him and hopes he loses soon but, unfortunately, he’s been playing nearly flawlessly.

His only weakness is his habitual inability to lay down pocket jacks against Aces. His opponents discuss how to get his chips without actually outright saying it because, well, colluding is illegal. Eventually, two players get into a raising war and one gets knocked out while the other amasses an even larger stack than before.

Now would be a good time for Reel A to run into a brick wall. He pushes his massive stack behind with pocket jacks and the second player calls with Ace-seven offsuit. Seven-deuce hits on the flop and suddenly Mr. Invincible has gone from God to jobless wonder.

This is a classic cooler. It wasn’t that Reel A was playing poorly. He simply ran into a situation where his jams were likely to do him harm rather than good. Coolers are inevitable and anybody who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something. The only defense against bad beats and coolers is a solid bankroll.

Related Reading:

Downswings in Poker

Downswings are a natural part of poker and are directly linked to upswings. They happen to everyone and are simply prolonged periods of bad luck. Even if you’re the best player in the world with rock solid fundamentals, you’re still going to suffer downswings if you play long enough.

Once you accept the fact that downswings are a natural part of the game and cannot be avoided you can begin to learn how to cope. It’s an ugly truth that applies to all forms of poker but the good news is that the higher the limit you play, the shorter the downswing. At the micro limits you could literally go broken for weeks on end whereas at the nosebleeds levels a downswing might only set you back 10-20bb.

Essentially, a downswing occurs when your actual results diverge from your expected results. This always happens at some point because skill does not guarantee 100% of the time. Once your results fall below the point where you can comfortably cover all expenses and expected profits you’re on a downswing. It doesn’t mean you’re playing like a nit, you’re just unlucky.

The human psyche is such that, even if you know you’re going to lose money in the short term but you believe in your skills enough to know you’ll make a profit in the long term, it’s hard not to feel like you’re throwing money away one hand at a time. Once you’re aware of variance and downswings you must adopt a zen-like philosophy towards losing and accept the fact that, no matter how well you play, luck is always a factor and sometimes it’s just not gonna be your day.

Downswings can last anywhere from a couple of hundred hands to weeks, months or more. The only way to truly emerge from a downswing is to out-play your opposition over an extended period of time but this is virtually impossible if you cash out as soon as you hit rock bottom. The only way to dig yourself out of a hole is to keep playing.

Once you begin to make progress you can cash out and bank that portion of your roll, letting the rest continue on its merry way. Some players advocate going absolutely brook no tilts during downswings but this is a near impossibility. If going tilt free makes you a happier, more lucid player, by all means, adopt it as your strategy but most people would benefit from allowing one healthy, cathartic tilt per downswing.

Benefits of Playing Casino Tournaments (And the Drawbacks)

Managing a Poker Bankroll

Bankroll management is arguably the most important tool in a poker player’s arsenal. It allows players to quantify how many bucks they have and how many bucks they can afford to lose. The general formula is as follows:

• Preferable Limit: 66BB
• Minimal Limit: 50BB

Preferred – This is the optimal operating range for the majority of players. It gives a healthy cushion against bad beats and coolers while enabling players to make adjustments and capitalize on mistakes. Players in this range are able to concentrate exclusively on improving their skills since they don’t have to worry about constant replenishment of the roll.

Minimal – If you can barely scrape together 50 big blinds to play then either you’re severely handicapping yourself or you’re a much better player than the majority of the felt. Either way, it means you know how to manage a meager bankroll because with 50 big blinds you have very little room for error.

At this level you need to concentrate exclusively on the bottom line because you simply don’t have the extra dollas to weather the storm when things go bad. Some players thrive under pressure so 50BB is sufficient for them to pay the bills and support their lifestyle but most would be wise to build a larger roll.

Overextended – If you’re putting more than 10% of your entire bankroll at stake you’re overextending yourself and asking for trouble. Some professionals will tell you that as long as you make better decisions than the majority of players at your limit you can risk as much or as little as you like.

To a certain extent they’re right but variance tends to even itself out over time and if you’re putting 20BB at risk per hand or spin, sooner or later you’re going to suffer. It’s not a question of if but when.

Risky – Putting between 11% and 25% of your bankroll at risk in a highly volatile range. If you’re a new player who’s still learning the ropes this is the maximum recommendation but even then it’s a risky proposition.

Highly Risky – Anything over 25% is courting disaster. It shows a shocking lack of understanding regarding bankroll management. If you only have a vague notion of how much money you have and how much you can afford to lose per unit, it’s only a matter of time before you go broke.

Dead Money – Refers to funds allocated strictly for payment of rake only. Dead money should be excluded from overall evaluation of rolling due to the fact it generates no income and is used for a specific purpose only. For example, if a player has $1000 for 50/cents $5+$1 No-Limit games with a $1 rake cap, his proper assessment would be $1000/$5=200BB.

Not Ready to Prime – Indicates a player has yet to contribute funds of his own to the collective bankroll and is thus not yet invested in its success or failure. Also known as riding on the coattails of others in an effort to gain a piece of the pie without contributing anything to the pot. Not ready to prime players are often dubbed ‘donkeys’ or ‘noobs’ by more seasoned veterans.

How to Increase Your Poker Bankroll

1) Cut costs – First step in increasing your poker bankroll is to cut unnecessary costs from your budget. Draw up a list of all expenditures over the past month and decide which items are essential and which could be dropped.

Cable TV is an easy target. Unless you absolutely have to have it, drop it from your budget and use a service like Netflix or Hulu instead. It’s cheaper and you can still get your fix of Breaking Bad or House of Cards. Cigarettes are another expense that’s extremely difficult to quit ‘cold turkey’. Try nicotine gum or patches instead to satisfy cravings.

2) Make more money – If cutting costs isn’t enough to generate the desired effect you’ll have to start working overtime or pick up a second job. It sucks working 16 hour days seven days a week but it’s a hell of a lot better than telling your regulars how torn up you are about having to leave the table because you can’t afford the minimum buy in.

3) Play more profitably – Another method for boosting your roll is to play better poker. The better you are, the more money you’ll make and the faster your roll will grow. This is by far the best option because, not only will it increase your profit margin, it will reduce your variance and buffer the effects of bad beats and coolers.

4) Play higher limits – The fastest way to increase your bankroll is to move up limits. This method is fraught with danger, however, so if you choose to go down this road be prepared to take a massive hit to your bankroll. Higher limits aren’t necessarily twice as big as lower limits.

For example, $2/$4 is about 20 big blinds deeper than most players can profitably handle in a No-Limit Hold’em environment. If you’re comfortable playing $1/$2 with a 100BB roll you’re going to need somewhere around the 200BB range to comfortably play $2/$4

5) Borrow/Loan – Another method for boosting your roll is to borrow or loan money from/to a friend. This option should be employed judiciously because it can destroy friendships irreparably. If you’re good with money and your buddy isn’t, it might seem like a grand idea to front him some cash for a bankroll but it rarely works