The importance of Bank Roll Management.

This is by far the most important concept to understand. It's something I wish I heard of earlier.

I started off in a different site than I'm playing at now. I made a small $20 deposit to get started. Within no time I had nearly doubled my initial deposit. My low limit texas hold'em results were good and I was having a good run in the small buy-in Sit n Go tournaments. I even made the final table in my first multi table tournament, finishing 8th out of a field of over 2000 entrants.

Things were going good and my confidence rose. Then I hit a loosing streak. Probably a combination of being overconfident, a run of bad luck and some bad beats. These things happen. I didn't drop down too low but I wanted to get back up to where I was so my plan was to play some of the higher buy-in SnG's to rebuild the bankroll faster. Things didn't work out as planned and then another couple of deposits and attempts to play at levels above my bank roll.

So the hard work I put in initially to work a profit was quickly corrupted by my stupidity. This is the classic bank roll mistake.

In the beginning you want to play conservative to build your bankroll. Your primary goal should be cashing rather than going for the big wins until you have a bankroll that can support your play. Some general rules are to keep Sit n Go buy in's to about 3-5% of your current BR and 1-2% buy in for Multi Table Tournaments (MTT's) . If you're a good player, you should expect to cash in about 30% of the single table SnG's and if you're a very good player about 15% of MTT's.

Here are a few links to Bank Roll Management articles:

http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/bankroll-management
http://www.pocketfives.com/5C57520F-8A89-43F3-97E6-54D240CB3E59.aspx