Tracking Your Wins/Losses

If I asked you right now whether you’re up or down in your lifetime poker winnings, do you know the answer? The guys that do this for a living could almost tell you the exact number, but for casual players, you should at least have a concept of where you sit financially. This isn’t just for the benefit of tracking your success, but also to see where your biggest wins and losses are coming from.

A typical grinder that makes a average living by playing online poker will often keep a journal or stats book of some kind with them at all times. This little accounting book is a record of the fluctuations of the player’s bankroll, where it stands currently and also any additional information such as money they might have staked in other players, on loan, etc. If you are organized enough and trust yourself to constantly update and revise a journal, this is definitely the way to go.

Even if you aren’t looking to earn a living from playing poker, there are still advantages to knowing where the majority of your wins and losses are coming from. Have you played in over 20 tournaments with at least a buy-in of $35? Have you come in the money in any of those events? If not, that’s at least a minimum of $700 that you’ve spent/lossed playing tournaments. If you are often eliminated early from these events and never make it anywhere close to the money, then you’ve found one area of your poker career that is consistently losing money. Perhaps you need to step away from tournament poker until your overall abilities improve, or maybe you need to go online and play some substantially cheaper sit & go’s.

There is absolutely no downside to knowing exactly where you are financially at any given time. Make the commitment to tracking your progress and you will find yourself improving in the right areas much faster.