Bankroll Management for Online Backgammon
Lets first define what bankroll and bankroll management (BRM) are.
Bankroll
The money that a player has set aside specifically for playing backgammon.
Players often choose to bet only a part of their bankroll in a given session or game, keeping a part in reserve for future play. A bankroll should be big enough to withstand the downward side of the variation that is expected for a specific stakes and a specific style of play. For example, the higher variance caused by aggressive play would require a larger bankroll.
Bankroll Management
Bankroll Management (BRM) is a system by which a player manages his available backgammon capital by deciding which limit to play on, and minimises the risk of bankruptcy due to swings in wins and losses.
Why is Bankroll Management Important For Backgammon?
You may be asking yourself this question. Although backgammon is considered as a skill game only that is not completely true. Why? Backgammon is very similar to poker. It is a perfect blend of skill and luck. When there is a element of luck involved you always have to consider the possibility of a losing streak and be prepared for it with enough money to handle it.
How much money do you need for proper Bankroll Management?
This depends on the type of game you are playing – Match Game, Money Game or Tournament (Sit and Go).
Match games
have very little variance and the bankroll recommendations for them are low:
- 3pt Match Game - Bankroll consisting of 30 to 35 times the stake you are playing
- 5pt Match Game - Bankroll consisting of 20 to 25 times the stake you are playing
- 7pt Match Game - Bankroll consisting of 15 times the stake you are playing
- 9pt Match Game - Bankroll consisting of 10 times the stake you are playing
Money Games
have much more variance. Money games can be played with automatic doubling cube*, for a high limit*, aggressively or passively. Our general recommendation is to have between 200-300 points of a bankroll.
What Does It Mean?
If you play for 2$ per point you should have between 400$ and 600$ bankroll. If Money Games are played without automatic doubling cube, for a low limit (4-8 the original stake), versus a passive opponent or with a passive strategy (doubling the cube lately) you can play with lower bankroll.
Tournaments Or Sit And Goes
Most tournaments are played as 3pt Match Games, 5pt Match Games and 7pt Match Games. This means you should stick to the bankroll recommendations for the according type of match game described above.
In some rare occasions tournaments are played for 1pt Match Game which is the same as Money Play with 1pt limit.
You can adjust these recommendations based on your skill level. The better backgammon player you are the lower your bankroll requirements can be and the worse backgammon player you are the higher your bankroll requirements are.
*automatic doubling cube – an optional rule in Money Game. If both players throw the same number on the first roll of a game, the stakes are doubled. The doubling cube is turned to 2 and stays in the middle. Players usually agree to limit the number of automatic doubles to one per game.
*limit – the maximum points a player can win or lose in a Money Game
*variance – the difference between your short-term results and long-term expectation.
About the Author
Nikolay is a computer sciences student from Bulgaria with more than 5 years of experience in poker & backgammon. I try to incorporate techniques from that industry into online backgammon to make it as popular as possible. I play backgammon for fun or money as it is an astonishing game.
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