5 Bankroll Leaks that Have Nothing to Do With Playing Poker

1. Home
2. News
3. 5 Bankroll Leaks

We all know leaks in poker. These mistakes can slowly drain one’s bankroll to the point they have to move down in stakes or quit playing. However, there are other external leaks that can also destroy one’s poker bankroll.

Today, we will take a look at five bankroll leaks that have nothing to do with playing poker. Avoiding these leaks will help you keep a healthy poker bankroll and even help keep you out of personal debt.

Sports Betting

Sports betting is one of the top drains on bankrolls for poker players. The reason is that many sports bettors don’t just bet $10 or $20 bucks on a game or two. They spend $100, $500, or $1,000 a pop or more.

The problem is that many poker players get into sports betting lacking the knowledge necessary to be successful. Furthermore, they don’t take the time to improve their sports betting skills. They focus on their poker while sports betting drains their bankroll. If you want to get into sports betting, start small and focus on sports you know. Work on improving your skills at betting on sports to keep from devastating your poker bankroll.

Smoking or Drinking

If you smoke or drink regularly, do you keep a running tally on how much your habit costs you? There are some out there that smoke multiple packs per day and run up huge monthly expenses for cigarettes. Then there are players who drink to excess and spend more on booze than in food.

Cutting back on drinking or smoking will not just save you money that you can put toward poker, but it also has positive health benefits. Also, there will be a time in the near future where all casinos and card rooms will be smoke-free, so why not work on kicking the habit now?

Women Are the Rake

There’s nothing wrong with being in a relationship or having a significant other. However, some poker players will spend a sizable sum chasing after random women or even regularly visiting prostitutes. I know multiple Nevada poker players that had a “hooker fund” where they set aside money each month to visit various Nevada brothels.

Sadly, one of those players was hooked to the point where they dropped down in stakes in order to continue affording their regular “dates.” While I am not one to judge what you do with your personal time, if that personal time is costing you a sizable chunk of your bankroll, maybe reevaluate your priorities.

Bad Business Deals

Poker players often want to find ways to supplement their poker income. That’s a good thing! However, they sometimes get involved in business deals with friends or fellow poker players without doing their due diligence.

Before investing in a business, talk at length with the owner about their business plan. Look at what they are doing and honestly evaluate whether the business has room to grow and succeed. If you are not certain or don’t have the ability to properly evaluate a business proposal, get someone to help you out that’s business-minded. Spending a few bucks getting some help evaluating a bad business plan will save you a ton of money in the long-run.

Unnecessary Large Purchases

When things are going well in poker, you feel that you can do no wrong and the money will always flow. Some people become careless when this happens and start making a ton of large purchases. These purchases are often “big boy toys” such as cars, motorcycles, jet skis, and other fun items.

The problem is that players are spending large chunks of their money on items that are frivolous and often hard to resell if money becomes tight. Back a few years ago, a well-known tournament player friend of mine went on an extended downturn and started whining that he had to sell his toys.

Those toys consisted of six jet skis, a Hummer, three cars, and a man cave full of arcade-style video games. In total, we determined he had downed over $250,000 in those “toys.” I believe he got about $75,000 for the lot due to desperation to stay liquid in poker.