While playing online poker you will encounter a load of swings (both good and bad). That is the number one problem that most people have with poker. Especially in online poker, there are a ton of swings. One minute you are up big and the next you are back even. Then sometimes you will get way down and then before you know it, you are up big again. The problem comes in when you cannot handle these swings. Just one hand could chance everything. If you are multi-tabling online, you could get a few bad beats within the matter of 20 seconds and lose several buy ins. If you do not have a good size bankroll, that could mess everything up for you.

How to Beat the Swings

The best way you can avoid letting the swings take you over, is to simply understand and know that they are coming. If you play a lot of poker then you know that a bad beat is not an uncommon thing. You are going to get plenty of bad beats and you will probably even give some bad beats to your opponents. You also know how fast you can get up in a game like No Limit Texas Holdem. You can also get down just as fast. Sometimes these things are going to happen so be ready for them.

If you can prepare yourself for the swings of poker then it is not so shocking when you lose hundreds of dollars on one hand. Just understand that these things happen and move on. If you expect to always win and to never have bad things happen at the tables, then you are going to have a tough time getting through the swings. The less you care about big losses the better you will be. It's also important that you don't allow moments of bad luck (or bad play) put you on a downward spiral - and ensure you are good at dealing with tilt, otherwise you'll lose a lot more.

Bankroll Management

The key to getting through the bad swings is to have good bankroll management. That is the key to playing poker and making money over the long run. If you have a good bankroll then you will get through any swings that come your way. As long as you do not let them get to you and mess your game all up. With a good bankroll you will be able to take bad swings and then move on without caring too much. Of course when you lose a lot of money you are always going to care. If you have a bankroll you can keep playing and in time get that money back and much more. If you are a good winning poker player then you will win in the long run no matter what happens.

Up Swings

Believe it or not, it is actually very important that you handle your up swings the proper way. The problem a lot of poker players have is that they easily run out of cash. The reason is because they have very bad spending habits. The reason for that is because money comes and goes so easily. There is really not a whole lot of ways you can make money as quickly as you can in a poker game. In the matter of just 1 hour you could make more money in a poker game then you make at your day job during the entire week.

With that said, your up swings can be the most challenging part of playing poker. After having a good up swing and being up lots of money, you will likely be ready to spend money on anything and everything. That is not smart, as you must prepare yourself for the down swings. Have fun with your good gains, but be smart. That way your down swings will not hurt you near as much. You don't want to go broke and end your poker campaign all together.

Taking advantage of the up swings is also a huge advantage. There will be plenty of times where you win a lot of money in a quick amount of time. Take advantage of those swings and use a good portion of that money to put back into your bankroll. That way when you hit a down swing, you will be ready for it and you will only be losing a little bit of your profit from your up swings. Either way, in the long run you will be winning a lot more than you are losing.