Your
bankroll is the amount of money you have set aside to play poker with. Some players
can easily add to their bankroll from outside sources while others have no way
to add if they lose theirs. If you fall into the latter category, it is very important
to not play at limits that exceed your bankroll. One very important point you
should know is that until you become a consistent winner it doesn’t matter
how big your bankroll is. The only thing that will matter is how much you have
to lose. For this reason, the information below is written for you assuming you
are a winning player overall.
The first rule is to not confuse bankroll and buy-in.
A buy-in is the amount you sit down in a game with or the entry fee in a tournament,
not the entire amount you have available to play poker with over a period of time.
For example, you may have a bankroll of $10,000 to play 15/30-limit holdem. If
this were the case you would probably buy-in for between $500 and $1,000. I
have seen bankroll size suggestions ranging from 200 times the big bet at the
level you are playing
at ($800 at 2/4) to 300 times the big bet ($1200
at 2/4). My recommendation, particularly for holdem, is to start with 300 times
the big bet. I play much better when I have this cushion. I have played at levels
that I had much less than 300 times the big bet in bankroll and it sometimes hurts
my play. This is a psychological hurdle but when reduced to facts it makes sense.
50 times the big bet is a common downswing, even for professional players, and
nothing to become too concerned about if you are still playing well. However,
if you start with only 100 times the big bet, if you are down 50 big bets you
have lost 50% of your bankroll. If you had started with 300 big bets and are down
50, you have only lost roughly 17% of your bankroll.
If you are a very
sound Omaha/8 player, you can play with a 200 big
bet bankroll. This is because Omaha/8 is a much
more mathematically direct game than holdem, or
in other words there is less short-term variance
or luck. Because of the short-term variance in holdem,
even professional players may see a 200 big bet
downswing at times. For this reason, that extra
100 big bets may keep you from being forced to drop
down a level before the cards turn in your favor
