Bankroll questions?

Question

I have a bunch of questions about keeping a poker bankroll:

1. What is an appropriate bankroll for $1/2 no limit? $2/4 limit?

2. Do you keep your limit cash game and no/pot limit cash game bankrolls separate? Why or why not? If you play both (limit and no limit), then how do you determine what to play on a given day?

3. Do you keep tournament and cash game bankrolls separate?

A. If so, what is an appropriate bankroll for $25-$65 tournaments?

B. If not, how do you determine a maximum buy-in for your bankroll? How do you determine whether to play cash games or tournaments on any given day, or how much to allocate to each one?

thanks!

Answer 1

For MTT's risk no more than 2.5% of your bankroll.  For SnG's and ring games, no more than 5%.  Always include buy-ins.  You don't necessarily have to keep a separate bankroll for different games.  Just limit the games that you don't do well in.  Keep an Excel sheet with the date, type of game played, your previous bankroll, buy-in, result, and new balance.  It's an easy way to keep track of your money.  

If you are playing no-limit, make sure you buy in for the max amount.  I think normal max amounts for $1/2 might be $100-200.  So you're looking at about a $3K average for this game.  For $2-4 limit, it would be recommended to sit down with $80-100.  There is usually no max, but if there is, you don't need to worry about buying in for the max since you won't have any all-in showdowns.  You can even get away buying in for less with $2/4 limit, since succeeding at limit is all about playing tight and disciplined.

Answer 2

1. totally depends on your comfort level...for the average person, i wouldn't recommend risking more than 10% of your bankroll at once, so if you're buying in for 100 bb's in no limit then i would say $2,000...if you are buying in for 100 big bets in the limit game, then you would need $4,000 by the standards used here

2. i personally don't play much limit, so i don't feel any need to keep them separate, and frankly i don't see why you would need to...money is money, trying to micromanage it will make you too conservative with it imo, and then you will not be able to exploit edges that you should be exploiting...as for what game to play on a given day, that comes down to game selection, if you can play both games then you should be prepared to play them both on a given day and just choose the game where you think you can make more money, based on your skill level versus your opponents' skill level at the particular game

3. i don't because i don't play many tournaments, but i can definitely understand why someone would want to do that...i would recommend not risking more than 5% of your bankroll on a mtt and not more than 10% on a stt...as for what to play, you should probably come into the day with a mindset as for whether you want to play a tournament or cash game, based on the amount of time you have available or wish to play, and just what feels right to you at the time

and i am going to catch a lot of flack for making this suggestion, but i am going to do it anyway...if you see a higher game that you think you can beat, do not be afraid to take a shot with a large chunk of your bankroll, as long as you can continue playing the current limit you are at if you end up losing all of it, and as long as you can mentally handle the possibility of losing that much money...if you think you can deal with those repercussions and find a good $2-4 or $3-6 no-limit game, or a good $3-6 or 5-10 limit game, then go ahead and take a chance, it could pay off big for you

Answer 3

The thing you want to keep in mind here is that there are different bankroll requirements based upon how easy it is to replenish it.  For instance if you threw in 50 bucks and you have no problem throwing in another 50 if you need to that's going to be a lot different than if you're playing professionally and if you lose your stack you're going to have to find a real job :)

Another considersation is your skill level and winnings expectations.  In other words if you're a good player you'll need less the better you are and if you're a losing player no amount is enough.  

Ideally what you want is a strategy of differing levels that involve both moving up and moving down, where if you're beating the game and now have a certain amount of BB's then you go up, and if things aren't so great and you're going the other way you move down.  Given this strategy 100 BB would be enough for limit, 10 buy ins for NL, and 20 buy ins for SNG's.  For MTT's you're going to need more like 50 since you finish in the money much less often.  These are just guidelines of course and you need to adjust this to your skill level and ability to replenish.

King Cobra Poker

http://kingcobrapoker.com

Answer 4

cash games never bring more than 5% of your bank roll to the table

tourneys never bring more than 2% of your bank roll.