For online poker, what percentage of my bankroll should I play with for tournaments?

Question

For online poker, what percentage of my bankroll should I play with for tournaments?

Answer 1

Theres a great article by Chris "Jesus" Ferguson through Full Tilt entitled "Zero to Ten Thousand." It was his quest to go from zero dollars to 10,000 starting with freerolls and then using a strategy with the percentage of his bankroll. And he made it.

Once he made a little money from the freerolls, he had a plan set out and stuck with it. You'll have to look for it but it was something like this...

Don't enter a sit and go if it costs more than 2% of your bank roll.

Don't enter a tournament if it is more than 1% of your bank roll.

Now these numbers seem very low because its a conservative, yet effective plan.

Sit and gos have better structure and guaranteed payouts. With alot less people.

Big tournys have tons more people and questionable payouts. Its much tougher to place and make good money on these. Usually final 2 tables are the only one getting good money.

If you want to increase your chances of winning. Keep it low. The lower the better. Don't let a good placing entice you to bump up to a bigger game cause you just won money. Stay low, be patient, and you will be able to afford bigger games.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Bankroll management for online poker is a little odd. When you apply the % to B&M games it makes sense because B&M< poker rooms will not spread $1 tournaments.

Online though if you take the 5% rule for example and have a bankroll of $50 then your playing $2 tournaments which is really a waste of life.  So you need to have a minimal level below which you'll never play below. Generally for most people I'd say that is a $10+1 tournament

Answer 3

People make a huge assumption about bankroll management that is incorrect almost 100% of the time. That assumption is that everyone's bankroll is static. In other words, if they go broke, they will quit gambling for all of eternity.

In reality, most people have a replenishing bankroll. Every month or couple of months or whatever they can add to their bankroll if they chose to do so. This makes a HUGE difference as to how you can manage your money. For example, if you had a static bankroll of $100, then you should only be buying into $1 tournaments (or $2 SNGs). But if you have a replenishing bankroll of $100 per month, your effective annual bankroll is actually $1200, so you can comfortably play in $10 tournaments (or $20 SNGs). You just have to remember that if you lose all your cash for any particular month, you must wait until the next month to play more, or you must play in smaller tournaments to start so that you can last longer.

The bankroll management methods that the "pros" speak of only take effect AFTER your static bankroll has surpassed your total, annual replenishing bankroll ($1200 in the example).

I was once given $5 of free play with no deposit from one of the top online poker sites. As a challenge to myself, I took this $5 to the $1 SNGs to see if I could build it up without ever depositing. I built that $5 into $50 just at $1 SNGs. After that, every time I made $5.50 over that $50, I bought into a $5 SNGs. I made a spreadsheet separating the money I made at the $1 SNGs (which became my buy ins for the $5 SNGs) and the money I made at the $5 SNGs (which I labeled as 'profits'). Once I hit $250 I did the same thing with $10 SNGs, using my $5 table profits over and above $250 to fund $10 SNGs.  

Using this method, I built a bankroll of several thousand dollars, as well as a few thousand dollar cash outs. And I never once deposited a penny or was ever even close to being in danger of losing my entire bankroll (after I hit about $20).

Answer 4

Playing Poker Online. Is it Worth Your Time?

You've read some books, subscribed to a couple of online E-zines, participated in forum discussions, even joined a few sites and played in the freeroll tournaments. You've studied the game, you've practiced your moves, and you're ready to hit the big time. The Real Money Games. But, are you really?

Once you make the decision to take the plunge and start playing for actual money you need to decide if it's worth it.

This isn't as flippant a question as it may at first seem. You need to take an honest look at your bankroll and your poker skills. Both are likely to be rather low if you're just starting out.

So, the first question to ask is, "Can I afford to play at these stakes?" If the cost to buy into a tournament is more than 15% of your bankroll, it's easy. NO. If the cost for a seat in a ring game is more than 20% of your bankroll (cash games usually require min 100 BB's), NO. Money management is crucial to both online and live play. I know of no faster way to go broke than to over-play your bankroll.

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