Bankroll Management 101
Wednesday, June 16, 2010 7:00 PM
If you're just coming into the poker world as a rookie or trying it out for real money for the first time (after making $17 Million in Play Money), here are just a few things to consider to get you going. The first common mistake with new players to the "real money side" of poker, is that if you can only afford to start out and play with $100, remember not to play with your whole bankroll at one time! Rule of thumb is that you should never play with more than 10% of your complete bankroll at any given time. (less than 10% even better!) So that means if you start out with $100, you should not be sitting down in a cash game for more than $10. (10% of $100). This prevents that if you get a bad beat where you lose all your money or go all in and bust, the worst you can do is lose your initial $10. Therefore you still have $90 to work with and start fresh from Day 2, in your real money poker career.Only playing with 10% (maximum) on your bankroll, will allow you play for 10 ring games / cash games with a starting bankroll of $10 ...increasing your chances to get a good pay day at the felt table and draw some earnings.
Same goes for tournament play. If you've got $100 to spare for tournament play, do not put your $100 towards one tourney hoping to strike it BIG, play at least (minimum) 20 tournaments with a $5 buy-in. If you can, we would even recommend playing 50 tournaments at $2 buy-in ...as you will most likely only place and cash-in 10% of the tournaments you play in. So by that rule, you may only cash-in to 5 tournaments out of 50. Be wise and pace yourself!
As you start to earn some monies in your poker account, another secondary matter to consider is that you should only play with a minimum of 50-100 times the Big Blind. So if you're playing in a $1/$2 NL game, you should be playing with a minimum of $100 to $200 starting bankroll. If you can afford it, we highly suggest starting off with 200 times the Big Blind, that way you won't be singled out by the poker sharks and be bullied by anyone. (note: some poker rooms may limit players to 100 times the Big Blind starting)If you play at smaller tables (ie: $0.25/$0.50) same rule applies. You should sit down at this table with a minimum of $25 to $50. Online, we see too many poker players playing with $10-$15 at these table levels and they usually don't last long.
For smaller games (under $1), another way of looking at it math wise, is to x100 the Small blind and Big Blind and that should be your range to play with. So again for a $0.25/$0.50 game, your bankroll range should be $25 to $50. (100 times the Small & Big Blind)
Hope this helps your real cash game ....and see you on the felt!