Poker Bankroll

 

A Bankroll is the amount of money that you have available for Poker. The main objective of a Bankroll is to allow you to play your regular game without going broke due to a bad run of cards.

 

Texas holdem, or any other poker game for that matter, is a game of variance, which means you will win one day and lose another day. The bottom line is, no one wins all the time. Variance will in time average out for the good player and it will destroy the bad player as good luck doesn’t go on forever. You can not eliminate variance from your game, even the best poker player on the planet experiences variance, so the only thing you can do about variance is to make sure you bank roll is big enough.

 

I will be posting a more accurate way to calculate your bankroll, it takes into account your desired level of risk, however in the meantime the 300BB rule will do fine.

 

The 300xBB rule (BB=Big bets, not big blind) is the most basic bankroll calculation, e.g. if you are playing 2/4 Holdem, the big bet would be $4 so you will need $1200 to play this limit safely. The following table shows the recommended bankroll needed for the most popular limits (popular meaning there is a game easily available.)

 

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My bankroll experiences.

 

I really wish I would sometimes take my own advice. I have gone bust about 3 times due to me playing outside the safety of my bankroll. It is a discipline to move down a level when you know you are good enough to beat the game at your current level. I don't think I have this type of discipline all the time, I sometimes move down a level and sometimes I don't.

 

The players that don't have to worry that much about bankroll requirements are the players that play for fun and have enough money to refill their bankroll. You will come across plenty of these types of players, some of them are good and some of them just don't care as they have enough disposable income to support their hobby. You will find that some of these players do some strange things however you will underestimate them at you peril. If they deliver a bad beat to you, don't go crazy, just play your normal game. The bankroll is designed to help you manage things like bad beats.

 

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