If you are a poker player you'll know by now that your bankroll is your poker bible. If you have no bankroll you can't play poker! This article will give you some valuable information about how to manage your bankroll and the ways to never fail financially!
Importance Of A Bankroll:
Even should you be the most effective poker player in the world, you must have good bankroll management! Going bust is not the poker gods punishing you, its variance and variance is FACT. If you want to start earning a decent amount playing poker, then follow the advice with this thread. This is step one to becoming a WSOP bracelet winner.
The Chris Ferguson Method:
I read an article some time back written by Chris about his transformation of $1 into $20,000. He used the following solution to ensure he could handle his variance swings. He played cash games generating certain he always had 20 buyins. These were not full buyins they were half buyins. If you planned to play $0.01/$0.02 cash games, the max buyin is $2 and so you'd buyin for $1. This would mean that you'd probably have to have $20 to get properly bankrolled for $0.01/$0.02. Likewise, should you have had 100 after this you you are bankrolled for $0.05/$0.10. If you ever go BELOW 20 buyins you will need to lower right down to a level where you happen to be properly bankrolled.
This method continues to be tried and tested. It's a good method providing you adhere to it. You must be ready to hit bad variance and move down a level or two if you wish to. Discipline is KEY for this bankroll method.
Classic Tournament Bankroll Method:
To be bankrolled properly for tournaments you have to will have a minimum of 30 entry fees to the tournament you would like to enter.
Things change slightly with rebuy tournaments. Because of the nature of rebuy tournaments you'll be shoving or folding hands preflop during the rebuy period (please read my article on rebuy strategy). This means you might want at the very least 6 x 30 buyins because obviously you may be double rebuying and adding on! Remember in the event you fall 5 or 10 you should lessen the amount you would spend on entry fees. Again, the saying used so commonly in poker - Discipline is KEY.
Classic NL Cash Bankroll Method:
An alternative to the Chris Ferguson Method there is a Classic NL (no limit) Method. The basic concept of this technique is to keep no less than 2000 big blinds for that level you wish to play. That's right! to become properly rolled for $0.01/$0.02 you may need a minimum check here of 40 dollars. If you're winning with the level you're playing at so you discover the players better to beat, you'll be able to drop your bankroll threshold to 1500-2000 big blinds. As you will move up to $0.25/$0.50 and $0.50/$1.00 I would quite definitely recommend you stick to 2000 big blinds as variance has very damaging affect money wise. Please note that you'll want over 2000 big blinds for 6 max tables and heads up.
Classic Limit Bankroll Method:
Limit poker can be a WHOLE different ball game. You can have as little as 400 big blinds within your account because you may be risking less for every buy in as well as the variance is smaller. In limit holdem it is usually impossible to get rid of your stack on one side from a cold deck, unlike NLHE.
NB. I do not play limit holdem and so I haven't any experience with this bankroll. The general consensus with players I have spoken to are these claims could be the right bankroll you need to shoot for.