Bear in mind that bankroll management is the aspect of poker that separates the winning players from the losing players. Without bankroll management, even the world's best players don't have a chance. Always remember this. You have now completed the full beginner strategy for Fixed Limit poker. The bankroll management strategy that I would suggest for quickly building a $500 bankroll is 20 buy-ins for each limit. So this means that starting at NL2 with $40 (which is 20 buy-ins - $2 x 20 =$40) you will move up to the next limit when you have 20 buy-ins for the next limit: NL5 (2c/5c blinds) - $100 NL10 (5c/10c blinds) - $200.
If you haven’t gone through our Poker Basics course, be sure to see this article on Intro to Bankroll Management.
Poker Bankroll Management (BM) – what is it?
Bankroll is the amount of money which you decide to allocate to play poker (e.g. in your cashier on PokerStars). Bankroll Management allows you to decide how you use (manage) your bankroll. It is a very important skill but a lot of players ignore it. In this article you will find some tips how to do it well or better than before.
Remember: Bankroll is not the amount of chips you have at the poker table. This is called your poker stack.
1. Do not invest all your money in one tournament or cash game
When you play poker you should remember about variance and even though you might play well, you can lose the game. If you go all-in preflop with AA and someone calls with KK, in the long run you win in about 80% times, but in 20% you lose. So if you invest all your bankroll during this situation you will lose all your money every five times. To avoid this, try to invest only a small part of your bankroll in any one game.
2. Set your own target
Try to decide what do you want from poker. If you play just for fun from time to time you do not need a very big bankroll. But if you want to play more regularly you should decide to be more conservative, especially if you want to be a professional. Bankroll is your “tool” to work. If you lose all of it, you won’t be able to earn money.
3. Separate your bankroll from your other finance
When you set aside an amount that you have decided to play poker with it will be easier (you now know how much money you spend (on poker), and feel safer and more comfortable playing with it.
Remember: Do not spend money on poker that can get you into financial trouble!
4. Decide what kind of game you want to play
Cash games require different bankroll rules than Sit & Go’s or MTT’s. The same situation applies to “no limit”, “pot limit” or “fixed limit” games and also with “regular”, “turbo” or “hyper-turbo” tournaments.
Limit Poker Bankroll Calculator
5. Define your poker style
Limit Poker Bankroll Management
There’s no such thing as a ‘proper’ poker style and your strategy should depend on the situation on the poker table at the time. But probably you are able to define if you prefer tight or loose style and how aggressive you are. The looser and the more aggressive you are, the bigger bankroll you should have (because the variance is bigger).