No limit Hold em bankroll considerations
Part 1
In this article we will describe some of the considerations you need to make when deciding what bankroll is enough.
Bankroll considerations are vital to anybody who is playing poker with a view to earning money, it is as vital, and maybe even more so than how good you actually are at poker itself.
Bankroll from the mathematical point of view
Limit Bankroll
The standard bankroll requirements commonly espoused for a full-ring limit game is 300 big bets, the mathematics of this state that if you average 1 big bet per hour then your chances of going bust with a bankroll of 300 big bets is 1% – of course nobody averages exactly 1 big bet per hour, some make more while others make less so this figure while a handy reference point is nearly always going to be either too liberal or too strict according to that 1% requirement.
No Limit Bankroll
Bankroll requirements for no limit are even more of a grey area
Here are some of the many considerations for what bankroll is required for the no limit game.
- Bankroll requirements vary for each playing style :- Some people are winning players with a loose aggressive strategy which introduces by the very way they play a lot of variance in their results i.e. they tend to win real big when running good and lose real bad when running bad, so it’s easy to see why these types of players bankroll requirements are typically higher than tight aggressive and other more cautious winning players, though ironically enough because of the flamboyant nature of the loose aggressive player there are far more likely to have very liberal bankroll requirements if any.
- Do you typically buy-in for the max: – Some players always like to buy-in for the maximum while others buy-in for less, there are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, but in regards to bankroll with the latter approach your bankroll requirements will be less for the game of choice.
- What is your win rate Win rates in the no limit game vary much more than in a limit game, it is not unheard of for somebody to average greater than ten big bets per 100 hands or more.
- What type of games do you typically play Shorthanded and wild games add greater variance to your results and have higher bankroll requirements
So you can see it’s far from an exact science to determine your bankroll requirements. Typical guidelines mention in the region of 25 to 50 buy-ins. However in cases where your edge is minimal and variance is high even 50 buy-ins would not be enough.
There’s also many other factors to consider when you ask yourself how much bankroll do you need. Here’s a look at some of them.
Reasons for requiring a large bankroll
- Do you rely on poker for an income: – i.e. if poker winnings are your main source of income, then it gets to the point where it is hard to be too strict with your bankroll requirements. Typically for comfort you would like a decent sum of money set aside from your everyday bankroll.
- Will you be regularly dipping into your bankroll? If so, it stands to reason that your bankroll needs to be far greater than the guidelines above.
- You can multi-table! You can play more than 1 table a time, while this is not something for everyone, it can be a great way for many to build up a healthy bankroll quicker than usual, and is another reason to be stringent with your bankroll.
Reasons for requiring only a small bankroll
- If poker is purely played for enjoyment, then your only real monetary issue is to never play for more than you can afford to lose.
- If you are not reliant on poker for an income and your current bankroll is small but you are prepared to take a risk of losing it all in order to build up to a bigger bankroll quicker.
- If playing at too low a level would be just too boring for you and thereby negatively affecting the way you play.
