AVP resident pro Benton Blakeman gives his guidelines for bankroll management, including how online poker and live poker have different requirements.

I've fielded several questions lately about bankroll management and how it pertains to both live and online play. I wrote an article several years back for AVP about bankroll management, so I thought that I would revive it and add in a little bit more info about online bankroll requirements due to the recent introduction of legalized online poker in Nevada.

There is definitely a lot of information on the web about bankroll management (BRM). Some of it is good, some is bad, but all of it is useful. The thing about BRM is that it is very subjective. While some people need huge cushions to feel comfortable and play well, others can play on much smaller bankrolls with great success. In this article, I will outline what I think are the best guidelines to use, as well as the ones that I personally follow. I have also included a bankroll guide for those striving to make a living playing limit games for those few players here who still love that format.

No-Limit/Pot-Limit Games

Bankrolls for no-limit and pot-limit games, also known as big bet games, are generally discussed based on the number of standard buy-ins you’d need to play comfortably. When discussing bankroll and bankroll management for no-limit, there are several schools of thought. No specific bankroll is correct for everyone; it is best to look at the different bankroll guidelines and decide which is right for you. Since this section will be geared toward online poker, I will separate what I think are the correct bankrolls for each.

Live Cash Games

The general rule that many pros employ is 40 standard buy-ins for live poker, plus living expenses. Using $2-$5 no-limit hold’em with a $500 standard buy-in as an example, a $20K bankroll plus 6 months’ worth of living expenses in reserve would be ideal. A bankroll of that size will give the player a great shot at succeeding in poker.

Is this amount absolutely necessary? Of course not. I have friends who have no problem playing these limits on a $5K bankroll with no living expenses behind. Does this mean they can't make that amount work? Nope. All it means is that their "risk of ruin" is higher. This means that they have a higher chance of going broke and being out of the game if they run bad compared to the guy who is playing the same limits on the $20K-plus-living-expenses bankroll. Some very well-known players like Tom "Durrrr" Dwan and Phil Galfond have admitted to taking shots early in their career, sometimes even with 50%-plus of their bankroll in one sitting — it worked for them. For countless others, though, taking that sort of high-risk shot was their one-way ticket to financial ruin, and even an early end to what could have been a prominent career in poker.

I personally fall somewhere in the middle of those guidelines. I think 25 buy-ins is enough to get by on, along with a few months’ living expenses in reserve. My risk of ruin may be slightly higher, but overall I think it is still relatively small, as long as I'm willing to drop down in limits or sell some of my action during downswings.

Online Cash Games

Online poker bankroll management is very subjective. I have asked players in the past what their requirements are and have gotten tons of different answers. Most of the varying responses revolved around how many tables a person is playing simultaneously. The consensus was, of course, fewer buy-ins if fewer tables are played at once, and more if the player was mass multi-tabling. I think this is true to a point, but not 100% correct.

When a player is multi-tabling, while they may have high fluctuations in short-term variance, I think their end-of-the-day variance is rather similar, or possibly lower than, the player who is only playing a few tables. The reason for this is that when a player is eight-tabling and seeing 500-plus hands per hour, their overall variance actually decreases because of the number of hands they are seeing. Often, they will run bad in a few games, decently in a few, and good in a few, and these tables even their variance out.

What I would recommend is at least 15 buy-ins when one- or two-tabling, 20 buy-ins when three-, four-, or five-tabling, and 30 buy-ins when playing between six and nine tables. So, while you definitely need more money to multi-table, the ratio of number of buy-ins to tables played actually decreases because the overall variance is decreased by the number of hands that are played in a single session.

I personally used higher numbers than these when playing online, often having 100 or even 200 buy-ins, but that was more due to having cashout issues rather than feeling a necessity to have that many buy-ins. Playing in a legalized and regulated environment like we have today in Nevada, with the ability to deposit and cash out instantly, I would likely follow my initial guide more closely.

As a side note, pot-limit Omaha will have more swings than no-limit hold’em does, so I'd add 20 or so buy-ins to my bankroll if I were strictly a PLO player. If the local casino you play in allows you to run it twice, then you don't need to worry as much about adding the buy-ins to your bankroll, as this will decrease variance enough to make a 40-plus buy-in bankroll sustainable.

The last thing I'd like to touch on is when to take money off the table. I fielded a question from a player who was having a great night at the tables, and he wound up with chips worth more than 20% of his total bankroll on the table as a result. The player wanted to know at what point he should lock up his win and head home. That's a great question, and there are a few ways to view his scenario. (Note: This was an anonymous question, so I don’t actually know the gender of the player.)

Option No. 1 — If you are happy with the win and you see a new villain sit who is as deep as you are, play a round or two and get up. Playing "differently" out of fear of getting stacked is counter-productive, and you're better off at home watching Jersey Shore (or whatever is your garbage TV show of choice).

Option No. 2 — If you can block the numbers out of your mind, you haven't "increased" your bankroll by anything ... yet. The money's still on the table, so it's not technically yours yet. You can lock it up, leave, and make it yours, or you can "parlay" it by using it to play more aggressively, trying to really run up your roll by only having one buy-in invested out of your day’s starting bankroll. If you can make the distinction, this is how players get hot and run up big amounts from peanuts. I personally have no trouble doing this when playing PLO, but for some reason can't profitably think this way when I play no-limit hold’em.

Fixed-Limit Games

Fixed-limit games require different bankroll considerations. In general, these games are talked about in terms of big bets rather than the number of buy-ins. A common guideline for limit poker states 200-500 big bets as an adequate bankroll. When I played limit for a living, I leaned more toward 300 big bets, plus 6 months’ worth of living expenses on the side. For example, an adequate bankroll for $30-$60 limit would be $18K plus $12K for 6 months’ living expenses ($2K/month average, multiplied by 6). Thus, to properly play $30-$60 limit, we'd need $30K-$42K total liquidity, depending on whether you wanted 300 or 500 big bets as a working bankroll.

Of course, by playing a little shorter than the 500 big bets, I had to deal with bigger swings in my bankroll. What saved me was that I was more than willing to drop down in limits if need be. This style may suit some but not others. If you don't like the idea of dropping down in limits after a few losing sessions, then I would recommend using 500 big bets and 6 months’ living expenses on the side as a proper bankroll.

Also, with the addition of high-variance games like 2-7 triple draw, badugi, razzdugi, and the like, I think leaning toward the higher side of 500 big bets is more prudent and should be followed more closely to avoid having to see-saw between limits.

Remember, these are just general guidelines that have worked for me. I'd advise each player to experiment and see where they feel comfortable.

Also, for those who have a nine-to-five job and just play for enjoyment, please consider this article for informational purposes only. Play whatever limits feel comfortable, but like with any other type of gambling, only bring to the table what you can afford to lose.

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