Limit Poker Bankroll
This poker bankroll calculator allows you to work out which limits you should be playing at in poker depending on how much money you have in your bankroll.
This calculator is based around the rules of basic no limit Texas Holdem bankroll management, which are:
In August of 2016, Doug Polk launched a poker bankroll challenge, with the goal of turning $100 into $10,000. Doug grinded this challenge often during the first few months, but progress has slowed to a crawl since then.
- The size of your bankroll is related to your winrate. The higher your winrate, the smaller your bankroll need to be, because your risk of ruin decreases The weaker the opponents you play, the higher your winrate Let's say you can play 1500 hours p.
- The best poker bankroll management strategy for beginners is to have 50 buyins for any limit you are playing. Experienced poker players can get by with a bankroll of 30 buyins. And for professional poker players I recommend using a bankroll management strategy of 100 buyins for any limit you are playing. There is a lot more to it than this though.
- Limit hold’em players can have a somewhat smaller bankroll and follow the smaller end of the buy-in amounts than no-limit or pot-limit players. Limit players generally experience less volatility than no-limit or pot-limit, so your bankroll can be smaller.
- You should have at least 20 times the buy in for cash games.
- You should have at least 40 buy ins for SnG tournaments.
This bankroll calculator will tell you; which limits you should be playing at, how many buyins you have for that level, how much more money you need to win to move up to the next level and advice on how to approach the games at your limit.
The bankroll calculator.
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How to use the bankroll calculator.
- Enter your bankroll to the nearest Dollar (no decimals).
- Choose your game type. (only works for NL Holdem cash games at the moment).
- Let the calculator know if you are a US or a Non-US player (for room recommendation reasons).
- Click 'Calculate'!
Make the calculator better.
If you have any comments about the calculator or would like to offer advice on how it can be improved, I would love for you to shoot me an email at greg[at]thepokerbank[dot]com. I would really appreciate any feedback that you can give to help improve the bankroll calculator.
Go back to the handy Texas Hold'em tools.
BASIC RULES OF BANKROLL MANAGEMENT
1. Never play for more money than you can afford to lose
This is the most important rule. It is always possible to lose money playing poker, even if you play every hand perfectly. Therefore you should NEVERrisk an amount of money that could get you into financial trouble away from the poker table, especially if you are experiencing a downswing.
Similarly you should never put yourself in a position where your entire bankroll is on the table in a single tournament or hand. Only ever sit down with a small fraction of your bankroll at any one time.
2. Be aware of your goals
Broadly speaking, poker players fall into three groups, each with different expectations and goals in the game. It is very important that you decide what you want from poker and that you select the right level to achieve your aims.
- Recreational players are playing mainly for fun and have other sources of income besides poker. If they lose their bankroll they can fund it with fresh money from their regular source of income.
- Serious players are good and profitable players but do not depend only on poker for their income. It is not the end of the world if they lose their poker bankroll, but it will hurt.
- Professional players depend on poker as their only source of income. They cannot afford to lose all their bankroll as this means they would lose their job. Therefore they must employ the strictest bankroll management techniques.
3. Do not play higher than your bankroll permits
The following information is intended to offer a good rule of thumb for bankroll requirements if you are playing sit and go tournaments and multi-table tournaments, or fixed limit Texas Hold’em . (The chart at the bottom of this page offers a general guide to bankroll requirements to play no limit Texas Hold’em cash games.)
If you are a recreational player don’t risk more than 10 per cent of your bankroll at once. If you have a bankroll of $100, you should not be entering a tournament with a buy in of more than $10 or sitting at a cash table with more than that amount. For serious and professional players the bankroll restrictions are even tougher.
Sit and go tournaments (STTs): If you are a serious player, you should aim to have at least 30 times the tournament buy in in your bankroll before entering any STT. A professional player will need 100 buy-ins.
For example, a serious player could play $20 STTs with a bankroll of $600 but a professional would need $2,000 in his bankroll in order to play $20 STTs.
1-2 No Limit Poker Bankroll
Multi-table tournaments (MTTs): Tournaments offer huge prizes but also huge swings. You should have at least 50 buy-ins in your bankroll in order to play them as a serious player. A professional will need 200 buy-ins. It is probably best not to play tournaments exclusively. It is safer also to play SNGs or cash games.
Limit Poker Bankroll
Limit Poker Bankroll
Fixed limit Hold’em: You should probably have about 300 big bets in your account to sit down at a fixed limit Hold’em table. For example: in order to play $3-$6 fixed limit Hold’em, you need a bankroll of at least $1,800 (300x$6) to play safely.