Building a Poker Bankroll

We hear poker strategists talk about having a bankroll for poker all of the time.  So obviously, the subject of poker bankrolls isn’t an earth-shattering concept.  However, most of the advice is limited to simply telling people they need to have a decent bankroll before embarking on a poker career.

Few poker authors will go much deeper than this which really doesn’t help much in the end.  It’s much more helpful to know how to actually build the bankroll so that you can hit the ground running.  Here are some tips for building that all-important poker bankroll.

Bankroll Basics

As far as building your actual bankroll, you should begin saving your money before actually playing in any real games.  This means simply practicing and learning strategy for however long it takes you to accumulate a sufficient amount of money to play with.  A good rule of thumb is to have at least 200 big blinds for the cash game limit you wish to play at or 100 tournament buy-ins.

Bankroll Mindset

It’s very important that you have a set amount of money dedicated to poker when playing the game.  After all, you don’t want to be using money which is supposed to be set aside for your electric bill.  People who do things like this typically play scared because they are afraid to lose the money they’re using.  And when the time comes, you won’t have the nerve to make all-in calls or crucial bluffs since you are worried about using the money for something else.  So make sure to have a poker-only bankroll so that you aren’t afraid to make the necessary moves when it comes time.

Bankroll Limits

Even the best players in the world have weeks or even months where they play bad and lose money.  With this being the case, you need to have a bankroll that is able to endure long losing streaks, and play at a limit where you can sustain your bankroll over a period of time.  Keep in mind that if you can’t survive a month-long losing streak without going bust then you are probably at a limit that is too high.