Building a Poker Bankroll is perhaps the most important aspect of a successful poker carrer. If you take poker seriously at all, then you need to have a poker bankroll. Building your poker bankroll is the first step to being able to become a winning poker player. If you are already a winning poker player and you never built a bankroll, then you have the power to become even better.
Why Build a Poker Bankroll?
The obvious reason to build a bankroll is so you can manage your money. A bankroll tells you what limits to play, and how much to play with. Playing poker can be a very dangerous game if you are not careful. A bankroll allows you to set aside your personal finances from your poker finances. You should always be very careful not to combine the two together. With a proper bankroll, you will never have to worry about what you lose. It is the smartest way to play poker consistently is by having a good bankroll.
What is a Good Bankroll?
A good bankroll to have is anywhere between 20-40 times the maximum buy in that you are playing in. Example: If you play at a $500.00 max buy in no limit hold’em cash game, then a good bankroll would be a minimum of $10,000.00. Somewhere in between $10,000.00 and $20,000.00 is a legitimate bankroll. That means that you have at least $10,000.00 to play poker with. That is money made just for poker, and poker only.
Building a Bankroll
Now that you understand the idea of building a bankroll, you need to figure out how you’re going to do it. There are several ways of building a bankroll and none of them are right or wrong. One way to build a bankroll is with poker. Of course, what better way to build your bankroll than with the game you are building it for? The hard part is that it takes a tremendous amount of discipline. Playing poker in general takes a tremendous amount of discipline itself, so that shouldn’t be a huge problem. The idea is to start off setting a goal to turn your bankroll into whatever amount you want it at. Whatever amount you can come up with now (just for poker) is your bankroll right now (which is what you will use to build it into what your goal is).
So if your goal is to get a $5,000.00 bankroll because that is what you need to play in your desired limits of poker, then that is what you keep in mind. The hard part is to understand that you only have what you have to work with. So if you have $500.00 for a bankroll, then you do not belong playing in a game that calls for a $5,000.00 bankroll. You just can’t play poker like that. You won’t be able to play your game if you are trying to build a bankroll this way.