Managing Your Poker Bankroll

People always ask, "How much do I need to play in a $20-$40 (for example) game?" The usual answer to all poker questions is, "It depends." But in this case, it is the wrong question. The question really should be, "Given my temperament and current financial situation, how much can I risk in a game?"



Let's examine these components. The first is your temperament. Years ago, Mike Caro distinguished between two types of players – plodders and adventurers. I will put poker players into three categories: The plodders are extremely risk averse. They would rather play for pennies than take a chance of going broke. The normal players are willing to take moderate risk, if they think they have a reasonable advantage. Lastly, there are the plungers. They love to take extreme risk. They are the poker equivalents of mountaineers who want to reach the top of Mount Everest. The risk in question is, of course, losing a large percentage of your bankroll or, in the worst case, going broke. There are many gradations of each of these types, and many players may go from plodders when winning to plungers when losing. Likewise, external circumstances may change a player. Losing a job, getting married, having a kid, and so on make some players eager to avoid risk and others desperate to win a fortune.



Some people have jobs, businesses, or other outside sources of income – and some do not. I am also going to divide bankrolls into three categories – small, medium, and large. A small bankroll is an amount that you could get in a month or less from working, from your business, or from your investments. For some people, this may be a few hundred dollars, and for others, a few thousand. A medium bankroll should take about six months to accumulate. A large bankroll takes a least a year. If you have no outside sources of income, treat your bankroll as large. Losing a small bankroll is distracting, losing a medium one is disturbing, and losing a big one is disastrous.

Your temperament should not change from session to session. It is possible that you might want to adjust your risk threshold a little higher for great games and a little lower for bad ones. Before starting any session of any game, determine what your bankroll is and then refer to the chart below. This chart provides my opinion of the correct percentage of your bankroll to risk in any game. Use the appropriate percentage to calculate the amount you can risk.

If you lose that amount, I'd advise you to quit for the day. If you don't want to quit, make sure that you recalculate the amount you can lose, starting from your diminished bankroll. As long as you continually recalculate the amount you can risk, you will never go broke. If you are playing in games in which you have the worst of it, you will eventually end up with such a small bankroll that it is meaningless. But in general, you will be able to risk larger amounts (not larger percentages) as your winnings accumulate, and you will be forced to play smaller when you are losing.



You may be wondering why you take more risk with a small bankroll. It is easier to get it back. As your bankroll gets larger, going broke becomes more disastrous. Try following these guidelines and you will never be in the embarrassing situation of wandering around a poker room looking for backing or trying to borrow money.