One question that I’m often asked is how big bankroll one should have for the level one is playing. This is not as simply question as it might seem like because the bankroll requirement factors for an example include: the person’s expected winrate, how high variance the person’s style is, how good he is at handling downswings, how high variance the poker format in question has and so on. However as when I list those factors most people still ask for some general guidelines, so from below you can find guidelines to no limit / pot limit texas holdem, limit texas holdem and pot limit omaha. I don’t have enough experience with other poker games to give even rough estimates.
Please keep in mind that obviously if you are not a winning player it really doesn’t matter how big your bankroll is, as you will lose it anyway sooner or later. But obviously if you play just for fun and want to make your bankroll last longer simply play as small as possible games that you still find fun and exciting.
The buyins listed below are assuming that you always buyin for the maximum buyin for the table, so if you play $1/$2 no limit with $200 maximum buying 50 buyins would equal $10,000.
Poker bankroll requirements for no limit texas holdem (and pot limit):
10 Player tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 100 buyins.
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 75 buyins.
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 75 buyins.
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 50 buyins
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 75 buyins.
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 50 buyins.
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 50 buyins
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 40 buyins.
As you can see I don’t recommend in any situation playing with less than a 40 buyin bankroll, this is simply because even if you are extremely good player there is always lot of luck involved with poker and thus even the best players tend to eventually hit worse run than they ever thought was possible.
6 Player tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 150 buyins.
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 100 buyins.
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 100 buyins.
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 50 buyins,
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 75 buyins.
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 50 buyins.
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 75 buyins.
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 50 buyins.
Headsup (2 player) tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 150 buyins.
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 75 buyins.
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 75 buyins
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 50 buyins.
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 75 buyins,
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 50 buyins
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 50.
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 50.
With headsup I suggest paying special attention to how likely you are to tilt. Especially the people who start steaming easily when they lose bunch of money quickly can blow huge portion of their bankroll in headsup within just an hour if they cant control their emotions, so if you tend to tilt think twice if headsup is for you. Obviously the same is true in other forms of poker as well, but for some reason it seems like people are much more likely to go on monkey-tilts in headsup.
Poker bankroll requirements for limit texas holdem:
All the below numbers are as BIG BETS so 300 big bets for $5/$10 would equal $3,000.
10 Player tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 1000 bets.
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 750 big bets.
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 750 big bets.
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 600 big bets.
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 750 big bets.
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 750 big bets.
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 700 bets.
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 600 bets.
6 Player tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 2000 bets.
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 1500 bets.
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 1500 bets.
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 1250 bets.
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 1500 bets.
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 1250 bets.
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 1200 bets.
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 1000 bets.
Headsup (2 player) tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 3000 bets.
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 2500 bets.
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 2500 bets.
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 2000 bets.
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 2500 bets.
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 2500 bets.
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 2000 bets.
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 2000 bets.
Bankroll needed for pot limit omaha poker:
10 Player tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 200 buyins.
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 150 buyins.
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 175 buyins.
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 150 buyins,
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 150 buyins.
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 150 buyins.
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 125 buyins.
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 100 buyins.
6 Player tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 300
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 250
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 250
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 200
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 250
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 200
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 200
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 150
1-on-1 (headsup) tables:
Loose, marginally winning player, with low tolerance for variance: 350
Loose, big winner, low tolerance for variance: 300
Loose, marginal winner, high tolerance: 300
Loose, big winner, high tolerance: 200
Tight, marginal winner, low tolerance: 250
Tight, big winner, low tolerance: 200
Tight, marginal winner, high tolerance: 200
Tight, big winner, high tolerance: 175
