Bankroll for day 1

I love to play mainly MTT´s value $4 - $20.

Only problem is that I only get to play at the weekends as work abroad during Mon - Fri, so play about 2 - 3 at most.

What would you consider/calculate my starting Bankroll should be.

At the moment I just play some/ win some $/ lose $ and pay as and when required.

Think the problem stems from the fact I have a very well paid job so have never even thought about Bankrolls

I think the time has arrived for me to become more disciplined

If you want "real" guidlines then you should be investing no more than 2% of your bankroll into the large pokerstars MTT's.

But seems as you have a well paid job and enjoy it, i wouldnt worry too much as long as you stick to the small buy-in's.

You could keep a small spreadsheet or a record of some sort just to keep track of justhow much you are spending / winning and then try and build on that.

That way you can start to get a bankroll growing which will also help your game.

Just set aside a small sum and decide that is your starting bank-roll and you will not add to it by any outside top-ups. It is your poker money.

Any winnings stay in the 'poker-pot' and try to make it grow.

From what you say i would guess maybe $100-$200 but you have to remember to be truthfull and strictly honest with yourself - losses are losses, no secretly topping up just to make the figures look better than they are.

Then you will become more watchfull on how you play and what cards you play.

Then i always end with the most important rule - enjoy it

IanT

I`d say that you need 30 to 50 buyins, say $600.

Record-keeping is an absolute must. Once you have built up a decent sample, you`ll be able to study your results and look for patterns. Is there a particular buyin level or a particular day or time of day when you are more successful ? Hard to know with any accuracy if you are relying only on imperfect memory, but this info is vital in identifying strengths to play to (and maybe weaknesses to fix or avoid).

I'm in the same position as you, and what I do is treat it like a game where the challenge is to take $100 and see how far I can go with it, and keep within the limits I set. MTT's can be difficult for a small BR though because the paydays are bigger but the time inbetween those cashings can be longer. How I compensated was to play SNG's until I had enough extra to pay for a MTT buy-in, rinse and repeat.

Or you can treat it like entertainment dollars. Budget how much you want to spend on entertainment and stick to the budget. If you have $100 a week to spend on entertainment, be it dinners or a sporting event, factor in the poker $ and reduce spending elsewhere.

The important thing is to decide on a budget plan, stick to it, and be honest with yourself. I've been playing for a few months now, and to be honest, I'm up a total of about $2. Thats tough to admit seeing as at one point I was up $160.