Best way to get a bankroll going?

Hey guys... I was just wondering your thoughts on getting a bankroll going. I have some cash to throw around and was wondering what is the best way to start an initial bankroll to play in buy-in events from $100-$1,000. Different people have different views on how to appropriately start up a bankroll to play with. I can maybe start an initial $5k and get it going, but what type of events and buy-ins should I start up on?

lots of higher stakes players play on full tilt, and you could probly get a pretty sick sign up bonus

Yep have a look at the sign up bonus pages here before you jump into anything. http://www.cardschat.com/poker-bonuses.php

Have you any experience playing ? If not jumping into $100+ games is a mistake, you will need to learn the ropes a bit first in the smaller games.

Read up on bankroll managment, playing $1K events on a $5K roll is asking to go busto, and fast. I would be recommend having 50buyins (at least) for whatever level you want to play, so you would be really pushing it playing $100 games with $5K. MTT's come with a huge amount of varience.

I agree with tenbob, as a general rule I suggest you have at least 50 maximum buy ins. For example, with a 1k buy in your gonna need 50k. The higher the limit the more buy ins you need as they are more aggressive and the swings are higher.

if you are a starting poker player... better read first the art of bankroll management. many players go busto in just a few months or weeks because they have no idea about this concept. try to google about this management, lots of site are offering strategies and tips on this... a good example of this is Chris Fergusons strategy turning 0-10k in year... check it out.

I would read some articles over Bankroll Management and some over going on Tilt. I lost all my bankroll a fewtimes , I was playing with a Bankroll Management but when I lost a few times , I was on tilt and lost my hole BR.

Check out some of the BRM articles here - a search should pull some good ones up.

If you are playing tournaments I personally prefer the structure at Pokerstars. I know that is not your question but I have tried some of the Full Tilt tournaments and have not been impressed. Pokerstars has a lot of good double stack guaranteeds spread across a good variety of times. I guess it depends on your personal preference but Irexes - who is a member here and a very good tournament player - has me stuck on preferring the double and deep stacks.


One good tournament you might want to try is the $55 - 80k guaranteed at Pokerstars. It is daily at 3pm ET. There are some $10 and $20 ones too. Then they have the big games on Sundays - the warm-up and the million.

It would be interesting to know if you have played much yet. There is a small group of us here that play tournaments and try to help each other out some. We are mostly in the learning stage so feel free to join us - either to learn yourself or give advice.

**** April's Micro MTT Thread ****

Having some money to throw around is nice. I wish I was in that position
It is yours to do what you wish with, no one can stop you, or shouldn't frown up on you for doing so.

However what I would say is this. Poker is a great game, the more I play the more I love it. The more I study and get better at it, the better it gets, and the more money I make. (Nothing big but it feels good to win)

Take some time to learn the game, make playing poker about playing poker, making correct decisions regardless of the amount you are playing for. If you can play well for trivial amounts of money, then when it comes to playing for more money you will most certainly have a huge head start.

If it is MTT's you wish to play, and you have a bomb load of money to spend, play $10 or $20 buy ins, the payouts are still big for winning. Stars is the best site for big tournaments imo.

As for actually Bankroll building , I think Sit n Go's are the best starting place for any new player. It is a great way to learn the game knowing the most you can lose is your buy in for any given tournament.

Feel free to ignore my advice, but if you are serious about Poker, you need to know making good decisions is the be all and end all, the amount of money at stake is only there to mess with your mind.

Actually, I do have some experience and play online quite frequently but this is the first time I'm actually committing a sum of money to expand my game and hopefully push my luck as much as I can.

Well it sounds to me like you have a substanial b.r. to start with. This alone can help you along the way. One thing I wouldnt suggest is just buying into the big tourneys right off the bat, unless you feel like your capable of winning. One thing I have learned is that the level of play is signifigantly better at the higher buyins. So maybe just playing at some limit 2-4 or 3-6 holdem to winn some buyins rather than just buying in outright.

Wishing you the best of luck.Hopefully you find the right strategy and it works out good for you,keep us updated.I'd stick with tournament play and not cash games.

I don't see what difference it makes to be honest. Cash games are bread and butter, you can make a steady grind out of them. It doesn't really matter which you choose as long as you are focused on what you are doing, and what you want to achieve.

However I would recommend choosing one or the other, and focus on that completely for now. I play mainly cash, and use some of my winnings to buy in to tournaments a couple of times a week. They are very very different, so focusing on one is a good idea.

The advantage of Cash is you can fit in an hour or two hour session here and there, where as tournaments you need to book yourself a 5 or 6 hour window if you plan on doing well in a tournament.

Wow! I would definitely read bankroll management if I were you. Don't throw that money around. Make it an investment. Start from lower levels to high stakes if you feel you are already capable. Really needs to take experience unless that money is just an excess why not donate it to charity. ^^

If you deposit 5k, more than likely you will get a great sign-up bonus. Also, I would stick to tournaments around 2-500 dollars and see where you go from there. If you start to lose most of your br, play 100$ games or try out the 5,10$ cash tables and see how you do there. GOOD LUCK to you

Crikey, I wouldn't even think of going near 5/10 cash tables, Without about a million hands in experience. Best way to lose an awful lot of money fast.

Maybe try $10 single table SNG's or something like that.

Thats what I would do in your situation.

Then you can work your way up the limits when you win some and mix it up from there.