Can't build my bankroll.....

I started with a $50 dollar bankroll last month and got it to $100 in just a few days, but for the past month its just been stuck at $100. I play mostly $2 sng's on fulltilt and attempt $5 sng's when I have the money, but I always end up falling back to $100. It's very frustrating playing and not seeing any progress. Any advice?

10% of your bankroll is bad management, play $1 $2 sngs to build your BR then move up.

First of all kind of funny, saw can't build my BR with a name of blackjack, thinking "is this guy really trying to build a BR playing blackjack?"

Anyway, there are obviously 2 options as to what is going on:

1. You're playing close to break even poker. You're not a great player, and aren't going to steadily win in the long run. You may have a slight edge, but won't really make real money unless you improve your game

2. It's all variance. You're a winning player, but you're catching bad luck.

If it's 1, you've come to the right place. Even if it's not you've always got something to learn. Post in the strategy sections, especially the Hand Analysis forum if you've got hands that give you a tough time.

If it's 2, you've just gotta hang in there, keep grinding, and the money will come. Also keep in mind even if you are a solid winning player and it's all variance, you can always get better, so either way post here, think about your decisions, why you make them, and you'll most likely become a better player, whether you're a solid winner already or not. But just remember poker is about the long run. Your earlier run up to $100 could have just been a hot run or the break-even stretch here could be a cold run.

Like Zac said-just keep at it. For some people, building a bankroll is a long, grueling, process and for others it happens quickly. It took me months and months just to almost double a starting BR of $50 and I had to take care of a negative profit downswing, too. So, it can be frustrating at times, especially if you seem to be lingering in the same zone for quite a while.

My suggestion and what I did was I dropped to the to $1-$2 SNGs stakes and just grinded it out until I started noticing increases in my BR. Sometimes they were big $10+ days and other times I would only increase my BR by $2 in a given week. Then, once you've reached a certain BR goal, move up in buy-ins and continue grinding, but dont be afraid to drop back down if your BR drops.

id say try cash tables since you always end up even in sngs so maybe cash tables will boost your bankroll

I played sng exclusively and pretty much found the same outcome as you speak of .... then quit sng's ....

I have also read Chuck "T" comments about how if people had not convinced him to switch to cash games he would still be stuck in sng ....

Think ur best long term solution is to change to cash games ..
If you like tourney environment ... switch to mtt ... it has ups and downs ... and winning is a little spread out but the ups are an escalator ride ....

Cash games may take a little more patience ... but could yield faster long term growth ...

And on those $1 sng not sure about $2 .. but the rake is terrible 20%-25% as compared to 10% @ the $5 level ... 10% down the drain ... grrrr.... 10% is what a bookie makes a living on ....

this is the way i see it, on every sight find a formula for winning and stick to that, dont try things u dont really know yet...with full tilt theres ko's, mtt's and sngs...im thinking u should try a couple 3 dollar ko's and see how you fair in those.

U should try playing in .25/.50 cash games to build up ur BR. playing $2 sit n gos is not gonna get u any where. I would try playing $10 or $20 sng but i would try to do a mix of sng and cash games

Beware of the cash game. You can make money very quickly in cash game but you can lose it just as fast. If you have a winning % at the $2 game but not the $5 game then drop back down to $2. You are probably just at a platue in your game and this will pass.

Thanks everyone for the pointers. Sadly, my cash game skills are nowhere up to par, but I tried a $3 KO tourney and placed 5th which gave my roll a bit of a boost. So hopefully I don't end up falling back into a rut =).

This sounds like solid good advise.I am in a simialar boat and I know its the disipline that needs to improve. I can read all the advise in the world
but it will be no good if I dont apply it .So I would suggest that you analyze your loses and the hands you played and how you played the ones which led up to your losses.This will teach you alot about yourself.

I can't help you with poker advise but I can tell you that you have to stay at a level you can dominate before moving up to the next level. It is tempting to start playing for more money, but as with any sport or game have to move up level by level unless you a special talent. Each time you play at a certain level you learn and as you learn you can move up if not ready you can always go back to a game you have an advantage at.

Zach's advice is excellent as per usual.

This would solve your problem. You could just go broke in less than a week.

man i hear ya, i'm was on the same trip, but i got of it by look'n 4 the cheapest buy-in ,but the highest payout tournaments,i found one at fulltilt ,starts at 17:35 est. .10$ buy-in 1st pl. over $200 guar. good comp & a shot at 200 bucks can't beat it.

PokerStars has a $3 rebuy that is $40,000 guaranteeed. A $5 freeze out with a $15,000 guarantee. Those are way better deals

Bodog is easier because they have sng that pay 5 out of 10players with the top 4 showing a profit.

Try playing ring games. Be happy that your breaking even as it sounds like your pretty new and gaining valuable skill everyday, but you really cant expect much playing two dollar sitngos breaking even sounds fine till your ready to risk more money.

Try using Chris Fergusons money management strategy, he has a blog on full tilt it will be perfect for you, if you havent read it you really should.

I have found that cash games will build alot quicker but you put more of your BR at risk. I would suggest low buy-ins and with your winnings play a couple of sng. But to get the biggest returns it has to be MTT's

Honestly, if you are a break even player at micro SnGs, you will likely be a losing player at cash games.

However, if you do want to try it, make sure you choose the right stakes for your bankroll. I would start at .01/.02 with $100. Try the next level up when you have a large sample at .01/.02 with a decent profit.

However, SnGs are the way to build a BR imo. 9 person Stars ones maybe. The more people, the more variance, so stay small at first.

Also, as D'wilius said, don't listen to AJRiale unless you like to reload.

It is still quite possible to make plenty of $ in SNG's though for those that don't believe so. Anyone ever heard of the name SPACEGRAVY? Guy is the mad king of SNG's and makes ridiculous mad $ playing them.

ull find yourself in more difficult tables as the buy in goes up, i have exactly the same problem, i started from 0 in AP and Bodog and have about 400 in each, i just cant break that limit, but i think with some practice i will. GL

You should try Bodog. They have 10 person STT that pay out top 5. Slow but easy way to make money.

I've had a similar problem to the original poster. Seems like sometimes I get stuck on my way up. Usually it's around an even hundred amount. I'm moving up like a fiend and then hit a wall and go into yo-yo mode for a while, sometimes a week or two, although I had one bad spell, right after I cashed out a few hundred dollars, when I dropped about $80 below my original buy-in and couldn't get into the black for months after.

In my case, I'm pretty sure it's some psychological twitch. I can't say what or how, but it seems to have gone away over the past couple of months. Maybe it's see the next "goal" and not wanting to fall back from it changing the way I play. FWIW

Wow thanks for all the advice and I'd like to add that I have seen an increase in my bankroll. Since I'm not rolled up for the cash games at ft yet I plan to hang in there and continue to play the $2 sng's until I can consistently beat them before moving up to $5. I'm going to try to follow good brm and not tilt myself into a plateau again.

good luck dude! hope to hear from you again and let us know about the progress you are making and share it to our fellow members who also needs some advice about good BR management...

Good to hear you are out of the funk and incorporating some new bankroll strategies.

My advice here, considering you started with $50, and got it to $100 and it plateaued, is to not do anything drastic! You had a good run, followed by a so so run, and then I see you hit a good payout, so this is something that as a tourney guy (sng or MTT's) you have to learn to deal with. It is as normal as sunrise.

Beware ring, thats where the true poker sharks swim. I am not a ring connoisseur, and have only got to the point where I am approximately break even, but can see that a good ring game could be a more consistent way of making money. However seldom will there be any excitement involved, rather, long boring hours of multi-tabling grind work.

You will never see an excited crowd railing anyone in a ring game.

If you're not MURDERING $1-$2 sng's keep playing them until you are... the competition is VERY soft at these micro buy ins and you will absolutely know if and when you are ready to move up, I 've grinded my way through microstakes with a starting BR of $6 and believe me alot of these ppl on here telling you to to jump in the deep end clearly hav NO idea what they're talking about. Bad variance is to be expected like a hurricane on the gulf coast... the levees are your brm skills

I'm up and down with the sit and gos. I play in freerolls, and when I cash, I play the $1.25 STTs on Full Tilt. I've managed to get up to around $20, but then I end up losing it. I'm a decent poker player, and I'm chalking it up to variance!

i agree with many points, if you are really trying to boost, play cash tables, i play smaller ones at first and slowly build bit by bit, then once it starts to be noticeable move up a level. if you are doing badly move down again for a bit, i took 2$ and turned it into 17$ in two days just playing 2 cent 4 cent tables.then i moved up to 5 cent 10 cent and built from there, be patient!

Bankroll Size


Limit Holdem


The general rule of thumb for bankroll size is around 300 times the big bet (upper limit) for limit holdem. This means if you want to play at 1/2 holdem, you should have 600$. However, you may need more or can get by with less, depending on conditions. If you plan to only play one table at a time and never play beyond the limit your bankroll is setup for, you can do just fine with 250 times the big bet. However, if you intend to play 3 or more tables at once, you should have more. You also should increase bankroll levels for shorthanded play.


No Limit Holdem


The online no limit holdem game of today is a game with a maximum buyin of usually 100 times the big blind, 10 player table. This means that at a .50/1.00 no-limit holdem game, the most anybody can initially buyin for is 100$. In games like these, the generally accepted bankroll size is around 20 full buyins. That means for a .50/1.00NL game, you should have a 2,000$ bankroll. If you prefer to play a shortstacked cash game strategy, then you might want to have between 40 and 60 buyins of 20 to 25 times the big blind. For 5 and 6 handed games, you want to have a larger bankroll because of added variance. (see Q&A section for a brief explanation)

id say play with 2% at sngs

look at chris fergusons advice on FTP site.. hes got great bankroll managment tips