Cash Needed To Make A Run?

Hey All

I have spent the last few months reading books, forums, learning more about the game, etc. I was curious in today's day of poker what most feel is a good amount of cash needed to make a run at playing for a living.

I wrote on another section of these boards (Was the wrong section I was told) and stated that a lot of books state 300 big blinds is what you need. So someone like myself who plays 10/20 Limit we are talking about $6,000. But a bunch of people stated that is way too aggressive. So what would people say is a good bankroll for someone who likes to dabble in 10/20 limit and 1/2 NL?

Also can someone explain the term buyins when it comes to cash games? I understand the team buyins when it comes to tournaments. But I was reading threads about bankrolls on the net and people are saying you need such and such buyins for a cash game which makes no sense to me

One I remember is someone said if you are playing you need atleast 20 buyins and for a 2/4 limit you need $8000.

What exactly does he mean to get to this conclusion?

if i were to go pro again i wouldnt want less than 10-20k to my name.

when i think buy-in for NL i think 100bb. for online 50 is pretty good, live, probably 35 is good. but that's your poker bankroll aside from cost of living expenses.

Im not much of a cash game guy but Ill try to help you out. Maybe a cash game player will put some input in too.

From what I mainly see most people suggest atleast 30 buy ins for whatever limit you are going to play. And I would suggest those be MAX buy ins for the table.

For limit there isnt going to be a MAX buy in, but to be safe maybe plan on 30-50BB

1/2NL the max buy in will be $200 in most cases so $6000 BR to play those.
Although if you are looking at this for a living, I suggest going for a site where you can get great rakeback. So even if you break even you can make a profit. But to do this would require a lot of hands so you would be better off to multitable so I would increase your starting BR.

most NL cash games have a max buy-in. so at $1/$2 (200nl) one buy-in would be $200.

calculating your risk of ruin is the most accurate way to determine how much money you need.
http://www.evplusplus.com/poker_tools/risk_of_ruin/

Yeah for cash games 1 buyin = 100BB

Imo you really want 50+ for NL if you rely on it for your income.

Gotcha, well I play limit usually, I like 10/20 limit. I also play live only. I live close to Atlantic City, Play at the Borgata

7,500$ with reloads, and or 15k min with no reloads. Ie. if you bust account you cannot reload anymore and are out of the game.

I'd want 100BI if it was my sole source of income.

theskillzdatklls said:

if i were to go pro again i wouldnt want less than 10-20k to my name.

when i think buy-in for NL i think 100bb. for online 50 is pretty good, live, probably 35 is good. but that's your poker bankroll aside from cost of living expenses.

Click to expand...

Hope you werent pro online? 50 buyin strat? :s

Always buying to your tables for maximum amount you can sit for, 100bbs always get the maximum out of your stack.

Live different story. You can be a pro 25 bb er

Sorry I should add my comments are for NLHE games.

300 big blinds is a big excessive for limit. I'd say 50 is fine. Now for NL 300 is fine assuming there's no max. You always want to be the big stack even in cash game for intimidation and max value purposes (also keeps you from chasing draws like a donkey).

long_bong said:

Hope you werent pro online? 50 buyin strat? :s

Always buying to your tables for maximum amount you can sit for, 100bbs always get the maximum out of your stack.

Live different story. You can be a pro 25 bb er

Sorry I should add my comments are for NLHE games.

Click to expand...

I believe his 50 and 35 are total buyins, as he said 100bb = 1 buyin

fozziethebear said:

300 big blinds is a big excessive for limit. I'd say 50 is fine. Now for NL 300 is fine assuming there's no max. You always want to be the big stack even in cash game for intimidation and max value purposes (also keeps you from chasing draws like a donkey).

Click to expand...

Like above 300 is total buyins not bbs.

You need whatever your comfortable with. You have to look at all your expenses, not just the normal bills but everything from food to entertainment (don't forget emergencies, doctors, lawyers, etc). I believe all the numbers are just poker bankrolls and don't take into account all the money they have in the bank for expenses. I'd say if you have a years worth of expenses in the bank and over 50 buyins for your poker bankroll you could take a shot if your already a profitable player at a level that will pay the bills, but I wouldn't move up until 100+ for the next level. If your relying on poker income to pay the rent and eat with nothing in the bank even 300 might not be enough, variance is a bitch.

I've never wanted and thus never tried to make my living from poker, so I can't speak from that perspective. However, I do have experience starting small, mostly one-person businesses as well as training others to do so.

If we treat playing poker for a living as the business you're looking to start, then we look at the financial requirements in the same way. This involves not only working capital (bankroll), but overall financing.

One key element in this regard is to project how long it's likely to take to reach break-even after you pay yourself your monthly "salary". It would also be pretty standard to make not only a best guess projection but also to look at a pessimistic scenario.

So, using sample numbers, let's say your monthly living expenses total $3000. This means your breakeven is to win $3000 per month so that you can remove this amount from your roll while still having enough buyins.

Unless you can reasonably expect to win $3000 per month right away, you need to have enough money available to cover the expected shortfall while you work your way up to winning $3000.

Next, let's say you've decided $6000 is the minimum BR you should have, and also that you've projected you will win $1000 in month 1, and then increase that by $500 each month. This means it will take 5 months to reach $3000. During this time, your shortfall will total $5000, which means that to start, you need a total of $11k.

It's also a good idea to have more money available than you project because projections have a nasty habit of turning out to be optimistic, even the ones that are supposed to be pessimistic.