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jeez45
Rising Star
Perfect bankroll depends on your winrate and things like that, but usually I would recommend 50-100 buyins for tournaments - turbo, regular, Cash games - 15-20 buyins. But as I said, it depends on your playstyle winrate etc.., some people need bigger bankroll, some can do fine with smaller.
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fundiver199
Legend
Loyaler
Online I think, its reasonable to start with a deposit of 100$, if you are truly new to the game. If you have some past experience and think, you might already be a winning player, then its reasonable to start with a deposit of 500$, if you can afford it. A larger deposit is especially usefull, if you want to play MTTs, because the selection of games, you are bankrolled for with 100$, is very limited. With cash games most sites offer 2NL, where 100$ is enough, and with SnGs you can typically play 1-2$ games, where 100$ is also enough.
Atararo14
Rock Star
The bankroll depends on the game format, cash game, MTT, sit and go...
For example for MTT, it is necessary to have at least 100 buy-in (200 players or less) and for MTT with hundreds or thousands of players it is recommended 250 to 300 because the variance is greater.
For example for MTT, it is necessary to have at least 100 buy-in (200 players or less) and for MTT with hundreds or thousands of players it is recommended 250 to 300 because the variance is greater.
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IanP304
Legend
I think this all depends on your personal circumstances, I would not deposit what I am not prepared to lose so only deposit what you can afford.
I would say if you are starting out and can afford to do so that a $100+ initial deposit is a good starting point.
I would say if you are starting out and can afford to do so that a $100+ initial deposit is a good starting point.
Kolalyaaa
Rising Star
There is probably no perfect bankroll. For a starting poker game, there is no need for initial money either, now there are a lot of different freerolls. If, however, it is necessary to say about the monetary equivalent, then for a convenient game at micro-limits, 100 dollars will be enough as for me.
christovam
Rock Star
Regardless of the amount in your bankroll, you should play tournaments whose buy-ins are 1% of what you have in your account. This is advice I took from a Brazilian player André Akkari. He has said this in several posts about poker. It is something comfortable and that can bring future benefits.
christovam
Rock Star
Based on the previous comment I made, I think 10% is a lot, however each player should think about the pace they can and should grow. I am a player for fun, but I play within very solid limits and this has brought many benefits to my stack.
christovam
Rock Star
It is a good proposal. But there are cheaper SnGs that you can start with smaller initial deposits.
kitchy65
Visionary
Some good advice but at this moment in time you're better off thinking about building a BR via freerolls.
Or if jumping straight into MTT's you want a budget deposit between $10-50 (for the bonus and enough to play with).
$10 min on 10c/30c satellites
If you play cash tables, then a bigger budget is needed.
For example never ever sit at a 1c/2c table without the maximum allowed buy-in $2 or whatever it may be for the stakes.
It at first seems counter intuitive as you think well "if I only sit down with $1,I can only lose $1 All-in"
But...you are there to win and if you hit a big hand you want maximum payment. You won't get that from $1, so money you could have had is lost.
For the moment, sign up to one poker room, deposit and play through the bonus.
But do not withdraw any winnings as that is your bank roll.
If you lose it all... then move to another poker room, deposit and play through it's bonus until you improve.
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Aballinamion
Legend
It depends on how passive/aggressive you are. If you are more loose it is recommended to have more buy-ins. More tight less buy-ins.
For cash games, to begin from NLHE 2, 5 buy-ins is enough for a tight player. And 10 buy-ins for a loose one.
Now the strategy I use seems simple but if I have began with 5 buy-ins and got to grind and reached 20 buy-ins, I immediately jump to NLHE 5:
If I continue grinding no problem, but if I lose 2 buy-ins playing NLHE 5, I back away to NLHE 2 until I reach my 20 buy-ins again!
Because 2 buy-ins of NLHE 5 are equal to 5 buy-ins of NLHE 2. So if I lose at maximum two buy-ins, I get humble and step back with no shame.
The same goes from NLHE 5 to NLHE 10 and etc.
The ideal goal is to build your bankroll out of scratch playing CardsChat freerolls.
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fundiver199
Legend
Loyaler
True. But then you spend a lot of time grinding for pennies to get even to the first 100$. This is far from ideal, and OP asked about the ideal bankroll for a beginner. Of course we could then say, that the ideal bankroll is a million dollars. But thats not really true, because a beginner wont be able to beat high stakes games, and you dont need a million dollars to begin in the micros
Aballinamion
Legend
Hello mate thanks for your help. I have a doubt about it: why should a beginner start playing with so much bankroll? $ 100 dollars is a lot of money, and a beginner can toss it in a couple of hours.
A beginner doesn’t know what or how to play, it is led most of times by emotions, won’t you say that as more cash players deposit more the chances to lose?
Anyway, I would like to read your ideas for it.
Alexey Shley
Rock Star
There is no perfect bankroll until you learn how to control it. The most important thing in a bankroll is its control; there will be no control, there will be no bankroll. Even if you have a million dollars in your account, you can still spend it.
spunka
Visionary
As many have written in MTT it should be around 1% of buyin.
in STT it should be around 2% of buyin.
but it also depends on if you a willing to use some of your pocket money.
you also have to look at the rake, the lower the rake the higher chance is for not losing your all money too fast.
My advice would be to start at STT and get a good understanding of the play, with real money as cheap as possible, then when you feel you are okay go for smaller tournaments, ( learn to crawl, before you start walking and running 🤓 ).
On the other hand you could just go with what you like to try, and use you pocket money, and have fun
in STT it should be around 2% of buyin.
but it also depends on if you a willing to use some of your pocket money.
you also have to look at the rake, the lower the rake the higher chance is for not losing your all money too fast.
My advice would be to start at STT and get a good understanding of the play, with real money as cheap as possible, then when you feel you are okay go for smaller tournaments, ( learn to crawl, before you start walking and running 🤓 ).
On the other hand you could just go with what you like to try, and use you pocket money, and have fun
christovam
Rock Star
The key in the above reflection is the proportion that the player invests as bankroll and the buy-ins he should play.True. But then you spend a lot of time grinding for pennies to get even to the first 100$. This is far from ideal, and OP asked about the ideal bankroll for a beginner. Of course we could then say, that the ideal bankroll is a million dollars. But thats not really true, because a beginner wont be able to beat high stakes games, and you dont need a million dollars to begin in the micros
But you are right, we stay many hours to earn few dollars.
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fundiver199
Legend
Loyaler
I understand, that in some countries 100$ is quite a lot of money, but in other countries its really not. More importantly with proper bankroll management nobody should toss that away in just a few hours. Its 50 BIs for 2NL, and even a losing player can play a lot before having lost 50 BIs. With a -10 BB / 100 winrate its 50.000 hands, which is almost 1.000 hours of playing time at a regular table.
Of course its possible to lose more than 10 BB /100. But if someone is that bad, it makes no sense to ask about a bankroll. The idea of a bankroll is, that you think, you might be a winning player or can quickly become a winning player, and then you want to have enough to overcome any short term bad luck. If this is not, what someone think, then they need to make a budget rather than thinking about a bankroll.
But how are they ever going to learn, if they dont try? If someone really think, they cant beat 2NL or quickly learn to do it, then they should go to the play money tables and practice there. Or even play freerolls, although I personally consider these to be poor practice.
Rost
Visionary
100 dollars. I'm sure that's enough to get you started. And I am also deeply convinced that every player can and should create this bankroll of 100 dollars by playing in freerolls.
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fundiver199
Legend
Loyaler
I kind of disagree with this and would like to ask why? If its just a question about earning 100 bucks, then there are much faster ways to do that. In many countries you can work 10 hours in McDonalds or a similar low skilled job, and then you have your starting bankroll for poker. If by contrast you play freerolls, you are realistically looking at houndreds of hours to earn the same amount of money.
You can argue, that freerolls gives practice, which you can use to do better, when you start playing real money games. This is true, but you can also get that practice on play money tables. These run all the time, so you dont need to sit and wait for the freeroll to begin. And if you get stacked, you can just buy in again and continue playing, as long as you want to.
Play money games will have a different dynamic than real money games. But this is also true for freerolls. Especially if you want to be a cash game player, because freerolls are of course tournaments. Some freerolls also have a very fast structure (hyperturbo), where you wont learn much else than going all-in preflop.
So all in all I am unconvinced, that freerolls are a great way to learn poker. What I would suggest to most people instead is to begin on play money tables, until they have learned the basics like hand rankings and reading boards. Like for instance being able to see, when a straight is possible, so that a set is not the nuts. Or understanding, that a full house is possible on a paired board, so an A high flush is not the nuts. Or when their hand is counterfeited.
And after that for me the best place to practice is 2NL cash tables. The reason I prefer cash games is, that you only need to focus on playing your hand as well as possible. There are no additional elements like understanding ICM in different situations, or knowing a 5BB shoving range.
Cash games are more difficult in the sense, that you typically play with a deeper stack like 100 BB. But this is exactly, why they are good for learning things like how to play the late streets, and when you need to fold a hand like top pair or an overpair. Which are skills even a tournament player need to have, if or when they move to MTTs.
dreamer13
Legend
What you can control is your own bankroll so that you are always ready for difficult periods in poker. The rules of tournament bankroll management (bankroll management, BRM) say that you need to have 100-200 buy-ins per limit in your account. Let's say you're playing an MTT with an average buy-in of $5. You must have at least $500 in your account, and preferably $1,000. Then local failures will not harm your bankroll.Let's say a few sessions go wrong and you lose $200. The first desire is to play a more expensive tournament to win back. This is a very dangerous strategy that has ruined many players. With an $800 bankroll, you can comfortably continue playing your limits. If you lose more, you need to start playing cheaper, not more expensive, in order to reduce the chance of ruin.