Pro Poker Bankroll

The numbers in the “Pro” column are for players who derive the majority of their income playing, and would be devastated financially if they lost their bankroll to a bad run of cards. Using these figures will yield a less than 1% chance of going broke over the course of a lifetime of play assuming that you are a solid winning player.

• Pro
• Limit Hold’em – 550 Big Bets
• NL Holdem – 45 Buy Ins
• SNG – 65 Entries
• MTT – 200 Entries

Protected Poker Bankroll

The numbers in the “Protected” column are for a bankroll that you are going to attempt to make a serious income from. If your bankroll will be tough to replace if you lose most of it then you should use these numbers as a starting point.

• Protected
• Limit Hold’em – 400 Big Bets
• NL Holdem – 25 Buy Ins
• SNG – 45 Entries
• MTT – 100 Entries

Unprotected Poker Bankroll

The “Unprotected” column is for people who are willing to play a little looser in an attempt to build a bankroll, and for those of you who could easily replace your bankroll if you were to lose it. Keep in mind that using these figures does yield a significant possibility of going broke or having to drop down levels if you get off to a rough start. An average winning player (if there is such a thing) would have a less than 10% chance of going broke if they use the unprotected number and don’t remove any money from their bankroll until it is built up to a safer level. If you use the unprotected column as a long term guide, and pull money out any time you get significantly above that number, you will almost certainly go broke at some point.

• Unprotected
• Limit Hold’em – 200 Big Bets
• NL Holdem – 15 Buy Ins
• SNG – 20 Entries
• MTT – 40 Entries

Rolling Poker Bankroll

A rolling bankroll is my own personal favorite. Pick a number that is when you will move up to the next level – we’ll call it your ceiling – and a number at which you will have to move down a level because of a losing streak – we’ll call that your floor. When you hit your ceiling you can move up a level, and when you hit your floor you must move down. Failing to move down immediately when you hit your floor is very risky; don’t do it.
As an example If you are 1/2 player and using 350 big bets ($700) as your floor then you might want to play until you have 450 big bets at the next level (2/4) before you move up in case you hit a losing streak right away at your new level. 450 big bets at 2/4 is $1,800 so that would be your ceiling at 1/2. Once you move up levels to 2/4 your new floor would be 350 x $4 or $1,400.