Multi-table tournament bankroll

[Kevin J]

How many time the buy-in should a decent multi-table tournament player have for a bankroll to play no-limit multiple table tournaments as they are structured online? 200 times the buy-in? 300? I have no idea. Sorry if this has been asked before (I'm sure it has). I couldn't find anything on it, but I admit I didn't look very hard.

[pshreck]

I am by no means an expert on proper bankrolls, but from playing mostly MTT's these past 2 months I'd say those numbers are high.... unless you are learning and/or dont think you will have success.

I play primarily 25-50 dollar buy in MTT's (sometimes even multi table if they are going on at the same time), and occasionally 100 buy ins, and I'd have to say if you have a negative 5000 dollar swing (or higher) there may be some serious flaws in your game. My bankroll is a combination of what I have online... and my actual bank account. I think I would have to play awful poker for a full year to downswing 200 entry fees.

I would go out on a limb and say 50-75 buy ins should be ok.... this is assuming the standard 10% (avg) of the field get payouts. It also assumes that your game is already at a level that you are confident that you are better than a large size of the fields you are playing against.

If I were to be playing the party supers (as opposed to 25 dollar buy ins), I may in fact want 200 buy ins as Im not so sure I would be better than the players in these fields.

So... Id say it depends a lot on what size buy ins you are aiming at (i.e. skill of opponents) and your perceived advantage.

[DesertCat]

My guess is that you can estimate your risk of ruin at various bankroll sizes by taking your win percentage, and standard deviation.

My stat maths sucks, but lets say you play 100 person tournaments for $1k each and are an average player. Tournaments pay ten places, and the rake is 5%. So 1/10 times you make the final table, and cash in an average of $9,500. If you expect to average nine buyins between cashes, you'll need at least that. But in reality, that's way too simplistic since sometimes you go twenty or thirty times without cashing, and sometimes when you cash it will be ninth or tenth place.

Using your std. deviation (or a good estimate of it) will give you a more precise estimate of your longest likely "dry spells", combine that with modeling your likely table finishes (are you good at short-handed play, or do you tend to get knocked out early when you make the final table?) and you should be able to come up with a reasonable bankroll estimate. When you get that, add 50% for safety, because these are all imprecise estimates.