Bankroll

[embersonfire]

I'm sure this has been answered here a ton of times before, but when I searched the threads I could only find limit answers.

How do you go about calculating your bankroll for NL cash games?

Say I want to play 25c/50c, how much capital do I need?

Cheers people, sorry if this is repeating a daily question!

embers

[Dov]

The following is the generally accepted guideline on these forums. There are times to adopt other policies, but this is the beginner's version.

Assuming you are a winning player you need about 300x the BB for limit and between 10 and 20 buy ins for NL. Do not buy in short to a NL table as this will put you at an immediate disadvantage.

Please note that if you are not a winning player, no bankroll will be large enough as you will lose indefinitely.

By the way, you will notice on the left hand side that one of the forums is designated for beginners. Whenever you have a question that you think everyone here already knows, try there first.

Good Luck

Welcome to the forums.

[embersonfire]

I take it leaving yourself short is anything less than 100BB's in cash games?

Cheers once again. I have been playing mostly SNG's till now, $10+1's and $15 ones, I have been winning at those overall for about a year... Never having a swing more than 10 buyins at the very most.

[Spaded]

If you have made $1000 on limit, dont buy in at the $100NL game even though you have 10 buy ins. Don't even buy in at the $50NL. Bankroll grows faster than skill, so start at the $25NL and play 10k hands and get a good feel, then move to $50NL. Having a bankroll is no excuse to play high limit games right away.

[pzhon]

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How do you go about calculating your bankroll for NL cash games?

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Quite generally, the bankroll you need is c * SD^2 / Edge, where SD is your standard deviation, Edge is your win rate, and c is a number that depends on your personal tolerance for risk and your ability to move down if you hit a bad streak. Most people feel comfortable using a value of c from 2 to 4.

This formula applies to limit, NL, and tournaments.

[ QUOTE ]

Say I want to play 25c/50c, how much capital do I need?


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The bankroll you need depends on how much you win.

Solid winners at the NL 50 level may have a win rate of 20 big blinds/100 and a standard deviation of about 100 big blinds/100. In that case, 2 SD^2/Edge = 20000/20 = 1000 big blinds, or 10 buy-ins, $500. If you are not a solid winner, you need a larger bankroll. If you are not a winning player, you will burn through any amount eventually.

[pzhon]

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Do not buy in short to a NL table as this will put you at an immediate disadvantage.

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This is a common misconception.

Particularly for beginners and those who want to decrease their variance, it is a good idea to buy in short. It simplifies the game. While many weak players buy in short, it is not a disadvantage.

[Louie Landale]

Preable. You've been teaching your Mother to play holdem and she's played Turbo for a while. She knows it takes 3 to make a flush possible and a pair to make a full house possible, and understands Aces with a K is a lot better than Aces with a 2.

Now she's ready for her first live game, and its going to be no limit holem. What strategy would you advise?...

Back to the post. I agree, but I've never actually seen that concept before. Buying in short is excellent advise for a beginner, who can more easily determine if he's got the best hand early (play tight), but can get all in and won't have to worry about late round big bets.

Advise your Mom to buy in short, play tight, and move he chips in when she makes something good. Or you could advise he to buy in big, get some money in the pot with her obvious best pair, and then get faced with all those awkward situations where the opponent knows what you've got.

- Louie