To continue the discussion from a couple of other threads in the forum ive made this post....
It is pretty hard (and almost impossible I think) to give a CONCLUSIVE and "correct" fixed figure for a bankroll figure for NL cash games. Every single bankroll has a chance of going bust even in the hands of a winning player. A 10 million dollar bankroll has a chance of going bust in the hands of phil ivey at 50NL. Its just that the chance of that happening might be 0.000000000001%
(theres still a chance tho). A 100 dollar bankroll has a chance of going broke in the hands of your little sister playing 5/10NL as well. Its just the chance there might be slightly higher than the chance of ivey busting
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You are basically trying to balance a couple of things with your personal bankroll management. 1) Keeping the risk of going broke acceptably low to you versus 2) Making your money as profitable as possible (assuming you are a winning player then the higher you play, the more you win). There are so many factors that affect both of these things that its impossible to cover them all. For example a TAG player will experience less swings than a LAG player thus if they both run at 5ptbb/100 then the LAG will have a bigger chance of going broke w a 10k bankroll then the TAG would w the same 10k bankroll. Game selection (agaisnt what player types, shorthanded or full ring etc etc) all make a huge difference as well. Its impossible to place a precise figure on it all.
Buying in short or max obv affects the whole thing as well. That is a completely seperate discussion that I have already made my feelings clear on but this is probably the place to do it again if you want (Im a bit tired at the moment for that tho seeing as I have been playing all evening and all night!)
The one thing that most players fail to realise is just how bad a downswing can be. Almost every single poker player believes that they and they alone are the unluckiest person in the world at some point in there career. Its bullshit I am sorry. Downswings can last for years let alone months or weeks. If you think you are are unlucky because you lost 20 coinflips out of 25 then I am sorry but you have no idea, absolutely none at all. People have taken 5% outdraws for millions of dollars and WSOP championshops let alone your smushy 10,000 or whatever it is youve lost in a month. If you dont like it then go and play chess where there is no luck involved its as simple as that. Personally I have lost over 40,000 in a month playing poker (at limits no higher than 5/10NL). This was mostly due to outdraws but its just part of poker, I dont care and I am not particularly unlucky that this happened tome. Once you come to realise this truth you will also realise how big serious bankroll requirements have to be.
Of course there are the recreational players who dont really need bankroll requirements. These are the players who have wages coming in every month from other endevaours or whatever. Of course they want to win at poker and are not going to throw there money away but neither do they have to be cautious with their bankrolls. If they lose then its ok, they can still pay the bills and theres always next month. If you are one of these players then as long as you can afford to lose whatever you put on the table then feel free to play whatever stakes you want, if you win then shaweet, if you lose then theres always next month to try again and this experience to learn from. If you are one of these guys then you shouldnt worry about anything other than you if you can afford to lose the money your playing with or not
You then get the semi-serious players. These guys aint full time pros with their sole income from poker but they still want to treat it almost business like. If you are one of these people then you probably aspire to move up the limits as you progess in skill level and as your poker roll increases. You also probably hate redepositing and like to build your roll up without adding/taking from it, moving up as it allows. This kind of player knows about bankroll management and wants to exercise it properly. however they CAN afford to be a bit more carefree than someone who soley relys on poker as they can replenish their roll whereas the full time pro cannot. I would suggest for this sort of player that playing at a level where you have 20times the max buy in is a good rule of thumb. If you REALLY fancy a shot then I suppose 10 times would be barely acceptable but you must drop down again if you even lose 1 full buy in. You stand a very good chance of going broke at some point otherwise but its not the end of the world if you do.
You then finally arrive at the full time professionals. If you are one of them then your bankroll cannot be replenished from any other source. If you go truly life broke then well your poker dream is over and its find a job time
. Many of this category dont exercise proper bankroll control but if they dont they will find themselves wiped out constantly. Such are the huge swings of poker I would suggest 50 times the max buy in of whatever level you want to play would be a reasonable rule of thumb. An
ABSOLUTE minimum of 25 times would be ok provided you dropped down as soon as you hit 20 buy ins. Anyone who thinks this is too cautious does not understand the variance involved in this game, either that or they dont care and get a kick out of living life on the edge I guess (which playing poker for a living is enough of without adding in a high % chance of going broke into the equation). Personally? I dont move up until I have 100 times the max buy in for a level. I realise this is completly over cautious and probably to the extent that my money making ability is limited. But I like my life, I dont want to put it at risk. I have been hit by huge downswings before and I realise what is possible. I let out any gambling urges I have through other means where I am safe to anyway. PLaying overrolled gives you a huge sense of confidence at a level that someone taking a shot just doesnt have. I do not care about playing gigantic pots with just a draw or calling a ...TO BE FINISHED I HAVE TO GO lol