hey all-

this past year i have been teaching my younger brothers how to play NLHE, and for as good as they are getting, the number one issue that prevents them from attaining higher games is poor bankroll management. they'll get on a heater, think they're hot shit and then play out of their BR only to get knocked way down and have to grind it up once again. it's frustrating for me to see them do this to themselves, because i think they could be playing bigger games sooner than later (skillwise). but they never wait long enough to take into account the swings, which are even worse in shorthanded games. so i created this bankroll schedule for them to try to follow and thought i would share it with everyone here as well.

Phase 1: SNGs
# Buyins Game Buyin Rake Bankroll Amt.
20 $5 SNG $5 $0.50 $110.00
20 $10 SNG $10 $1 $220
20 $20 SNG $20 $2 $440
20 $30 SNG $30 $3 $660
25 $50 SNG $50 $5 $1,100
Final SNG goal: $2,000

Phase 2: Cash Games
# Buyins Level Buyin Rake Bankroll Amt.
20 $100nl $100 varies $2,000
20 $200nl $200 varies $4,000
24 $400nl $400 varies $9,600
30 $600nl $600 varies $18,000
40 $1000nl $1,000 varies $40,000

NOTES:

- i split this into two phases for two main reasons: 1. SNGs give you a lot more poker time for your dollar than cash games do. that is, even the worst players will last longer at SNGs than comparable cash games because of the way the SNG format limits risk compared to the cash game format. by starting out w/ SNGs you'll give yourself more time to learn how to play properly with less risk. SNGs are the best way to learn and groom your game.
2. most players who rely on poker earnings as a major source of income play cash games as their major source of poker earnings. you can do what you like and play SNGs exclusively forever, but i think most players tend to gravitate towards cash games once they have a decent roll and a decent ability for the game. you can certainly continue to play SNGs, and should do so especially when you think you have an edge. but even after you're at $2k, mixing in the occasional $100 + 9 SNG will still be close to playing within your bankroll.

-when making the transition from SNG to cash games, you can choose to get into cash games once you reach the $1100 mark where you'd be moving up to $50 SNGs, but you have to play $50nl to start out in that case. 20 buyins would be my recommendation for that level as well. if you're itching to get into cash games, then 50nl might be ok for you to start. however, i would wait until you hit $2k as a way to prove to yourself that you can always move back to grinding SNGs if you ever need to take your bankroll out for emergency reasons.

-multitabling can put additional pressure on your BR buyin numbers. take that into consideration, but it's something you have to find for yourself in your own comfort zone. this schedule should be fine for up to 2 tables at a time. if you're at 4 tables, you may consider adding 20% to your overall buyins for your given level. if you go 8 or more, 25-30% increase might not be a bad idea. it's really up to you to decide, as long as you don't start playing weak because of over exposing/stretching yourself, it will be fine.

-once you start playing primarily cash games, if you don't get rakeback i will kill you or poker will, whichever gets their hands on you first. rakeback is even more important at low stakes cash games than it is at high stakes. this is because the ratio of rake paid : earnings is much higher than it is in high stakes cash games. at $1000nl i can make about $2k a month by playing ~1000 hands/day, or about 5% of my suggested bankroll amount for that level, meh. at that level, the real value is in playing winning poker. for $100nl, you can make about $750 a month by playing the same amount of hands, which is approximately 35% of your BR. in other words, you can play break even poker at $100nl for 3 months and move up to the next level, according to BR rules suggested here anyway (your skill might still need some work at this point, so keep that in mind before considering a move up). rakeback is probably the single most important factor in building a roll from low limit to a high limit capacity, aside from not sucking.

-BR management isn't only about moving up, it's also about moving down. let's say you make it to the $200nl games after a lot of hard work, then hit a cooler run of awful cards. if you're relatively new to poker, i would suggest that as soon as you drop below that $4000 mark, you step back down to $100nl. yes that is almost 40 buyins, but if you have never been through a swing before, it's one of the easiest ways you can tilt your entire roll off. if you have been playing or awhile or don't need the money as badly (i.e. poker money is just for entertainment), you could keep trying $200nl. but for the love of god, once you hit that next level's minimum you absolutely HAVE to move back down. i'll give you some leeway here as to when you decide to move back down to $100nl anywhere between $2000 and $4000 range endpoints, but i won't budge on that bottom line. some of you might have seen some of my downswing graphs on other posts before as examples of this, but its not unheard of to lose 10-15 buyins in a stretch before things start to look up again. i have experience several of these at this point in my poker career and the best way to combat them is taking a step back. if you play $200nl w/ only $2000 you expose yourself to potentially losing your entire roll just due to a small run of bad cards/situations.

-this is not the end all be all of bankroll management advice. as you move up in stakes and BR levels, it becomes more complex than what i could attempt to address in a single post. additionally, you have to consider your risk tolerance in a general way and make adjustments, too. you might want to add 10 buyins to every level, but i think the above table is a good basis for minimum amounts. but that is up for you to decide, all i'm doing here is providing you with a way that prevents you from losing everything because of short term variance or tilt. when you start thinking of reasons why this schedule is good or not good, that is when you can start modifying it to fit your own needs. but until you can come up w/ those ideas, through experience at the tables, strengthened by solid reasoning, stick to these rules.