How to Build Your Bankroll

Posted by wynn on Apr 6, 2010 in Buy-in, Table Talk | 0 comments

People ask me all the time how to build a bankroll. I think the question with a tougher answer is how to manage your bankroll.

I think the best way to build a bankroll is to get a job and save your money.

Once you have some money saved, pick the right game for your bankroll. You don’t want to buy-in for your entire bankroll and end up broke from one bad session.

There are alot of books out there that talk about the game size relative to bankroll size. For me, having at least 10 buy-ins feels about right.

So, for a $1-$2 game with a $300 max buy-in, then a bankroll of $3000 is good.

When you grind out a couple grand so you are sitting on $5000, then it may be time to move up to the $2-$5 game with a max buy-in of $500.

The bottom line is, avoid going bust.

Let’s say you do go bust. Then what?

You could get someone to stake you in order to rebuild. I would avoid getting a stake, but it is an option.

You could also work with a partner or two from a pooled bankroll. Assuming your partners are solid players you trust, then the shared or pooled method works great. The best thing I like about the concept is spreading the risk across two or three players, instead of one.

If one of you is running bad – and you will run bad – you don’t go bust.

I personally have never worked from a shared bankroll, but I have staked quite a few players (with mixed results, I might add).