How Much Do You Really Need for Bankroll...

P-Hound

300bb's or 500bb's,
just wondering if I show go the 500bb route or 300bb for my bankroll. Mason Malmuth, says 300, i hear other say five...any thoughts?, I'm generally a lower varience player, mostly just break even at the best of times. this would be for an online bankroll.

Thanks,

P.

pkrfce9

300 should be good if you are not too crazy. I've heard others moving up in limits with much smaller multiples (maybe 100) but moving back down if they dropped below 75.

You should definitely be consistently profitable at one level (and comfortable with the bankroll swings) before you move up a level. If you are not profitable, take a bit of your bankroll and invest it in one of the good books mentioned in the forum. Spend a few weeks learning and trying out your new knowledge and that should help immensely.

Good luck!

the_main

i think 300 is fine, as long as youre being honest with yourself about your success

Chugs

I think 300 is a fine level. I try to play within my bankroll, and sometimes play limits above 300BB, but i think that's also an issue of comfort with your play. If i'm on a streak that is decimating my bankroll, i'll move down and try to figure out if i have something glaring with my play (usually not hard to find, since my play is usually god awful)

Zithal

I used to move up when I hit $150 x the new big blind. For example, I'd play $0.50/$1.00 until I hit $150, then I'd jump to $1/$2. Once I hit $300, I'd move to $2/$4

The challenging part of any system you create that moves you up in levels is that you get used to a certain level and it's mentally hard to move down. For example, for a good 3 months, I was playing 1/2 and took a couple days of really bad beats (and bad plays on my part) which forcecd me back down into $0.50/$1. I then proceeded to lose more after the switch, because I couldn't take the old limits seriously enough.

I took a break for a week/week and a half and was able to re-adjust after not playing for a bit. Going up in levels also offers it's own challenges as it seems as if your roll is swinging more wildly than it used to.

To help with the adjustment, I've tweaked my system a bit to add a second table before jumping up to the new level. The pot sizes are the same as the old level, but bankroll-wise I'm effectively playing at the new levels.