Building A Bankroll From Scratch Online - Make Money Playing Poker

In my last article I talked about the importance of a Poker Bankroll to make money playing poker. Now every bankroll has to start somewhere, and I realize that not everyone wants to immediately throw a large amount of money into something where they might risk losing it.

Many people are obsessed with making money playing poker online completely for free - that is without any initial investment. For these people the obvious answer is to build a bankroll from scratch, and that is only possible by playing online poker and gradually working your way up the limits. It is important to follow these guidelines and not play above your bankroll at any time while doing this. By developing a bankroll from scratch using these methods, you will also cultivate proper methods in keeping a separate poker bankroll.

Level 1 - $0.00-$5.00

At this level the only thing that you can really play in are freeroll tournaments. Freeroll tournaments are offered by most online poker sites and allow you to win a small amount (ranging from a few cents to a few dollars) by grinding your way through a usually large crowd of competition.

I will cover specific freeroll tournament strategy in my next article.

Level 2 - $5.00-$20.00

At this level you can begin to play in low buy-in ($0.50-$0.60) Single Table Tournaments (also known as STT's or Sit 'N Go Tournaments) and micro-limit ($0.01/$0.02) cash poker games. Keep in mind that you don't want to play in no limit cash games yet, only limit games.

Your bankroll really isn't even big enough to be able to reliably make money yet at this point so don't be surprised if you run into a swing of bad luck and find yourself at $0 again. Don't give up! Grind freerolls again for a while and get back on track! If anything you'll have gotten better at the game for the experience.

Level 3 - $20.00-$50.00

At this level you may start buying in to slightly higher buy-in Sit 'n Go tournaments ($1.00-$2.50 or so). You may want to wait until $30 or $40 before you start buying in to $2.50 buy-in tournaments however.

Level 4 - $50.00-$100

By this point you're really starting to get the hang of things and should have a solid grasp of the game. You should continue playing in the same STT's and may even move up to the no limit micro-limit games. It is also possible to buy into low buy-in ($1.00 or so) multi table tournaments (MTT's) now, though it shouldn't be done often. Good luck!

Level 5 - $100-$500

From here on out you can play in micro-limit no limit cash games and at around $300 you can also start buying into the $5-7 buy-in STT's. Most of your money here will probably be milked from the awful players you can find at the $0.05/$0.10 and $0.10/$0.25 micro-blind no limit cash games, though STT's are also a viable source of income. You may start to play in multi-table tournaments with a higher buy-in or $3-5, though you still shouldn't do so very often.

Level 6 - $500-$1,000

From here on out you just gradually move up the limits. You can play in $0.50/$1.00 limit games as well as $0.25/$0.50 no limit cash games. You can buy in to STT's with a buy-in as large at $10.

That's pretty much it. Once your bankroll gets large enough, just continue moving up the limits very gradually.

Some people would be tempted to go and play $15/$30 limit hold 'em or sit down with $100 at a $1/$2 no limit cash game. Don't be one of those fools, and don't overextend your bankroll. The most frustrating part of building a bankroll from scratch is at the beginning, when you need to play in freerolls and can get subjected to a lot of bad luck and bad beats. It may take a month or even two to get that first crucial $5 in your account, but once you do it's well worth it.

Always keep in mind, the #1 reason that people consistently fail to make money playing poker is because they play at higher limits than their bankroll can handle. Play poker for the long haul. Play poker like a pro.

The Importance of a Bankroll - Make Money Playing Poker

If you want to get serious about making money playing poker, then the first crucial step is building a bankroll.

A poker bankroll is a special amount of money that you set aside for poker alone. For limit games, this amount should be around 200-300 times the amount of the big bet, so for your standard $1-2 limit hold 'em game, your bankroll should be around $400-600. The cash swings in no limit hold 'em and tournament games are much higher, so a larger bankroll is required for those. I recommend at least 100 times your tournament buy-in or the buy-in for the no limit game, so if you're playing a $1-2 no limit game with a max buy-in of $100 (or buying in to $100 tournaments), you should have a poker bankroll of around $10,000. I personally keep a bankroll of $10,000 for no limit buy-ins, $100 tournament buy-ins and limit Omaha HiLo, one of my personal favorites.

Without a bankroll, making money consistently playing poker is very difficult and highly luck based. You need enough of a cushion to take big hits. My first mistake when I started playing poker was that I started with a $2,000 bankroll and immediately started out with $100 buy-ins to no limit hold 'em games. I did well for a few months and grinded it up to $3,500, but then started spending it back down to $2,000. I don't know about effective bankroll management! I figured that as long as I kept a few thousand dollars in my bank account, I'd always have enough money to play because I'd always make money in the long run, right?

Then I had a few losing months and soon found my bankroll at $600. This wasn't a proper bankroll - it was simply my bank account - and at the time I was taking my first shot at making a living playing poker. I was forced to spend the $600 on my rent, had no money left to play poker and had to venture back into the working world to fund my bankroll again.

I made two huge mistakes when I first started trying to make a living playing poker.

First of all, I was playing games that were simply too big for my bankroll. I figured that 20 buy-ins would be enough, but it simply wasn't. I'd go all in with a set, only to have someone call and hit a higher set on the river. I'd flop a nut straight and have someone hit a back door flush. Luck can be a cruel mistress, and I highly underestimated just how 'long' the 'long run' is. Poker evens out over the long run if you play your odds, yes. Unfortunately, that long run can at times be months or even years.

Secondly, I didn't have a dedicated poker bankroll. I had a certain amount of money in my bank account, and I was living off of my winnings. The importance of a dedicated poker bankroll must not ever be underestimated! Do not use money in your bank account for poker! Do not pull money out of your poker bankroll!

Remember, your poker bankroll is sacred and should be treated as such. You should only ever pull money out of your poker bankroll when it rises far above the amount needed for the limits that you're playing at. I now maintain a $10,000 bankroll for my 100 buy-ins. I find that double your normal bankroll is a good amount to allow yourself to pull cash 'off the top' if you need or want it. I only pull money out of my poker bankroll when it is over $20,000 - which it consistently has been for the last 2 years.