The bankroll / bankroll management

How much chips do you need for different limits?

I did it, and most players do it. "What?", you ask. The answer is: Underestimating the influence of luck when playing Texas Holdem.

The more you play, and the better you are - the less luck will be involved long term. In short periods luck will have a much bigger chance to either boost your income or give you some bad beats which will make you leave the table without any chips left, angry and disappointed.

Because of this you have to have a big enough bankroll to play on different limits to avoid getting broke just by natural fluctuations i.e. downswings.

Basic odds calculation says that you will profit if you play favourable hands in favourable situations when the odds is to your advantage. (Starting hands, odds calculation, pre-flop play) The more times you play a hand with this condition met, the bigger is the chance that you have made a profit in total. Because of this you can also say that a player that has a plus result after 10,000 played hands maybe has just been lucky, while a player with a plus result after 100,000 hands is probably a pretty good poker player.

Please be advised that the information on fixedlimitholdem.com discusses Texas Holdem at low limit tables where we will mostly do just fine* by relying on mathematics i.e. odds calculation. Higher limits requires better understanding of your opponents ways of thinking and due to that requires more analysis from your side. The bankroll recommended for playing at at different fixed limit levels will most often be 300-500BB. (300 to 500 times the big bet at the table). It sounds quite much but it is important to follow this advice because it is not an exaggeration . Fluctuations can sometimes be very big and the bad beats way to brutal.

* = To "do just fine" doesn't mean we make BIG money, but at least we will win. 1-3BB/h in profit is what you are winning long term if you play correctly. You can only reach the upper limit if you play at very low stakes and against extremely weak opponents.

Important! Everytime your bankroll goes beyond 300BB you have to start playing lower limits!

Exemple of how big your bankroll should be to survive downswings for different levels of fixed limit Texas Holdem:

Since most beginners don't have a big bankroll they have to play at low limit tables to build up their bankroll safely. Unfortunately this will give a very low win rate per hour - Between 1 and 3 big bets an hour at the table. Because of this many players choose to play multiple tables to build their bankroll faster and to avoid getting bored. You won't need any bigger bankroll to play multiple tables but your win rate per hour will hopefully increase.

Read the guide: Playing multiple tables