You’re probably over or under-rolled and don’t even know it

One of the most asked questions in poker has to do with bankroll requirements, and while most experienced players feel there is a fairly straightforward method to determining your bankroll needs this is not always the case. In this article I’ll give you two examples and explain why one of these players is over-rolled and the other is under-rolled.

Example #1: John

John is a married father of two, with a house, a 9-5 job, and the whole nine-yards. John and his wife do well for themselves, they have a savings account, have started saving for their kids college, and take two vacations a year. John also dabbles in poker, playing in a regular home game once a week, and getting to the casino four or five times a month. John’s goal is to make some extra money at the tables to have a better vacation, buy some Christmas presents, and so on.

John has a poker bankroll of $2,500. His home game is a $50 tournament usually followed by a second tournament or a cash game with a $50-$100 buy-in. When he goes to the casino John plays the $120 Sit & Go’s or plays in a $1/$2 NLHE game.

Example #2: Kevin

Kevin is an online grinder who plays poker to pay the bills. He multi-tables $100 NLHE games and makes an average of $4,000/month in profit. Since he’s single Kevin can go without when he needs to and his minimum monthly nut is $2,000, but usually around $3,000. Kevin’s bankroll is well over 100-buy-ins, $12,000.

Who is under-rolled, John or Kevin?

Seems pretty straightforward right? It’s just a matter of time before John is felted and Kevin is doing things the right way. But what if I told you that Kevin is grossly under-rolled and John is actually over-rolled! Here is why.

John really doesn’t need a bankroll, considering his poker goals and his outside income. There will never be a week where he can’t afford to hit the ATM to play in his home game, and even a casino trip can be funded from his bank account or credit card if need be. Even if this isn’t possible, and he’s on a strict budget, missing a few weeks at the casino to piece together a couple of buy-ins isn’t going to impact John’s life in the long-run.

Kevin on the other hand is playing a dangerous game. Let’s suppose that he has a two month stretch where he makes only $1,000 and then -$1,000 (not unheard of results). Two break even months doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when you are paying $2,000/month to live it severely dents his bankroll. Kevin’s comfortable $12,000 bankroll would take a $4,000 hit from this two month stretch, and he’s suddenly down to $8,000 – and that’s assuming he goes from his normal lifestyle down to his minimum monthly nut.

If Kevin has another bad month, doesn’t change his lifestyle fast enough, or gets hit with some random expense, he could find himself in dire straits, needing to move down to make sure he doesn’t go busto.

The problem is, if Kevin moves down so does his win-rate. Kevin may never again have the bankroll to move back-up to the $100 NLHE games since his winnings at NLHE $50 will barely cover his minimum monthly nut! In order for Kevin to rebuild his bankroll he would have to rely on an incredible run, and if another mediocre to bad run hits he may be out of poker.

So even though one player is doing precisely “what the book says” in terms of bankroll, and another player is living fast and dangerous with being felted, their circumstances say that it’s in fact the opposite. So don’t just look at the basics when it comes to bankroll requirements, make sure you are looking at all the variables.