Bankroll Management: How Are You Winning the Long Game?

[Rahul P Gopal]

Ever find yourself crushing the tables one week, only to wonder where your bankroll went the next? Whether you're just starting out or grinding like a pro, managing your poker bankroll is one of the biggest puzzles—and often the reason players succeed (or bust out early!).

From my time at the tables, I’ve learned that smart bankroll strategies can make or break you, no matter your skill level. Here are some pointers that have saved me, plus a few pro tips that keep the best players thriving:

- **Set clear limits:** Decide how much of your total bankroll to risk in a single session—many pros never risk more than 1–5% on any one buy-in.

- **Stick to proper stakes:** Playing within your means means you’ll survive the inevitable upswings and downswings.

- **Separate poker funds:** Treat poker money as a business budget, not as entertainment cash.

- **Track every session:** Record wins, losses, and game formats to spot leaks and improve discipline.

- **Avoid moving up too quickly:** Only climb stakes after you’ve consistently beaten your current games, not because you’re tilted or chasing losses.

- **Set loss limits & walk away:** Decide before playing how much you’re willing to lose—when you hit that, step back and regroup.

- **Don’t gamble with scared money:** Playing with money you need for bills or emergencies creates bad decisions and unnecessary stress.

- **Regularly review goals:** Revisit your progress and goals monthly to adjust plans and stay focused.

- **Learn from downswings:** Don’t panic—use losing streaks to analyze and refocus rather than chase losses.

- **Take shots, but responsibly:** Try higher stakes only with a dedicated ‘shot-taking’ bankroll, not your whole roll.

Questions for the community:

- Have you ever gone broke, and what lesson did you learn?
- What’s the best bankroll tip you’ve picked up from pros or forums?
- How do you handle the temptation to play above your bankroll after a big win or during a losing streak?
- Any “must-have” bankroll tracking tools or Apps you’d recommend?
- Are you following a written bankroll plan, or just winging it?

Let’s hear your war stories and wisdom—what’s worked, what’s hurt, and how are you planning your *long-term poker survival*?

 

[fundiver199]

- **Set clear limits:** Decide how much of your total bankroll to risk in a single session—many pros never risk more than 1–5% on any one buy-in.

This is misleading in my opinion. Many pros dont even spend 1% of their total bankroll on an MTT, and if you spend as much as 5% on even a STT, then you are way above anything, than can be considered reasonable bankroll management. Of course its fine to spend 5% of your poker balance on a tournament, if you are playing mostly for fun, but you should expect to reload your account sooner or later, and then you are not really engaging in bankroll management, which is the title of the thread.

- **Stick to proper stakes:** Playing within your means means you’ll survive the inevitable upswings and downswings.

Seems like just another word for bankroll management?

- **Separate poker funds:** Treat poker money as a business budget, not as entertainment cash.

Well thats pretty obvious, if you are playing for profit. And if not you dont need a bankroll.

- **Track every session:** Record wins, losses, and game formats to spot leaks and improve discipline.

This is actually bad advice in my opinion. Most people are already to focused on meaningless short term variance, so a better advice is to only check your results once a week. Reviewing hands is something else of course.

- **Avoid moving up too quickly:** Only climb stakes after you’ve consistently beaten your current games, not because you’re tilted or chasing losses.

Thats an obvious one.

- **Set loss limits & walk away:** Decide before playing how much you’re willing to lose—when you hit that, step back and regroup.

Stop-loss can be a helpfull strategy for new players. But if you are more experienced, it should only matter, if games are good, and you are playing well. Which can be difficult after running bad for an extended period of time, but then the reason for stopping should be, that you recognize the signs of tilt, not how much you are down.

- **Don’t gamble with scared money:** Playing with money you need for bills or emergencies creates bad decisions and unnecessary stress.

Thats another very obvious one. If money are needed for other purposes, then per definition it can not be part of a poker bankroll. This is also true, if its sitting in a poker account, but you already know, you will need to withdraw it.

- **Regularly review goals:** Revisit your progress and goals monthly to adjust plans and stay focused.

- **Learn from downswings:** Don’t panic—use losing streaks to analyze and refocus rather than chase losses.

- **Take shots, but responsibly:** Try higher stakes only with a dedicated ‘shot-taking’ bankroll, not your whole roll.

3 reasonable points, that I agree with.

- Have you ever gone broke, and what lesson did you learn?

No.

- What’s the best bankroll tip you’ve picked up from pros or forums?

A link to Primedopes variance calculators, which allowed me to get a much deeper understanding of variance in poker.

- How do you handle the temptation to play above your bankroll after a big win or during a losing streak?

I dont have that temptation.

- Any “must-have” bankroll tracking tools or apps you’d recommend?

PokerTracker4.

- Are you following a written bankroll plan, or just winging it?

I generally follow the principle of always having at least the following amount of money for any game I want to play:

* Cash game 30 BI
* STT 50 BI
* MTT 100 BI

Of course I take an occational shot like everyone else especially in MTTs.

 

[Rahul P Gopal]

This is misleading in my opinion. Many pros dont even spend 1% of their total bankroll on an MTT, and if you spend as much as 5% on even a STT, then you are way above anything, than can be considered reasonable bankroll management. Of course its fine to spend 5% of your poker balance on a tournament, if you are playing mostly for fun, but you should expect to reload your account sooner or later, and then you are not really engaging in bankroll management, which is the title of the thread.

Seems like just another word for bankroll management?

Well thats pretty obvious, if you are playing for profit. And if not you dont need a bankroll.

This is actually bad advice in my opinion. Most people are already to focused on meaningless short term variance, so a better advice is to only check your results once a week. Reviewing hands is something else of course.

Thats an obvious one.

Stop-loss can be a helpfull strategy for new players. But if you are more experienced, it should only matter, if games are good, and you are playing well. Which can be difficult after running bad for an extended period of time, but then the reason for stopping should be, that you recognize the signs of tilt, not how much you are down.

Thats another very obvious one. If money are needed for other purposes, then per definition it can not be part of a poker bankroll. This is also true, if its sitting in a poker account, but you already know, you will need to withdraw it.

3 reasonable points, that I agree with.

No.

A link to Primedopes variance calculators, which allowed me to get a much deeper understanding of variance in poker.

I dont have that temptation.

PokerTracker4.

I generally follow the principle of always having at least the following amount of money for any game I want to play:

* Cash game 30 BI
* STT 50 BI
* MTT 100 BI

Of course I take an occational shot like everyone else especially in MTTs.

I must confess the points I had mentioned earlier was for absolute beginners not just to the game but also to bankroll management. You seem to someone with commendable knowledge and I am humbled to learn from your valuable notes above. Thanks