by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Aug 10, 2021 | Updated on Aug 10, 2021
People play poker for different reasons. Some play the game for fun and recreation, while others decide to make a career out of it. If you’re one of those wanting to pursue a career in poker, there are multiple factors you must put into consideration, including your bankroll, your skill level, as well as the buy-in level appropriate for you. If you fail in these aspects, you can’t expect your career to take off.
Here, we’re giving you some tips on how to properly manage your bankroll, and what stakes you should play, especially if you are just kick-starting your poker journey. But first, you must first decide on what type of poker player you’d want to be – do you want to focus on cash games, or do you prefer playing tournaments? You can also try your hand at both types of games!
Tip 1: Choosing Stakes for Cash Games
If you prefer to play cash games, the ideal bankroll requirement is that you must have a minimum of 75 or 100 buy-ins.
So for example, if you’re starting out with just $500 in your bankroll, the stake level appropriate for you is $0.50/$0.10, with $10 as the maximum buy-in. What this means is with your $500, you will now have 50 buy-ins which is a great start.
Don’t force yourself to immediately choose the higher stakes as you will end up consuming your bankroll much faster. You will not be able to play longer, resulting in missed opportunities.
Tip 2: Choosing Stakes for Tournaments
Similar to cash games, you’d also want to consider the number of buy-ins you need to have when playing tournaments. Playing multi-table tournaments requires a lot more buy-ins than playing cash games.
The typical recommendation is that you must have at least 100 buy-ins. So with a $500 bankroll, it’s wise to start playing in tournaments with a modest entry fee of $1. The idea there is to avoid losing all of your money in a single buy-in.
Skill level is also an important factor to consider. If you’re a beginner, the best thing to do is to put your skills to the test first by playing real money games. From there, you can try the micro games, and then slowly go up the stakes. Remember, the higher the stakes, the tougher the competition. So make sure you honestly assess your skill level every now and then to improve your chances of winning.
