Bankroll Management

There are many factors to take into account when discussing bankroll management. Bankroll management for a professional, a student and someone who just wants a bit of fun is entirely different. A professional who relies on poker as their main source of income will want to protect their bankroll much more than someone who is playing for fun. Other things you might want to take into account is how much you can afford to lose, your playing style, your skill level, the type of game that you play.

So rough guidelines here are as follows: Assuming you always buy in max.(max buyin being 100BB)

NL Holdem Cash Games
Stakes ----Professional(45buyins) ---Standard(20buyins)
1/2c -----------$ 90 ----------------------$ 40
2/4c -----------$ 180 ---------------------$ 80
5/10c ----------$ 450 --------------------- $ 200
10/25c ---------$ 1125 --------------------$ 500
25/50c ---------$ 2250--------------------$ 1000
50c/$1 ---------$ 4500--------------------$ 2000
$1/$2 -----------$ 9000 -------------------$ 4000
$2/$4 -----------$ 18000------------------$ 8000
$5/$10 ----------$ 45000 -----------------$ 20000

For sitngos you want to follow more or less the same structure. With 45 buy ins if you play professionally and 20 buyins as standard. Anything less than 20 buy ins is unprotected and subject to high variance.

As for Multitable tournaments, You don't want to enter for more than 2% of your bankroll. As tournaments can have high variance, you might not place in a lot of tournaments but win one ocassionally etc.

Your Style of Play

This is an important factor you must consider when you want to manage your bankroll, do you play tight or loose, passive or aggressive? People who play tight aggressive will have less variance than those who play loose aggressive. This is because they have a tighter selection of hands that they play in various positions. Whereas, loose aggressive players may play hands that have negative EV but because of their reading skills, they can make it profitable. Loose aggressive players are subject to much more variance and their bankroll may fluctuate sporadically. If you are a loose player you may want to have more buyins than if you were a tight player.

Your Skill Level

How good are you at reading your opponents? Do you play hit or fold poker? Do you have the ability to play well post-flop? How many games have you played and at what levels? The more skilled the player, the less variance he will experience. He will also be able to make negative EV hands profitable. He will know when to bluff a dry board, wet board. He will know how to maximise his earnings when he hits a set or has a big hand. He can outplay his opponents in marginal situations. He is aware of his table image, the players around him and complex strategies. He can adjust his play according to the table and exploit players weaker than him. A lot of beginners will bust themselves, not because of poor bankroll management, but purely because they lack the skill to play poker. The more you educate yourself, the less variance you will experience.

Do you play heads up, 6 handed or 9 handed games?

A player who plays 6 handed games is subject to more variance purely because, the games are more aggressive and the blinds come around much quicker. Thus forcing you to play more hands and make more decisions, post flop. For a beginner, 6 handed games can be quite difficult as you never know if you're ahead or not. However, for the skilled or experienced player, they will be able to detect certain lines and betting patterns which can help their post flop decisions. Very often in 6 handed games, players will be 3 betting preflop. This means that in most hands, there will be very little limping which makes it even more pricey when compared to full ring games. Players who play full ring games, have the luxury of picking their hands and limping in more.
The greatest variance would be heads up play, this would really require alot of skill in reading and assessing your opponents.

When do you Move up?

Basically when you're bankroll allows you to. However you may just consider crushing the level you're at for a while to compensate for the loss in ROI( return on investment) when you move up. As you move up, you go into somewhat unknown territory, players will be more skilled at this level than the last and there will be different lines that you won't know about until you play over 20k hands. The other players may be more skilled than you too. You might want to consider having more buy ins to compensate for this temporary set back.

Can you afford to lose?

This is a very simple question, can you afford to lose your bankroll? Are you playing with scared money? If you are, I'd rather you didn't play at all. If you are playing with scared money, you're less likely to make bold moves and play bigger pots. If you don't like playing bigger pots, move down. If you can afford to lose and your goal is just to double up, then maybe bankroll management isn't for you. But for the serious player who wishes to make a living out of poker, Bankroll management is key to not going bust.

High Limit Games

When playing $5/$10 upwards, I would advise that you have at least 45 buy ins. The skill level differs so much, table to table and the variance is much greater as players are more knowledgeable and less readable.