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Poker Tournament Bankrolls
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If you want to become a tournament poker player the most important factor is undoubtedly the size of your bankroll. Poker is a game of contrasting swings of fortune, and poker tournaments even more so. When you're running cold you will need cash reserves.
Many poker tournaments are decided on 50/50 plays or at best 60/40 plays in your favor. Even so, you will be knocked out many times in these situations and once you lose an all-in race you are eliminated from that tournament. It's so obvious as to be axiomatic but it is worth reading over once again. In cash games you can rebuy. In cash games against weak players you can stand up for an hour, refuel with cash and food, and come back to fight another battle. In tournament poker you have to go home when fortune fails to smile upon you.
Poker tournaments are streaky affairs. The pros understand this and they prepare their bankroll accordingly. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson estimates that you should have 100 times the buy-in, at a bare minimum, as your bankroll before embarking on a poker tournament. So, if you're going to play in a poker event where the buy-in is $100, you should have $10,000 in your poker bankroll.
Frankly that number seems excessive to us at the Insider, unless you're only going to focus on multi-table tournaments. If, however, you are going to play single table Sit 'N Go events, which dominate the online poker landscape, then you can manage to survive and thrive with a slightly smaller bankroll.
If you like to play in $20 single table tournaments our advice to you is to have $500 in your online poker room account. That's only 25x your buy-in for any one event, however, you are only competing against 9 other players (and at times you will face even fewer opponents at 5 and 6 player short-handed tournaments). You should be able to cash consistently in these events, and 25x the buy-in gives you enough leeway in case you run into a cold streak.
If you want to become a tournament pro and travel on the poker circuit you need a lot of money behind you. Playing in every major tournament alone will cost $500,000 a year, and that does not take into account your travel and living expenses. No one plays in every event, but a bankroll of half a million dollars for a year on the poker circuit seems like a conservative and accurate estimate.
Cashing in at the highest level is incredibly hard, and cashing in consistently in order to grind out a living will burn out all but the toughest players. If you play tournament poker you need to look for the maximum - play to win not to finish in the money. One big win is worth dozens of close-but-no-cigar in the money finishes. Remember this, and always play aggressively in poker tournaments, especially if you intend to do this for a living!
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> Calling All Ins With Small Pairs - The Folly!
> Online Poker Tournament Strategy - The Absent Opponent
> Evaluating Starting Hands In Tournament Poker
> The Three Stage Theory Of Online Tournament Play - Part 3
> The Three Stage Theory Of Online Tournament Play - Part 2
> The Three Stage Theory Of Online Tournament Play - Part 1
> Refining The Gap Concept For Online Tournaments
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