The key to building a bankroll in poker is moderation. These days in poker a person can literally start from zero and make hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’m not saying you’ll win that much or anything at all to be honest but if you would like to give it a try here is how to do it. If your starting from zero obviously you need to find a free online poker site with some freerolls.
My first tip would be to avoid the huge sites where the freerolls can take as many twenty thousand players at one time. Chances are that the payout at the end will be pretty big, but the chances of getting there are very unlikely. Place top 1% to win a ticket to this, for a shot at that. After placement in top 1% two or even 3 times in a row is how you make money.
Hitting the big tables is where many players fail. Search for a site which is smaller and doesn’t have more than 200 people in the freerolls. You may not win a trip to Vegas but this will start you on your way. Winning anywhere from 10c to $5 or $10 is not uncommon and a few placements like this is all you need to be on your way. Once you have something you feel you can play with you need to know how to manage your bankroll so you don’t lose all of your hard earned money in a single tournament.
The common way to do this is said to be using 1/20th of your bankroll for NL cash games. You want to have at least 300 big blinds in limit cash games so if the big blind is 5c you should have at least $15 before you sit. If you prefer SnG tournaments with 6-10 people you should use only 1/40th of your bankroll and about 1/100th for large tournaments.
It is wise to play with your bankroll wisely, as every player will have highs and lows when playing. Managing your bankroll accounts for you losing for awhile without needing to worry about going broke. Obviously, if you can fund more games after you have lost your whole bankroll then these tips do not apply to you, but its always wise to keep an eye on it no matter how much money you may have. If you, like most of us, need to build from a very low starting base then free online poker sites are ideal and will get you rolling.
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February 17, 2010
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