Bankroll management

At poker, there are often sums of money involved. This means you will either pay an entry fee or bet money directly in each hand.

The role of chips is to represent this money to simplify the game. Of course, you are free to play with chips without having any money at stake.

If you play regularly and for real money, it’s important to maintain a level of discipline to keep enjoying the game without putting yourself at financial risk.

This discipline is called bankroll management. Your bankroll is the financial capital you allocate for poker.

Depending on the format of the game, you must keep in mind that your bet should never exceed a small percentage of your bankroll.

• In Tournaments:

The buy-in (entry fee) should be at most 1% of your bankroll. If you have a bankroll of €1,000, you can enter tournaments with a €10 buy-in.

• In Cash Games:

Your bankroll should be 10,000 times the value of the big blind in the games you play. If your bankroll is €10,000, you can play games where the big blind is €1. The standard is to enter a cash game with a stack of 100 blinds, which would be €100 in our example, equating to 1% of your bankroll.

Note that the faster the game formats, and thus more subject to luck, the smaller the proportion of your bankroll should be invested. For example, players of Spin & Go jackpot formats are often advised to have 150 to 200 times the buy-in amount as their bankroll.