How do i make a good bankroll?

I've been playing poker for a year and now since its the new year, i decided maybe its time to have a bankroll. I'm a strictly live poker player, i dont play online. So does anyone have a suggestion on how much my bankroll should be if i played like 10-20 dollar buy in no limit cash games per week.

Also, how would i keep track of winnings and losses for this year?

Well if you've never played online it might be a good idea to get into the swing of things by playing some of the lower levels before you start 10nl... are you going to deposit or do you want to build from 0? Where are you going to play?

First buy Pokertracker 3 or Hold'em Manager. This will track your results and also help you improve your game. There's trials for both, so try them both out.

Second is BRM, there's plenty of advice around so look but i'll give you some basics.
If you are a winning player in the long run you will have losing days/weeks/months at some point. This means you need at a MINIMUM of 20 buy-ins. I mean minimum. Once you get to 25nl+ (.10/.25 cent blinds) you probably need 30-35. Many people will recommend 50 buy-ins. You will know why when you downswong.

So if you are properly bankrolled for 25nl (I assume thats where you want to play) then you will need at least $500 and preferably $750-$800.

This is a limit you can learn at. If you have the bankroll it's a decent place to learn where the money can mean something.

Good luck.

I'm not sure I understand what level you're playing at - are you playing live games with a $10 or $20 buy in (ie: 5c-10c or 10c-20c blinds) or live games with $10-$20 blinds? Or is it something else?

Either way, you want 30 or so buy ins for your regular game in your roll. Depending on what kind of live game you're in you might want more because live games are often higher variance (standard opening raises are higher, stacks get in quicker and more often, etc).

im playing at like 5/10 cent blinds so its not that big. I play no limit holdem and omaha

how would i keep track of winnings or losses? with a chart or something?

Either Holdem Maneger, Poker Tracker, or just make an excel spread sheet.

PT / HEM aren't options since we're talking about live games here (amirite OP?)

Just make a note of how much you buy in for each session, how much you leave the table with and how long the session was then plug the data into a spreadsheet. It should allow you to keep track of your bankroll as well as work out basic metrics like your bb/hr, ROI, etc.

crabby4 said:

I've been playing poker for a year and now since its the new year, i decided maybe its time to have a bankroll. I'm a strictly live poker player, i dont play online. So does anyone have a suggestion on how much my bankroll should be if i played like 10-20 dollar buy in no limit cash games per week.

Click to expand...

crabby4 said:

im playing at like 5/10 cent blinds so its not that big.

Click to expand...

Like several other people, I'm confused. Except for home games, I've never seen any live poker room spread literal nickel and dime cash games, much less 10 times a week. At the riverboats I play we call $5-$10 games nickel and dime. At higher stakes I've heard $50-$100 games called that.

Are you thinking about starting to play online? Is that the basis of your question? If so, I would start lower just to get the hang of it, as well as implement the online advice others have provided.

LarkMarlow said:

Like several other people, I'm confused. Except for home games, I've never seen any live poker room spread literal nickel and dime cash games, much less 10 times a week. At the riverboats I play we call $5-$10 games nickel and dime. At higher stakes I've heard $50-$100 games called that.

Are you thinking about starting to play online? Is that the basis of your question? If so, I would start lower just to get the hang of it, as well as implement the online advice others have provided.

Click to expand...

I think he meant $10-$20 buyins, not 10 $20 buyins a week. But still I have never seen any live games that low. I know my grandma plays nickel-dime(literally) home game with her friends every now and then, maybe that's what he's talking about...

I didnt know there were places to play 10-20 cent blinds?

OP would have to answer that himself, but it's almost certainly home games.

no its home games. im only 17 so i can't play online or at casinos just yet. When i do do either one of those, ill be sure to get the account managers or whatever. but for now, just for kicks, i want to keep track

crabby, glad we got that cleared up. Moving right along, many pros started just the way are. Phil Ivey comes to mind, just to name one. I think you're ahead of the game already with that plan, whether for kicks or not.

After each home game, take as detailed notes as you can while the action is still fresh in your mind. Beyond win/loss rate, keep a record of what worked and what didn't. Also, pay close attention to your opponents. Jot down patterns you notice about not only their play, but see if you can pick up tells.

Read everything you can about poker. CardsChat is a wonderful resource...you could spend hours here just soaking in all the knowledge and then putting that information to good use when you play.

The best news is that you have a perfect opportunity to experiment around without much monetary risk. Let us all know your progress and best of luck!

After all, poker is poker. This sort of record keeping can only help you once you're able to play legally.

For keeping track at home games I use my notebook and write down all the interesting things (winning hands, opponent styles, etc). At the start you may forget to write down somethings but you'll get the hang of it.

Its pretty handy to have sometimes during the game too, so i would recommend it.