tips for increasing your bankroll

ODRAGD3 · Saturday at 11:59 PM

During all the years I've been playing poker, whenever I win a tournament over $100, I usually withdraw $80 and keep $20 to play with, but most of the time I end up losing it. Any advice on how to overcome this?

Poison91 · Sunday at 12:49 AM

And there are no satellite farms? Everyone says playing satellites makes your game worse, but I think the opposite. Today, poker is full of recreational players, and you have to be prepared for that.

Poison91 · Sunday at 12:52 AM

Yes, winning a tournament is tough; you have to advance through the stages, but you can farm for a big tournament entry, and it never hurts to dream of winning. It's even more impressive because not only did you get through the stages, but qualifying or winning afterward shows you're good. Besides, anyone who enjoys poker never gets bored. I'd say playing satellites is like playing street chess.

john_entony · Sunday at 10:45 AM

The most obvious advice is to withdraw all your winnings and build your bankroll through freerolls. This will give you a psychological edge at the poker table. You’ll play more freely if you’re not worried about losing what you’ve earned in free tournaments.

successlaw · Sunday at 2:46 PM

I think you don't really want to build up a bankroll , because after a withdraw you play without any bankroll management

schtiuky · Sunday at 2:50 PM

having a job would be great.

bullkk · Sunday at 2:55 PM

First of all, you need to make a good deposit.

guroove · Sunday at 3:15 PM

I don't recommend withdrawing at all or at least you should keep a minimum of 200 buy-in to grind micro tournaments and try to ladder up

Pabloro10321 · Sunday at 4:38 PM

I think the best thing would be to remove everything and then, after taking some time to relax, start playing with a small amount and only in free tournaments.

10gerka · Sunday at 4:40 PM

Continue accumulating capital, play more tournaments, and withdraw 50% so you can keep playing and if you have bad streaks you won't have to deposit again. You should always manage your bankroll well.

oroochimaru · Sunday at 5:15 PM

ODRAGD3 said:
During all the years I've been playing poker, whenever I win a tournament over $100, I usually withdraw $80 and keep $20 to play with, but most of the time I end up losing it. Any advice on how to overcome this?

One thing that helped me with bankroll management was lowering my buy-in level after cashing out. If I win 100 $ and withdraw 80 $, I dont keep playing the same stakes with the remaining 20 $. I move down to smaller buy ins and treat that money like a fresh bankroll. It helps avoid chasing losses and keeps me in the game longer. Discipline with stakes is just as important as winning tournaments.

margmilo44 · Sunday at 9:30 PM

I think patience and bankroll management matter more than trying to chase huge wins. Building slowly at stakes you can actually afford makes it easier to survive bad runs without going broke. I also think freerolls and softer games help a lot when you’re trying to grow a bankroll from a smaller starting point.

Cooking · Sunday at 11:56 PM

If you always withdraw 80% of your winnings, you’ll hardly be able to move up in stakes and make more money. I choose some poker rooms where I cashout almost all my profits, and others where I reinvest almost everything.

dreamer13 · Monday at 1:02 AM

Play at cash tables and control the limit you play and your stack size.The limit and stack size should be chosen to allow you to survive as much of a downswing as possible. Therefore, if you have a small bankroll, you should choose the minimum limit you play at and also consider playing with a short stack.

cwdignus · Monday at 2:47 PM

Invest in larger tournaments, using tickets, create a series within your budget, and manage to win a percentage above 40%.

aajfilho · Monday at 3:19 PM

Play freerolls and be careful with rebuys in tournaments.

andron205 · Monday at 4:46 PM

play tournaments with up to a thousand people

RhinoRyan89 · Monday at 5:43 PM

Depending what your buy in range is i expect $20 will not be anuff to battle variance.

ODRAGD3 · Tuesday at 9:28 PM

Poison91 said:
And there are no satellite farms? Everyone says playing satellites makes your game worse, but I think the opposite. Today, poker is full of recreational players, and you have to be prepared for that.

I really like satellites! In fact, I've gotten $110 tickets a couple of times! I even managed to cash out $250 with one of those tickets! Satellites are a good option, and I quite like knockout tournaments.

TheniT · 2026-05-27T01:28:10-0400

Build your bankroll slowly by playing within your limits, improving your skills, choosing soft games, and avoiding tilt. Freerolls can also help grow a bankroll from nothing with low risk, especially for beginners willing to be patient and disciplined.

fundiver199 · 2026-05-27T01:29:06-0400

Dont withdraw winnings, unless you leave a reasonable bankroll for the games, you want to play. For MTTs that is at least 100 x your highest buyin. Taking PokerStars as an example, the most expensive of your last 8 games according to sharkscope was a $5.5 MTT, and you also played a bunch of satellites. Which mean, you should not even consider withdrawing money from PokerStars, unless you leave at a minimum $550 on the site. On PokerStars you have played 3.636 games for an average of just 0,63, which is basically a waste of time. And unless you stop withdrawing, every time you have even a small amount of money like $100 in your account, this behaviour alone will keep you trapped in the low end of the micros forever.

fundiver199 · 2026-05-27T05:41:03-0400

Here is a more comprehensive guide to becoming a profitable part-time online tournament player.

1. Pick a single site to play on, until your bankroll has reached at least a 4-digit amount. Playing a little bit here and there and everywhere with a small bankroll does not bring any benefits. Freerolls, bonuses etc. are mainly a distraction, since the goal is to become able to beat the games and win money from other players.

2. Deposit whatever you can afford as a starting bankroll on your chosen site. Should be at least $100 but no more than $500, until you are a proven winner.

3. Now you start grinding games, you are bankrolled for, which mean at least 100 x the buyin for MTTs and 50 x the buyin for STTs. You dont play satellites or Spin n Gos or other lottery style formats. You only move up, if and when your bankroll has grown to a size, that allow for this within the 100 / 50 rule. If you have a losing run, you move down.

4. While grinding you also study and try to improve. Take the free CC 30 day course. Watch other free training videos on Youtube etc. Consider investing in a tracker, if you can afford it, and your prefered site allow it. Review hands after sessions. Consider investing in ICMizer, if you play many SnGs.

5. The balance in the poker account on your preferred site is your bankroll, and you do not withdraw from this, unless it has reached a size, where its unnessesarely large for the games, you want to play. If for instance you are satisfied playing no higher than $11 MTTs, and you have $2.650 sitting in your account, then - and only then - is it ok to withdraw $1.000 and spend them for something not poker related.

6. At this point - but only now - can you consider to diversify and try other sites and/or maybe other game formats.

ODRAGD3 · 2026-05-27T12:38:58-0400

fundiver199 said:
Here is a more comprehensive guide to becoming a profitable part-time online tournament player.

1. Pick a single site to play on, until your bankroll has reached at least a 4-digit amount. Playing a little bit here and there and everywhere with a small bankroll does not bring any benefits. Freerolls, bonuses etc. are mainly a distraction, since the goal is to become able to beat the games and win money from other players.

2. Deposit whatever you can afford as a starting bankroll on your chosen site. Should be at least $100 but no more than $500, until you are a proven winner.

3. Now you start grinding games, you are bankrolled for, which mean at least 100 x the buyin for MTTs and 50 x the buyin for STTs. You dont play satellites or Spin n Gos or other lottery style formats. You only move up, if and when your bankroll has grown to a size, that allow for this within the 100 / 50 rule. If you have a losing run, you move down.

4. While grinding you also study and try to improve. Take the free CC 30 day course. Watch other free training videos on Youtube etc. Consider investing in a tracker, if you can afford it, and your prefered site allow it. Review hands after sessions. Consider investing in ICMizer, if you play many SnGs.

5. The balance in the poker account on your preferred site is your bankroll, and you do not withdraw from this, unless it has reached a size, where its unnessesarely large for the games, you want to play. If for instance you are satisfied playing no higher than $11 MTTs, and you have $2.650 sitting in your account, then - and only then - is it ok to withdraw $1.000 and spend them for something not poker related.

6. At this point - but only now - can you consider to diversify and try other sites and/or maybe other game formats.

Thank you so much for your reply! Totally reasonable. I no longer play PokerStars; now I play GGPoker because of the ease of deposits and withdrawals! I'll take your advice! I was very profitable on WPT, but they closed it for Venezuela, and now I don't know when they'll reopen it!

fundiver199 · 2026-05-28T02:31:28-0400

ODRAGD3 said:
now I play GGPoker because of the ease of deposits and withdrawals!

Ok then you are pretty much limited to MTTs, as far as tournaments go, since the Battle Royal is one of those lottery style formats, which I suggest to avoid. This is a bit of an issue, since most MTTs on GG Poker have massive fields, which drive up variance. For that reason you might want to go with 200 x your highest MTT buyin rather than 100 x for any MTT with more than say 300 entries.

Another reasonable option is to mainly play cash games, until you have a $500 bankroll. If you can beat micro stakes cash games, then you should also be able to eventually beat micro stakes MTTs with a few adjustments. For cash games (standard type with no ante or straddle) a reasonable bankroll is 30 x the full buyin, but you can take some "shots", as long as you leave 50 x the full buyin for the next lower level. So the scheme look something like this:

<$100 2NL
$100-150 2NL with shots at 5NL
$150-250 5NL
$250-300 5NL with shots at 10NL
$300-500 10NL
>$500 move to MTTs when you have time for them

hardongear · 2026-05-28T07:01:09-0400

fundiver199 said:
Ok then you are pretty much limited to MTTs, as far as tournaments go, since the Battle Royal is one of those lottery style formats, which I suggest to avoid. This is a bit of an issue, since most MTTs on GG Poker have massive fields, which drive up variance. For that reason you might want to go with 200 x your highest MTT buyin rather than 100 x for any MTT with more than say 300 entries.

Another reasonable option is to mainly play cash games, until you have a $500 bankroll. If you can beat micro stakes cash games, then you should also be able to eventually beat micro stakes MTTs with a few adjustments. For cash games (standard type with no ante or straddle) a reasonable bankroll is 30 x the full buyin, but you can take some "shots", as long as you leave 50 x the full buyin for the next lower level. So the scheme look something like this:

<$100 2NL
$100-150 2NL with shots at 5NL
$150-250 5NL
$250-300 5NL with shots at 10NL
$300-500 10NL
>$500 move to MTTs when you have time for them

Read all of this again it's worth it and it works. The only thing I'd add is don't withdraw until you have more winning then a $200-$300. Get your winnings up too $2000-$5000...then withdraw leaving $500 on site to play with. That will allow you to play 10nl full-ring during the week when you wanna play and and $5+ MTT's on the weekends. I prefer longer 10+ min blind level MTT's but to each their own.

Your other option is get a job and make deposits bi-weekly or monthly. I prefer the above over taking money from my pay cheque bi-weekly or monthly but again to each their own. You can play freerolls but really they're fun, good practice and all but it could take you a dam long time to make $500 playing them. When depending on volume you could make that in 6 months to a year playing 2nl and 5nl. Which honestly the skill level isn't much different between freerolls and 2nl and 5nl full-ring cash. Same calibre of player in my experience.

Cheers!!!

tips for increasing your bankroll

ODRAGD3

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