Bankroll

A poker bankroll calculator estimates the probability that a player’s funds reach zero at some point over an indefinite playing horizon, based on a fixed win rate, standard deviation, and starting balance. Under the classic fixed-stakes model used here, a player with a win rate of 5 big blinds per 100 hands, a standard deviation of 90 big blinds per 100 hands, and a balance of 20 buy-ins faces a risk of ruin of about 8.5 percent. Increasing the balance to 25 buy-ins reduces this theoretical probability to about 4.6 percent. This model assumes that stakes remain fixed, no additional funds are deposited or withdrawn, and performance parameters stay constant over an indefinite timeline. ...

A poker bankroll is the dedicated pool of funds set aside strictly for playing poker, isolated entirely from personal savings, living expenses, and daily bills. For standard full-ring No-Limit Texas Hold’em cash games, an illustrative planning guideline is to maintain a bankroll of roughly 20-40 buy-ins of 100 big blinds. Bankroll management can reduce the risk of exhausting your playing funds during downswings, but no fixed number of buy-ins eliminates that risk. The appropriate reserve depends on your win rate, the variance of your games, your withdrawal habits, and your policy for moving down in stakes. ...