Building up that Bankroll

[PShabi]

Pretty much begged my way to a $5000 bankroll and then started playing 5/10 where I am today.

So, yes, you're on the right track.

[jaeh00d]

i dont get what you mean by begged your way? you begged for 5k?

[PShabi]

Not all at once. Who the hell would just give away 5k? lol.

I just hit all the forums repeatedly, under multiple screennames. Got a dollar here, if I was lucky, $5 there.

4 1/2 years of hard work.

[JDMcNugent7]

wut do u mean beggged ur way?

and isn't 5000 way low to be playing 5/10 ?

[BDMK]

with the caveat that i only play recreationally, only NLHE tourneys, and only real money buck tourneys and sats to big events on stars:

i started by playing playchips tourneys which both gave me some experience and enabled me to sell the accumulated playchips for cash.

nowadays, almost a yr since i started playing, i only occasionally play the playchips tourneys, as i cash more than sufficiently from the buck tourneys to keep my bankroll ok for what i need (ie, sats to various big events).

[ChipFish]

To build your bankroll... You should rely solely on Deposit and reload bonuses...
It's that simple.

[Talking Poker]

This is very good advice (bonus whoring), but this can be done in addition to some of the other suggestions floating around this thread. Well, except for pshabi's, which was a joke for those who couldn't tell.

When I very first started playing online, I was palying 1/2 cash games, just to see what online poker was all about. I did pretty well with it, but eventually discovered and fell in love with SNGs. I played those almost exclusively for a while - $30 and $50 ones - and did really well with them (at one point, I cashed in 11 in a row). This was fortunate for me, as I was playing well above my bankroll. I hit a bad streak not long after that, but still didn't really care about bankroll management because I knew I could redeposit if I needed to.

I will admit to you though that the bad streak was bad enough at one point, that I made myself take an entire month off from online poker (this was back in 2003). Why? Because I was afraid I MIGHT be addicted, and I wanted to make sure I could stop if I wanted to. After a few days off, I didn't miss it, but I promised myself I wouldn't play for a month, and I didn't. It ended up being 5 or 6 weeks, I think. I came back and played here and there, but I didn't get REALLY serious about poker until bdawg convinced me to give the 5/10 6 max tables a try. I had played them before, but not exclusively, as I always had more fun with the SNGs.

Anyway, one month and $4k later, I was sold. Two month and another $5k after that, and I was hooked. This was my game. And that's what I used to build my bankroll.

These days, I enjoy the big MTTs, but I am a much better tourney player now than I used to be. I do still enjoy killing the 6 max games from time to time, but I mostly play 10/20 and 15/30 now, with the occasional 30/60 game mixed in when I'm feeling frisky. The swings there are still more than I am comfortable with though, so I don't do it often.

Anyway, hopefully that bit of a success story will inspire you. While I skipped a LOT of levels early on (and was fortunate enough to not get broke), I don't recommend that for most people. Keep in mind, if I busted, I was ok with making another deposit (which is what I did when I'd start to play at a new site). If my entire bankroll was online and I never wanted to deposit another dime, this would be a horrible idea though.

If you never want to lose your bankroll:
1. Make sure you have 300 BBs (big bets) for limit poker.
2. Never sit with more than 5% of your roll in NL or any single SNG or MTT.

Do that, and play fundamentally sound poker, and you won't go broke.

[jaeh00d]

exacxtly the type of input i was looking for thank you sir...lol

[JDMcNugent7]

5% is SO scary - i hate hearing that lol
i only consider what i have online as my bankroll tho - not overall - so $750 instead of $4,300 - bcuz i Never want to deposit again.

[Hawt]

I have really thought about this, just saving up like a grand and depositing into different sites, clearing the bonuses, and cashing out. But I am afraid that with my tendency to act like a retard in cash games that I would lose my money before I could clear the bonuses. Plus, bonuses are kind of hard to clear because tournaments don't count that much towards clearing bonuses (if at all) which is the only thing I am really any good at.

[JDMcNugent7]

I already cleared the Stars Bonus - took me all of 4 days lol - i love clearing bonuses - it just gives me that extra incentive to play and its freakin free money - has ANYONE cleared the FULL TILT Bonus yet ? cuz thats my next challenge - but i hear its a big one.

[nflchad]

I got a free $50 by signing up on Party, parlayed it into $250 despite my poor play, then got second in a tournament on PokerRoom, then got first in a tournament on PokerRoom which brought my roll up to around 1500, where I played 25NL for 25K hands and with deposit and reload bonuses built my roll up to 4K.

[PShabi]

I'm in the middle of the Full Tilt bonus right now. About 1/3 through.

It's a hefty bonus, but you get 4 months. It's released in $20 chunks. It's not been that bad so far. I can be patient, knowing that I'm getting 27% of my rake back all the while. God damn, I love rakeback.

Keep in mind, I'm playing LHE 5/10, shorthanded. 2-3 tables at a time and that let's me crank out 200+ hands / hour. It will probably take a little longer at smaller stakes, but like you said, 'FREE FREAKIN' MONEY'.

[Reel Deal]

Cash tables and bonus chasing has worked for me (grew $25 to $1200 in 3 months).

[PShabi]

$5,000 / $10(bbs)

= 500 BB which is a fat, chunky, bankroll for 5/10 limit hold em.