What Cash Games You Should Be Playing In Given Your Bankroll Size
This text has been prepared by The Eureka Kid, on behalf of TheOmahaSplit.com
I define a bankroll as money that you are willing to lose playing poker. If you aren't willing to lose money at poker then you shouldn't be putting it at risk by playing. One of the most common questions in cash game poker is what limits should I be playing at given that my bankroll is $xx amount of dollars. I have attempted to answer that question below, there are no hard and fast answers here. Personally, I have never paid any attention to bankroll requirement size and always just paid attention to what games to I play best in and feel comfortable with the swings in. Having said that, I have based the following advice on the level of variance you will experience playing Omaha/8 and hence what it would be reasonable to expect you never to go completely broke playing. Obviously, if you have a few losing sessions and your bankroll shrinks then you need to adjust the game size you are playing in, take your ego out of it and just follow the guidelines, you are only going to end up with a whole lot of self-loathing if you keep playing through it and go bust.
Limit Games
At Least 150 Big Bet Bankroll For An Average Player
Limit hold 'em players will no doubt have read that to play a certain limit you are advised to have at least 300 big bets of that limit in your bankroll. So why then am I advising 150 big bets when it comes to LO8? Well you have to be mindful of the fact that omaha/8 is a split pot game and therefore your variance should be lower. You should also take into account the fact that it is often a game of drawing to the nuts and therefore hands where you are putting a lot of money in are far less marginal than in limit hold 'em.
For shorthanded players I would recommend 300 big bets to be on the safe side, there is less drawing to the nuts and more aggression factor in these games, hence the variance is higher.
Pot Limit Games
It is harder to give hard and fast rules when it comes to PLO8 games because every game is different. If you are regualrly in games with lots of pre-flop raising then obviously you are going to need a larger bankroll than if you are in games with lots of pre-flop passivity. I won't take credit for the following information, I came across it while browsing some poker forums. A guy had come up with this recommended table for PLO8 games. He stated that this was a guide for a semi-tight aggressive PLO8 player, and if that is you then I for the most part agree with his advice. Some will say it is conservative advice and I completely agree that it is, but remember bankroll management is always about planning to never go broke and hence all worst case scenarios need to be taken into account.
Blind Levels |
Max Buy-In |
Bankroll Needed For Full Buy-in |
Bankroll Needed For Half Buy-In |
| $0.10/$0.25 |
$25 |
$500 |
$350 |
| $0.25/$0.50 |
$50 |
$1,000 |
$700 |
| $0.50/$1.00 |
$100 |
$2,000 |
$1,400 |
| $1/$2 |
$200 |
$4,000 |
$2,800 |
| $2/$4 |
$400 |
$8,000 |
$5,600 |
| $3/$6 |
$600 |
$12,000 |
$8,400 |
| $5/$10 |
$1,000 |
$20,000 |
$14,000 |
| $10/$20 |
$2,000 |
$40,000 |
$28,000 |
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