Online Poker Forum - Bankroll Requirements

MVP04X3 · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:37 am Post subject: Bankroll Requirements

Hello everyone, I am new to the Omaha H/L forum but not new to the forums in general. I would like to give a bit of background about myself and ask a question regarding bankroll.

I am fairly new to Omaha H/L. I have been playing roughly 2 months. Prior to that I mainly played NL Hold'em SNGs. I always did fairly well and have not made a deposit on the site in quite a long time.

I started playing Omaha H/L just as a part of HORSE. I noticed I was always hoping to "sneak through" the hold'em hands so I could play Omaha H/L. I guess that gave me a hint to give O8 a shot. I have been playing about 2 months starting at 1/2 FL, moving my way up to where I am currently at playing 3/6 FL (and 5/10 FL, but there is rarely a game going it seems). One of two things is possible, I am either a great O8 player (not too likely given how long I have been playing) or my competition is awful (more likely, I am realistic). It seems low level games can be easily beat just by playing solid starting hands.

My question is regarding bankrolls. How many big blinds do you think I should have behind me while I play? Playing in the lower limit games I could probably get away with 75 and not be too worried (unless playing too many tables where I obviously I'd need more cash). My win rate has been solid enough that I am not too concerned. I have been using a rule of thumb of 150 big blinds as I move up. I generally play 6 max and play 3-4 tables at a time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

MVP

Strasse · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:45 pm Post subject:

No, you could never ever ever ever ever ever get away with 75 big bets. That is an insanely small amount. I go through 100 BB swings on a regular basis. Omaha8 has an insane amount of variance b/c you have people chasing everything. I'd say 400 BB is a good number.

MVP04X3 · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 4:11 pm Post subject:

What level are you playing at? The biggest swing I have had is maybe 25-30 big bets and that is EVERYTHING going wrong.

vectorspace · Royal Flush Joined: 17 Dec 2007 Posts: 918 Location: Texas

Big blinds and big bets are different things in limit games. Most pros recommend a bankroll of at least 300 big bets for limit games. That's equivalent to 600 big blinds. I don't really agree with Strasse in that it's a high variance game though. Yes, people chase more frequently than in LHE for example, but this is a split pot game. Since you'll frequently win some fraction of the pot when you're in the hand, I think you can play it with slightly less of a BR especially if the players are noticeably worse. I still wouldn't play in a game with less than 200 big bets or 400 big blinds. The risk of going broke will outweigh the potential gain if you play with too low of a BR.

Flying_Kiwi · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:50 am Post subject:

It all depends on your appetite for risk and how easy it is to reload. I think you'd need at least 100 big bets to have any reasonable chance, but even then you'll run a high risk of ruin. 300-500 seems standard, and over 1k big bets if you're living from it.

Strasse · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:27 pm Post subject:

MVP04X3 · Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:43 am Post subject:

I have about 30k hands and my average win rate is at $39.25 per hour. Obviously there are many occasions where I lose money, but my good sessions have more than made up for my bad ones.

Strasse · Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:04 pm Post subject:

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