How to Manage a Sit n Go Bankroll

Sit n go Bankroll Management is a key factor in becoming a successful sit n go player. You'll find that like all real money poker games, you'll have good streaks and bad streaks, your job is to ensure that the good ones last long and the bad ones are quickly dispelled, however you will need sufficient funds in your bankroll to see you through a tough time. One question that is often asked is, "what should my starting sit n go bankroll be?" Taking into consideration the huge amount of research that sit n go grinders have done on this subject, the amount of your bankroll should be 50 times the buy in of the tournaments you wish to play. Your next question will probably be "why so much?" and the answer is all down to variance.

Sit N Go Natural Variance

Let's use $5.00 + $0.50 buy in tournaments as an example, for no other reason other than it is a fairly popular buy in level. Your bankroll for a $5.00 buy in should be $275 as this will cover for 50 tourneys. Statistically speaking, an experienced sit n go player will experience a downsize of 20+ buy in every 500 games, and if you play long enough then this downsize may at times even increase to 50, and this is part of natural variance. Stats from quite literally millions of games show that this is indeed quite common so the reason for the high starting amount is to protect you from going broke. That's the bad news, so now for the good...Natural variance also means that these swings will go the other way too and you will have winning runs (if you are of course playing the game correctly) and when you win a tourney you are of course winning a lot more than your buy in back. Therefore the 50 buy in 'rule' is quite simply there as an initial fall back should you need it.

Move up a Level Only When Comfortable

Another key aspect of bankroll management is to only start to think about moving up a level when you are absolutely sure that a) you can play at that level and b) your bankroll will sustain a big hit at that level. All too often is the case that players do well at let's say $5.00 games, only to fall terribly at the $10.00 stake level. Remember that at that level, you'll need $550 as a bankroll, and you'll have to adjust to the play at that level, meaning a downsize swing may be a longer one that could potentially bust your bankroll. Moving up stake levels is necessary if you wish to make more money, but do so only when your are sure both you and your bankroll are ready.