I've been approached several times about how to manage a bankroll, and when to cash out. I'm going to address this question very heavily in this post.

You can keep up with edits and updates to this post here at this thread:

http://www.pocketfives.com/f7/sng-mu...-guide-378221/

The following guidelines will assure with a high confidence level that you never go broke if you are +ROI in the games you are playing, and you exercise good game selection.

Proper Bankroll Management Minimums:

$65 - $1.10 STTs
$87 - €1.10 STTs
$90 - $1.10 18-man
$128 - $1.10 45-man,
$130 - $2.20 STTs
$210 - $5.25 HU
$215 - $3.30 STTs
$270 - $6.25 HU
$357 - $5.50 STTs
$416 - $3.25 45-man
$420 - $10.50 HU
$422 - $6.50 STTs
$440 - $2.20 MTTs, $2.20 180-man
$495 - $3.30 90-man
$585 - $6.50 18-man
$596 - $5.50 27-man
$715 - $11 STTs
$780 - $12 STTs
$820 - $21 HU
$832 - $6.50 45-man
$880 - $4.40 MTT, $4.40 180-man
$975 - $6.50 90-man
$990 - $11 18-man
$1040 - $16 STTs
$1080 - $12 18-man
$1100 - $5.50 MTTs
$1300 - $6.50 MTTs, $12 27-man, $20 STTs
$1430 - $22 STTs
$1440 - $16 18-man
$1530 - $12 45-man
$1560 - $24 STTs
$1650 - $11 90-man
$1755 - $27 STTs
$1760 - $8.80 MTTs
$1950 - $13 90-man
$1980 - $22 18-man
$2100 - $52.50 HU
$2145 - $33 STTs
$2160 - $24 18-man
$2340 - $36 SNGs
$2400 - $11 MTTs
$2430 - $27 18-man
$2470 - $38 STTs
$2600 - $12 MTTs, $12 180-man
$2970 - $33 18-man
$3300 - $16.50 MTTs
$3320 - $26 45-man
$3420 - $38 18-man
$3450 - $27 45-man
$3570 - $55 STTs
$3900 - $60 STTs, $26 90-man
$4200 - $22 MTTs, $22 180-man
$4250 - $105 HU
$4860 - $38 45-man
$4875 - $75 STTs
$4950 - $55 18-man
$5400 - $60 18-man, $27 MTTs
$6600 - $33 MTTs
$7200 - $36 180-man
$7660 - $60 45-man
$7800 - $39 MTTs, $52 90-man
$8250 - $55 90-man
$8500 - $210 HU
$11000 - $55 MTTs
$12000 - $60 MTTs
$15000 - $75 MTTs
$20800 - $109 MTTs
$43000 - $215 MTTs
$106000-$530 MTTs

Clarifications:

- For Double or Nothing SNGs, use the HU guidelines. At the higher levels, you will likely need more than 40 buyins due to diminishing ROI potential in these games.
- For MTTs with less than 150 players, use the 90-man guidelines.
- If your favorite game is not found on here, simply multiply the buyin by 40 for HU, 50 for FTP's Matrix SNGs, 65 for STTs, 90 for 18-20 man, 108 for 27-man, 128 for 45-man, 150 for 90-man, or 200 for 180-man or MTTs and add it to the list!
- For satellites, to determine how many buyins you need, use the formula (2000/x), where x is the % of the field that gets paid. For example, if a satellite tournament pays 20% of the field, then (2000/20) = 100, so you need 100 buyins.
- I will be crossposting this on my blog here so if you ever want to reference this, that's the easiest place to find it!
- These buyin recommendations are very conservative and are intended to ensure that you make consistant money while your risk of ruin is extremely minimal. It is made for professional players who cannot afford to replenish their bankroll. Recreational players may feel free to cut these recommendations in half.
- Satellites for must-play tournaments should only be played if you have enough in your bankroll for the target tournament, and you have an edge in that target event. There is an exception to this rule, below.
- I didn't include any game with higher than a 10% rake, because I feel that those games are ripoffs.
- If you are feeling good, don't play too far away from your highest allowable game. For instance, if your bankroll allows you to play $22 SNGs and you are playing $11 SNGs, you are not allowing yourself to make enough money.
- If things have been rough lately, or you have lost confidence, there's no need to play at your highest allowable level. Get back that winning feeling by dropping down, and scoring some wins. You'll still be working towards moving up.

Cashout strategy:

Pay yourself according to volume, not results.

Remove the following from your bankroll every time you play these games:

HU: 2% of your buyin
STTs: 3% of your buyin
18-man: 4% of your buyin
45-man: 5% of your buyin
90-man: 6% of your buyin
180-man/MTT: 8% of your buyin
Also remove all Rakeback/Bonuses earned

When your total cashouts reach the site's minimum cashout requirements, then cash out as soon as you can.

Clarifications:

- If you are a high buyin player, you may be playing a SNG where you are only expected to attain a very small ROI. In that case, divide your expected long-term ROI by 2 and cash out that much per game. For instance, if you are a $320 STT player who expects to make 2% ROI, cash out 1% ($3.30) per game played. That sounds small, but most of your income is coming from rakeback/bonuses anyway.
- For hyper/superturbo SNGs, only remove 1.5% per game.

Taking shots (optional):

Then allow yourself 1/4 of your cashout money for entertainment. Your shot can be your entertainment. For instance, if you are a $5 player who would like to take a shot at a $50 game, then save up $200 in cashouts, and then withdraw $150. use the other $50 for your game. Obviously this is not optimal, but some people will explode their bankrolls at some point if they never get a chance to chase their dreams!

Just one rule:

- If you take a shot and win, cash out at least 75% of your winnings RIGHT AWAY. Don't try to use the shot to pad your bankroll. The bankroll management plan is already designed to keep you where you are going to make the most money per hour.

When used together, over time, the Bankroll Management and Cashout Strategy will:

- Keep you playing at or near your optimal level. You won't have to decide what games to play. The system will do it for you.
- Ensure that you are beating the games at a high enough ROI to continue to play them. For instance if you maintain a 3% ROI at the $27 18-mans, although you are winning, you will be cashing out too much money (4%) to stay at that level, and the system will drop you back to the $16 level, where you will make more money per game.
- Keep you from facing high % fluctuations in your bankroll so your mindset is good.
- Have you making frequent cashouts no matter what your results are. This stops the endless cycle that some people have of moving up and moving down, but never cashing out!
- Allow you to plan. Your income will be easily predicatable. For instance, if you are going to play 100 $27 18-mans today, you know you will cash out exactly $108, no matter how you do.
- Encourage you to increase your volume.
- Give you the opportunity to take an occasional shot at a bigger event and chase your dreams.

I really hope this helps someone.

Jen

*edit - Please give your feedback. If you have any suggestions on how I can make this better, please let me know. My goal is to edit this to perfection, and update this to include whatever new popular games may come up.

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Recent Updates:

4/6/10, added €1.10 STTs to this list because very few sites have $1.10 games available. Kudos to Pokerstars for offering a micro stakes SNG without a humongous rake.

4/7/10, changed Double or Nothing recommendations to reflect diminishing possible ROIs at the highest levels.