Pick your game and buy-in to see how big a bankroll you need — from an aggressive roll to a conservative one that keeps you out of trouble.
Cash game — recommended bankroll, in buy-ins (100bb each):
Aggressive · 20 buy-ins
Higher variance; move down fast if you dip.
$4,000
Standard · 30 buy-ins
The common recommendation for most players.
$6,000
Conservative · 50 buy-ins
Sleeps-at-night safe; rarely go broke.
$10,000
Bankroll rules are expressed in buy-ins because that’s what swings are measured in. A tournament player can go 50 buy-ins between cashes on a normal run; a cash player rarely dips past 20. Holding enough buy-ins means a standard downswing is an inconvenience, not the end of your poker.
These multiples are guidelines, not a formula. To ground them in your own win rate and volatility, run the variance & risk-of-ruin calculator — it shows exactly how a bigger bankroll lowers your chance of going broke.
A common guideline is 20–50 buy-ins for cash games, 50–200 buy-ins for tournaments, and 30–100 for Sit & Gos — more for higher variance or a lower risk tolerance. Multiply your buy-in by the multiple that matches your comfort with swings.
Around 30 buy-ins (100bb each) is a standard cash-game bankroll; 20 is aggressive and 50 is conservative. Deeper, tougher, or higher-variance games push toward the larger end.
Tournaments swing far more than cash, so 100 buy-ins is a common baseline, 50 is aggressive, and 200 is conservative. Fields are large and cashes are infrequent, so the extra cushion matters.
Bankroll management is choosing stakes your bankroll can absorb the swings of, so a normal downswing never busts you. It’s the practical side of variance — pair this calculator with the variance & risk-of-ruin tool to see the math.
These are standard bankroll-management guidelines, not a personalized recommendation. Your ideal bankroll depends on your win rate, the game’s variance, and your tolerance for swings. This is an educational estimate based on standard poker math and simplifying assumptions — not a guarantee of results or financial advice. Poker involves chance and variance. Rebuy Labs is software for organizing and studying poker; it does not accept wagers or handle player funds. If gambling stops being fun, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.
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