It’s a fact: over 90% of online poker players lose money in the long run. This is due to many different factors, with the rake playing no small role in it, but there’s nothing you can do about that. However, there are several things you can do to make sure that your bankroll is rationed properly, and a lot of it has to do with making sure you know exactly how much money you should have to play in any given game. This article will review the size of typical starting bankrolls and the games that you should be playing in if you want to use it to its maximum benefit.

For limit Hold Em, a sufficient poker bankroll is at least 300 big blinds. (Handy rule of thumb: the big blind is the amount of money wagered on the turn and river when the betting limits double.) Many poker pros feel you should actually have 500 big blinds in your bankroll so you can shrug off the bad days at the tables a bit more easily.

Let’s say you’re starting with $200 or less. You really should be playing very low stakes games along the line of $.5-1.00 limit or in $5 sit-and-go tournaments. You’ll want to make sure you’re not paying an outrageous entry fee with the $5 tournaments – it’s not uncommon to see poker rooms charging an additional $1 and that’s equal to a 20% rake! To be frank, you should never open an online poker account with less than $150 and $400 is much more appropriate, as it lets you get access to $10 SNG tournaments, which is where the better action lies anyway.

$500 to $900 is a very healthy starting bankroll and while you should play some lower stakes ($.5-1.00) games to get a look at your competition, once you’ve hit $1000 in your bankroll, move to the $1-2 limit, where the competition isn’t much better and you can start to really take in the money. Again, playing in $10 sit and go tournaments is a great way to make money gradually without risking very much.

If you’ve got over $1000 in your starting bankroll, you should still play in the smaller games to feel the competition out, but then go ahead and go for $1-2 limit and $20 instant single-table tournaments.

Hopefully these tips will help you get the most out of your bankroll. With a whole lot of poker skills and a little luck, you can make it grow and work your way into games and tournaments with the big boys.