How many books have I read about needing a big bankroll for playing in games, this is only true you if you are in morbid fear of going bust. In reality going bust with say a starting bankroll of $200 is unlikely to be the end of the world and doesn't mean you never play poker again. A more realistic approach can be found in Bob Ciaffone's books. I think there are different bankroll approaches for different people when playing poker. Here are some different approaches, the first one is the one you will find in most poker books, and the rest are alternative approaches.

a. The standard 'Never go bust' Bankroll method. I really think this is just meant for budding players and cautious players or players who have built a large bankroll who frequently play at the limit their bankroll would dictate. This figure is largely held to be around 300 times the big bet i.e. 600 times the big blind, ensuring that if your average winning is 1 big bet per hour you never go bust.

b. Who cares about a bankroll - not exactly a method but some people don't, they are happy to take a shot at a game without enough of a bankroll. Suffice to say this is purely down to an individual but I think some sort of methodology should surely be employed unless you really don't care about blowing your money.

c. Minimum Give it a Shot Bankroll - To paraphrase Bob Ciaffone, he says if you can afford to lose a $1000 bankroll, you have a good game and are prepared to take the consequences of losing all your bankroll then you can take a shot at $20 - $40. To formulize this methodology I would be a little bit more stringent and say you should have a minimum of 40 times the big bet thus allowing to take a shot with some risk but with some chance if things don't go exactly right that you're bankroll doesn't get totally wiped.

d. Cautious Measured Risk Approach - This to me is 100 times the big bet, a very good player I believe need to be quite unlucky to get bust at the lower stakes with this approach. A top player should be winning more on average than 1 big blind an hour thus lowering the standard accepted 'Never Go Bust' Bankroll needed from the 300 times big bet amount.

e. Firbolg's Recommended Mixed Approach - Take somebody starting out with a bankroll of $200 who is prepared to take a bit of risk in order to build up their bankroll. I would recommend they initially use the 'Minimum Give it a Shot Bankroll' principle that I outlined until they get to a stage where they're bankroll is at a level that will hurt them if they lose it. At this next stage they may still be willing to accept a very minimal risk, then they should switch to a Cautious Measured Risk Approach.

Finally at a later stage if you have managed to build up a bankroll that you want to have virtually no risk of ever going bust then it's time to employ the standard 'Never go bust' Bankroll method. In reality a good poker player is always going to want to have a shot at a higher limit game though if he thinks he's better than the other players there. I believe there are definitely times where it is right to give it a shot but with a lot of money at stake I wouldn't go below that Cautious Measured Risk Approach of 100 times the big bet at any time.