Online Poker – How Much Money Should I Deposit?

When I made my first deposit at an online poker site, the question that I had the hardest time answering was “How much money should I deposit?” I didn’t know anything about bankroll management.  I had no idea how quickly or slowly I could lose $50, or $100, or $500.  I didn’t even know what factors to consider to make an educated guess.  When you ask yourself “How much money should I deposit for online poker?” you should consider the following factors to make an educated decision.

Key Factors:

  • What is Your Goal?
  • Planning For the Long Term
  • What Game do You Want to Play?
  • What is Your Skill Level?
  • ‘Play Down’ to Your Deposit Amount
  • Making The Most of Deposit Bonuses

What is your goal?

Are you looking to play online poker for real money for the first time to just have some fun for a few hours and maybe get lucky and win some money?  Or have you been studying poker strategy, and you want to be a long term winner?

Just For Fun

If you are just looking to have some fun and try to make a quick buck or two gambling, then deposit whatever amount you feel comfortable to lose.  The minimum poker deposit at most online poker rooms is between $10 and $50, but if you have enough money that losing more is acceptable to you, then do it. This decision is all about your personal comfort level.  But you should set a ‘stop loss’ and stick to it.  A stop loss is a maximum amount that you are willing to lose.

Taking It More Seriously

I am going to assume for the rest of this article that you are a more serious poker player who is learning, or wants to learn, to become a winning poker player.  If you fall into this group of poker players, then continue reading for a guide on how to determine how much money to deposit.

Planning For The Long Term

All of the deposit and bankroll advice given in this article is aimed at giving you the best long  term chance to establish and keep a poker bankroll.  When in doubt, be conservative.  If you want to play a certain limit, lean towards having too big of a bankroll.  If you have a certain amount to deposit, lean towards playing too small of limits.  If you go broke, you can’t play anymore.

All of the advice here is aimed towards you wanting to establish an independent long term poker bankroll.  If you have other money that you don’t mind depositing if you go broke, then disregard this entire article.  But if you want to establish and maintain a poker bankroll that you don’t ever have to add any of your own money to, then be careful and take the advice below seriously.

What game do you want to play?

This is the first and most important question you need to answer before you decide how much money to deposit for online poker.  The bankroll you need is very different between $10 tournaments and $100 buy-in no limit cash games.  Here ae some very general bankroll guidelines that can help you determine how much you should deposit and what limits you should play.

  • No-limit cash games: 20-30X the buy-in amount.  You should keep an absolute minimum of 10 times the buy-in for the stakes you are playing, but 20-30 times is mandatory for long-term sustainability.  If you are playing $50 buy-in no-limit cash games, you should deposit a bare minimum of $500, but $1000 to $1500 should be your goal for a sustainable bankroll.
  • Limit cash games: 200-500X the big bet amount.  Your minimum deposit for playing limit cash games should be no less than 200 times the amount of the big bet of the game you want to play.  If you want to play $3-$6 limit cash games, you should deposit at least $1200, but you should strive for a bankroll of $1800 to $3000 (300 to 500 times the big bet).  There is more volatility in limit games than no-limit games.  You should also play with a bigger bankroll if you are playing short-handed limit games, as the swings in six-handed or less limit poker can be extreme.
  • Single table sit and go tournaments (STT or SnG): 50+X the tournament buy-in.  You should deposit a minimum of 25 times the tournament buy-in if you are trying to build a bankroll to play sit and go tournaments.  You should aim for at least 50 times the tournament buy-in.  If you want to play $10+1 sit and go’s, you should deposit a minimum of $275, and you should try to keep at least $550 in your bankroll to play at this level.
  • Multi table tournaments (MTT): 100+ X the tournament buy-in.  You should deposit at least 25 times the amount of the tournament buy-in you aim to play.  This is still very risky though.  Multi table tournaments are very high variance, and it is not uncommon for an excellent tournament player to go 25+ tournaments without a cash finish, let alone a final table appearance.  You should aim to have 100+ times the buy-in amount in your bankroll.  If you are playing $10+1 buy in multi table tournaments, you should deposit at least $275 and try to keep a bankroll of at least $1100.  Multi table tournaments can be lucrative, but the bankroll requirements are very high.

What is your skill level?

The above suggestions are just that: suggestions. If you are a losing player, it will not matter how much money you deposit for online poker.  You will lose it.  All of the above figure assume that you are at least a moderately winning player.  The better you are, the less you can have in your bankroll.  The more conservatively you play, the less you can have in your bankroll.  Players that are more aggressive have bigger swings, and need more money to get through the downswings.

Since you asked ‘How much money should I deposit?’ this is probably one of your first online poker deposits, which means you are probably a beginning to intermediate poker player.  You should err on the side of being more conservative and you should deposit as much money as you are comfortable with.

‘Play Down’ to Your Deposit Amount

If you only have $200 to deposit at an online poker site and you want to play no limit cash games, you can just play at the limits that will give you the best chance to play for a long time.  This may be less than you were hoping to play for, but one of the best attributes of a successful poker player is self control and patience.

If you only have $200 to play no-limit with and you are an intermediate poker player, you should start out at $10 buy-in cash games.  This gives you a 20 buy-in cushion to play with.  You can do the same ‘reverse math’ for any game using the recommendations above.

Making The Most of Deposit Bonuses

One last factor to consider when deciding how much money to deposit for online poker is the first deposit bonus at your preferred poker site.  If the poker room offers a 100% up to $600 initial deposit bonus (like Full Tilt Poker), you want to deposit $600 if possible.  You only get one shot at your deposit bonus, so you should make the most of it.  If you have the money and it fits your plans, then you should take advantage of the full deposit bonus amount.

There’s no need to get carried away though.  If you want to deposit $100 to play some small tournaments, there is no need to deposit $1000 to take advantage of Sportsbook Poker’s $1000 deposit bonus.  You have to ‘earn’ the bonus money, so playing at small stakes wouldn’t even release the full $1000 to you.  For more info, visit my page on poker bonuses.

Join Full Tilt Poker to Get a $600 Bonus