What percentage of your bankroll should you risk on a single game or tournament?

[Scorpion Girl]

The general rule most pros follow is risking no more than 5% of your total bankroll on any single cash game session, and even less around 2-3% for tournaments since they're higher variance. So if you've got $5,000 set aside, you'd buy in for maybe $250 max at a cash table. But here's where it gets interesting. what do you do when you find an unusually soft game with players making obvious mistakes left and right? Do you bend those rules and take a bigger shot, or does sticking to the percentages matter more than the game quality itself?

 

[Kins G]

I have set my bankroll rules and I always stick to it no matter how strong or weak an opponent is. The risk of variance is a constant. I have ran bad before against weak opponents. If the table or great, might stick around and play a little bit longer but there is no way I am buying bigger.

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[Bawse]

It honestly depends on stakes, for micro-tournaments, 20-25 buy-ins if your playing tournaments. I recommend once you reach higher stakes to be even more strict on bankroll management, 50+ buy-ins to handle variance in poker. Discipline is key, and trust in the process.

 

[Nomad]

I keep risk small. In cash games, I risk about 1 to 2 percent of my bankroll per buy-in. For tournaments, it is even lower, usually under 1 percent, because variance is much higher.