Poker Bankroll Risk Of Ruin Calculator
Minimum bankroll for less than 5% risk of ruin: the bankroll needed to have a risk of ruin of less than 5% Detailed sample with downswings This chart simulates a single run over 100 thousand up to 10 million hands with the winrate and standard deviation entered above. You can choose how many hands to simulate by moving the slider. A risk of ruin calculation will give you a number that is designed to help you better ride out the ups and downs. Video poker is an example of a game with a finite number of outcomes and known bet sizes and payouts. As such, some math can be done to calculate the risk of ruin based on n length of time playing. Going broke and having no money to play with is any poker players worst nightmare; thus is it worthwhile getting used to using this calculator to understand and negate the risk. To take our first example of 3bb/100 winrate with a standard deviation of 100 bb/100 we will get approximately a 5,000 bb bankroll or 50BI for a risk of ruin of 5%. Poker Bankroll Calculator. This poker bankroll calculator allows you to work out which limits you should be playing at in poker depending on how much money you have in your bankroll. This calculator is based around the rules of basic no limit Texas Holdem bankroll management, which are: You should have at least 20 times the buy in for cash games.
By John Grochowski
My friend Mark isn’t a casino regular, but he likes to play a little video poker now and then. His goal is just to have a good time and stay in action for a couple of hours.
“Do you have a guide to how much cash I need to last a couple of hours?” he asked.
I showed him the bankroll calculator on Video Poker for Winners software, and assumed expert play for 1,000 hands --- about two hours play for anaverage player.
First up was Jacks or Better on three pay tables --- the full-pay 9-6 game, paying 9-for-1 on full houses and 6-for-1 on flushes, which returns 99.54 percent with expert play; the 8-5 game(97.30 percent); and the 7-5 game (96.15 percent) that’s becoming all too common on quarter games.
Jacks or Better is the least volatile of common video poker games, a game that’s designed to keep you in your seat. There are no big four-of-a-kind bonuses that are going to make your day. Allquads pay 125 coins for a five-coin wager. But the 2-for-1 payoff on two pairs packs a different kind of wallop, one that will keep you going for extra chances at the bigger pays.
The average loss for two hours of betting $1.25 a hand on a quarter machine is $5.75 with a 9-6 pay table, $34.75 at 8-5 and $48.12 at 7-5 --- which ought to tell you why I’m alwaysharping on finding the best pay tables. In the days when each video poker machine had just one game --- no touching the screen to try a different game --- I once found a long row of 18 machinesthat alternated between 9-6 and 8-5 pay tables. There were as many players at the low-payers as at the 9-6ers. Ugh.
The required bankroll is much higher than the average loss if you want to give yourself enough for a 5 percent risk of ruin --- a 95 percent chance of surviving two hours without losing it all.That takes $165 on 9-6 Jacks, $185 at 8-5 and $195 at 7-5.
Your chances of having a winning session after two hours are 34.54 percent at 9-6, 22.35 percent at 8-5 and 17.19 percent at 7-5. Settling for a 7-5 pay table instead of 9-6 cuts your chancesof winning in half.
Then I checked probably the most popular video poker game: Double Double Bonus Poker. With a 9-6 pay table, it’s a 98.98 percent return, $12.75 average loss in two hours on a quarter machine,with a $300 bankroll for a 5 percent risk of ruin and a 35.46 percent chance of a winning session. On the 8-5 version that’s become all too common, the payback percentage falls to 96.79percent, average two-hour loss increases to $40.12, the bankroll requirement rises to $320, and the chance of a winning session drops to 30.75 percent.
Double Double Bonus Poker is the more volatile game, with more of its payback concentrated into relatively rare four-of-a-kind hands. Most quads pay 250 for a five-coin wager, and the rewardrises to 400 on four 2s, 3s or 4s; 800 if those low quads are accompanied by an Ace, 2, 3 or 4 kicker; 800 on four Aces; and 2,000 on four Aces with a 2, 3 or 4 kicker. The two-pairs return isreduced to 1-for-1 ---- you just get your money back.
That’s why Double Double Bonus bankroll requirements are higher than in Jacks or Better. But in any game, cuts in the pay table slash your chances of winning. Be wary.
LONGER SESSIONS: Two-hour sessions are extremely volatile. Just about anything can happen in any session as short as a couple of hours. But I’ve had many a two-hour session back when that wasthe length of a riverboat casino cruise, and still often go to a local casino to play for a couple of hours and have lunch or dinner.
But what if you’re going to play longer? What if you’re going on an overnight stay and figure to get in, say, 10 hours of play? Do you have to multiply two-hour bankroll requirements byfive?
No, you don’t. Longer sessions smooth things out a bit. For 10 hours of quarter play on 9-6 Jacks or Better, the bankroll for a 5 percent risk of ruin doesn’t quintuple from $165 to $825.Instead, it’s less than tripled, at $450, while the bankroll requirement for 8-5 Jacks rises to $570.
On the more volatile Double Double Bonus Poker, that $300 bankroll for a 5 percent risk or ruin for two hours rises to $885. That’s a big chunk of cash, but at least it’s not the $1,500 you getwhen multiplying the $300 by five. On the 8-5 version, the bankroll needed for 10 hours is $1,010, and that’s one reason I just won’t play 8-5 Double Double Bonus Poker.
John Grochowski writes about casino games and the gambling industry in his weekly 'Gaming' column, which is syndicated in newspapers and Web sites across the United States. John is also theauthor of six books on casinos and casino games.
On this page you'll find a Kelly Criterion Bet Calculator. Enter your assumptions on
- Probability of winning
- Odds and payouts
- Your current bankroll
- Any adjustments you want to make to be conservative
We automatically calculate your ideal bet size with the Kelly Criterion and your assumptions.
The Kelly Criterion Bet Calculator
Practical Application of the Kelly Criterion To Betting Strategies
The Kelly Criterion is a formula to determine the proper size of a bet with known odds and a definite payout. With hand waving and basic math you can also use it to help guide your investment decisions.
It's most useful to determine the size of a position you should take.
Using the Kelly Calculator
Poker Bankroll Risk Of Ruin Calculator Formula
The Kelly Criterion bet calculator above comes pre-filled with the simplest example: a game of coin flipping stacked in your favor.
Bankroll For Live Poker
- The casino is willing to pay 2 to 1 on any bet you make.
- Your odds of winning any one flip are 50/50.
- Therefore, your probability is .5... 50%.
- Your 'odds offered' are '2 to 1' (so enter 2).
- You have $1,000 with you.
Poker Bankroll Management
Hit calculate, and see that you should definitely take the bet. Your optimal bet size is 25% of your bankroll.
Poker Bankroll Risk Of Ruin Calculator Texas Instruments
(Now, find a casino stupid enough to offer those odds!)
Of course, you can see practical the practical value of Kelly betting when it comes to things with discrete results and obvious probabilities - say pot odds in a poker hand. Your mileage may vary.
What do you think about simple Kelly betting? Even though it is designed to never let you go bankrupt, Kelly still allows wild volatility swings.
Live Poker Bankroll Management
Do you prefer another strategy? Perhaps half or quarter Kelly methods?