I don't know where I first saw it, it was at least 10 or 15 years ago. I am quite sure the formula is older than that though.

ArtyMcFly and RustyBrooks are spot on, as always. I would only like to echo that online players should have a predetermined BI number that tells them when to move down in stakes. If it is just variance, then there will be an upswing to come back to the higher stakes. If it is not variance, then this method will ensure that a player stays at the appropriate stake for their skill level.

Yeah, that post by BruceZ has a really good chance of being the first time, or around the first time, that I saw it.

I've also done some fairly interesting computer modelling - quite a while ago though - that I had intended to use for a BRM article for low stakes players. The gist of it was that rake at the lowest stakes is really terrible and any player who can beat a higher level should prefer to get to that level ASAP. There are probably some winning players who can barely beat the lowest stakes due to rake, esp if there is not good rakeback.

My idea was that at the lowest stakes, you could have a smaller bankroll if you had the ability to add to your bankroll over time. Like let's say you could afford to add some money to your bankroll every week and you were going to play N hands/week with a given WR and standard deviation. How much bankroll would you need to start with? You could start with a much smaller bankroll (or play higher) because the extra money has a similar effect to having a higher win rate (your bankroll growth accommodates for a smaller bankroll, giving similar effect RoR at smaller bankrolls)

This works really well for low stakes, like say NL25 to NL100, because at NL25 if you could add $50/week that's 2 buyins. Obviously you could stop adding when you get to a point where your static bankroll is big enough to play whatever stakes you want.

I can t beleive you re still talking about bankroll and the threads about theory of the game are still left not answered . Do you really need any bankroll at all ? You dont even know if you want to check raise a flop or a turn yet on the other thread. Just play what you can afford

Who are you talking to?

Do you even need any bankroll at all?

That is such a silly comment, what are we going to play, freerolls?

Bankroll is probably the most important aspect. If a tradesman loses his tools how can he make any money?

Most players also might like to separate their poker money and life money so it has less effects if you have a big swing.