I'd say you want at least $3500. Starting w/ $1500 and playing super tight, passing up coinflip spots can be very -EV. You'll still win slightly if the other players are terrible or you get lucky, but you need to seize every opportunity that presents itself. That might mean putting all your money in as a slight underdog if there's a small amount of dead money in the pot that makes it profitable. If you start out w/ a small amount and are too conservative you are missing out on winnings that you'd earn if you weren't scared money.
I, like many others, started with a budget, not a bankroll. Online I played $5 SNGs with a $50 deposit and re-deposited a few times. Eventualy I stopped having to re-deposit and had OL roll up to 1.5K on Black Friday.
Live, I played the $2-6 "spread" limit (basically 3/6 limit) with a $200 allowance I gave myself. The variance was very low, and I played this until I saved up a "roll" of two buy-ins for $1-1-3NL. Lost half my "roll" the first hand I played when AA<AQ, and went back to the limit table. Got it back up to 2 BI and tried again. All previous deposits now re-paid to self and roll at 8K.
I've said this many times to friends of mine who are married: Get a separate bank account for your roll. Get a little to fund it, hell, if you have to, find some expense of yours you can cut for a while (like lunch out), and put that money every week in it.
Having a separate account is a godsend. Wife doesn't see/care. Every once in a while I buy her something from it. Like she griped about her car stereo once and I went that afternoon to "run errands" took her car, and got a stereo put in. These little things go a long way.
Also, find an account with a local bank (so you can deposit cash), and ask about the daily limits on ATM withdrawls. My credit union raised it to $500 for me.
I keep a little at home (in a safe, never more than $1,000). I take like 2 BI to casino. I have the ATM card if I decide to play more after that. Seldom do, but sometimes I play a tourney, then need a buy in, or decide to sit at a juicy 2/5 game, etc.
this works great.
Oh, also, I mentioned golf, which I no longer play, used to cost a crapload of money and I was gone WAYYY longer than when I play cards. I usually only play a few hours about 2x a week. I'd say my avg. session is 3 hours. I just don't have fun playing for much longer than that. Plus I get bored and play too many hands.
Go to the main BBV thread, I wrote like a ten step plan for someone that lives in your area to do just this. I don't want to write it again but just search my name or something.
