A common question among beginning poker players revolves around how much they should spend on a single multi-table tournament buy-in. The general answer is that it’s a good idea to only spend 1-2% of your bankroll on a lone MTT. After all, you wouldn’t want to put too much money into a single tourney and lose a big chunk of your bankroll. But sometimes the general answer just doesn’t cut it because there’s more to consider with this subject.

Field Sizes

The primary aspect to consider when buying into an MTT is how many players are going to be in the event. Assuming you were entering a 100-player poker tournament, you could spend a little more of your bankroll (say 3-4%) because there’s a better chance of cashing. However, if you were entering a 3,000-player tourney or larger, you’d want to stick with the 1-2% recommendation.

Skill Level

Another huge factor in the poker bankroll discussion involves how good you are. Sure this is a no-brainer, but not a whole lot of players consider this in regard to their bankroll. The better you are, the more you can afford to spend on a single tournament. For example, it would be okay to spend 3-4% of your bankroll on any event (regardless of size) since you have a decent chance to cash. However, if you’re relatively new to the game, you should spend a very low amount of your bankroll on each poker tournament.

One more general rule to consider with MTT’s and bankroll is that you should only play at stakes that’ll allow you to lose 20 straight buy-ins without severely affecting your BR. For example, if your BR is $1,000, playing tourneys with $20 + $2 buy-ins would be okay because losing $440 during a major downswing wouldn’t decimate you.