The most important factor in good bankroll management is tracking. From the basics of how to build a poker bankroll to separating a tournament poker bankroll from cash games, there must be a method to it. That is why it is essential to find the best poker bankroll app or tracker to keep it all in order.
Poker Bankroll Calculator
Any good poker bankroll management tool will contain a calculator of some sort. It offers a simple system of inputting poker bankroll details in order to find the proper limits, stakes, and buy-ins for that bankroll. It ensures longevity and the best possibilities for growth.
The basics of a poker calculator can be as simple as ensuring the player has 20 times the buy-in at a particular cash game level. For example, if Joe Poker wants to play a $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em cash game and the maximum buy-in for that game is $200, Joe should have a minimum of $4,000 in his bankroll.
On the other hand, Joe Poker can sit in a $1/$2 Limit Hold’em cash game with just $600 in his bankroll. Limit poker plays lower and slower, and a bankroll can go much further without massive pots and all-in opportunities.
Many websites offer a standard bankroll poker calculator that instantly provides information. If Joe Poker and his $4,000 bankroll need guidelines, a calculator would probably dictate:
- Average cash game with $200 buy-in (using 5% of bankroll of $4,000)
- Average tournament buy-in of $80 (using 2% of bankroll of $4,000)
- Average single SNG with $130 buy-in (using little more than 3% of bankroll of $4,000)
What a Poker Bankroll App Should Do
Any good poker bankroll management app will include a calculator. A proper app also contains many more tools.
For example, a player should be able to track buy-ins and payouts, the amount of money spent on a poker session or tournament and the amount available at the end. Beyond that, however, a good app should separate the games played to break down the following:
- Limit vs. No Limit vs. Pot Limit games
- Hold’em vs. Omaha vs. other poker variations
- Online poker vs. live poker
- Number of players at the table, atmosphere notes
- Game complications like reentries, rebuys, straddles, and bomb pots
- Location and settings of live tournaments
- Entry fees and rake
- Variables like currency exchanges, color-ups, and tips
Of course, the better apps also allow players to track all online hands and key live hands. The ability to create a hand replayer and share that information with contacts or online is also beneficial to improving one’s game.
Poker Bankroll Tracker App
The most frequently used poker bankroll app is Poker Bankroll Tracker. More than 100,000 people have downloaded it on Google Play alone, and the majority of players rate it with 5 of 5 stars.
The best part of Poker Bankroll Tracker is that it can be installed on a computer, phone, and/or tablet. All poker played and data input is combined and sorted.
In addition to standard bankroll data, Poker Bankroll Tracker also includes:
- Ability to import data from other poker tracker apps and software
- Compiled statistics, including VPIP, PFT, and various ranges
- Odds calculator
- ICM and chip-chop calculator
- Tournament payout calculator
- Variance calculations
- Notes section to comment on players, games, etc.
- Bankroll calculations that include travel expenses and tips
- Available offline and online
Poker Manager Bankroll Tracker App
Recently celebrating its 10 year anniversary, Poker Manager is a popular bankroll tracker used by recreational and professional poker players alike. It operates with no ads and focuses more on bankroll than on poker tournament stats and hand histories.
Android users are the target audience for Poker Manager, and it operates on phones, tablets, and Chromebooks. The app reflects more than 10,000 downloads to date, and the overwhelming majority of ratings are 4 of 5 or 5 of 5 stars.
What sets this app apart from a larger one is that it focuses on presenting bankroll data in ways that make it clear, such as in graphs and other player preferences. Browsing poker sessions for bankroll information and other data is easy, and everything is backed up safely. Some of the features on Poker Manager include:
- Separation of active and past poker sessions
- Exchange rates for more than 100 currencies for traveling players
- Simple synchronization of sessions among all connected devices
- Export sessions to Microsoft Excel for personalized data analysis and sharing
- New sorting system for bankroll transactions
Pokerbase Bankroll Tracker App
This is one of the newer bankroll tracking apps, with the company having released it in 2018. It has more than 10,000 downloads thus far, and reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Some say it takes the best of other bankroll apps and combines those qualities into one, though this is only available for Android users.
Some of the benefits of using Pokerbase include:
- Equity and odds calculator for poker hands
- Blind calculator shows M-ratio
- Ability to download to Microsoft Excel or offline backup files for tax purposes
- Allows for management of staking and backing arrangements
- Records and allows the sharing of hands in different formats
- Importation of data simplified for users of other apps
Read Poker Bankroll App Reviews
When starting your poker bankroll management strategy and researching the best tool, make sure to read the reviews on the app. Not only are there questions for which answers show the reconciliation of software bugs, but it’s also obvious which app developers pay attention to reviews and are responsive to customers.
Whether players are dabbling in online poker or playing live and online poker professionally, it is essential that they choose the right app for tracking all bankroll data. There are so many poker bankroll rules, but they are crucial. A player’s bankroll is literally the base of poker experiences.
When that app is ready to go, head to your favorite poker room or log on to play poker online at BetMGM, for example, to start recording data. There’s no better time to build your bankroll than now.
