Bankroll Requirements

Even an excellent player can go broke if she doesn't have good bankroll management. This means playing in games that are not too high for the amount you have. For example, if you've decided you're going to play a lot of one-table tournaments and you have $250, you'd be crazy to play the $55's.

Even an excellent player has downswings of four buy-in very frequently. When you're playing one-table tournaments, a good rule of thumb is that you'd like to have 50 buy-ins. Thirty may be safe too, but it's more of a risk. In poker, cards can cause you to have a bad run even if you're a great player.