When playing poker at PokerStar, many things must be taken into account for proper play to develop. In addition to understanding how to play in the various positions at the table and what hands to play, there is also the idea of bankroll management. Successful poker players manage their bankroll in any number of ways depending on their appetite for risk and what play style they utilize. With that said each and every one of them uses and understands the concepts of bankroll management. Bankroll management is the concept where a player makes betting decisions based on the size of his or her chip stack.
One of the primary reasons for bankroll management is to add a certain level of security to play and reduce the risk of losing all of your chips. For example, if you have a $100 bankroll and you are playing a $2/$4 no-limit game, the size of your chip stack is only 25 big blinds, which is very small. Chances are good that if you lose a couple hands you will be in an extremely bad position based on the size of your stack or out of chips entirely. On the other hand, with that same $100 bankroll, if you are playing at a $.50/$1.00 table no-limit table you have 100 big blinds in your stack and can have the blinds go around the table many times without you ever having to play a single hand and you will not have to worry about running out of chips.
Deciding on how you want to manage your PokerStar.net bankroll is largely dependent on your style of play. Some players prefer to play more aggressive with a higher risk and reward ratio and, for those players, having a starting chip stack of between 50-70 big blinds is acceptable. It is advisable never to sit down at a table with a chip stack smaller than 50 big blinds. The standard number of big blinds in a starting chip stack for most players is 100. That gives you 33 rounds of blinds if you were to fold every single hand until you run out of chips. Even with a 40% loss to your stack you are still looking at 20 rounds of blinds which is more than you would have with a full stack at a $2/$4 table.
Using bankroll management in cash games will help a player calculate how they are doing at the table and make decisions based on possible outcomes with regard to the size of his or her chip stack. With proper bankroll management, you can help to reduce your downside risk and your chance of losing all your chips and increase your upside potential. Additionally, the more conservatively a player manages his or her bankroll, the more advantage they have at a no limit table because their chip stack will be larger than players who are maintaining a higher level of risk.