How much bankroll do you need for NL5 ($0.02/$0.05)?
NL5 is the step up from NL2 and is still a beginner-friendly level. You'll meet more regulars who play a basic tight-aggressive style, but plenty of recreational players remain. It's a good stake to prove your win rate over a large sample before moving to NL10.
| Approach | With $5 buy-ins (100bb) |
|---|---|
| Aggressive (30 buy-ins) | $150 |
| Moderate (40 buy-ins) | $200 |
| Conservative (60 buy-ins) | $300 |
Online games are faster and more volatile per hour, so we recommend more buy-ins than for live play. If poker money comes from your salary and you can top it up, the aggressive figure is fine. If your bankroll is all you have, use the conservative one.
What can you expect to win?
A solid winner might make 5–10 bb/100, which is $0.25–$0.50 per 100 hands. Results swing a lot in the short term: see how big your swings could be with the variance calculator, and check your chance of going broke with the risk of ruin calculator. At this level rake is a big part of your results — see what it costs with the rake calculator.
Move-up and move-down rules for NL5
- Move down if your bankroll drops below 30 buy-ins ($150).
- Move up when you have 40 buy-ins for the next level.
- Take shots with a fixed number of buy-ins set aside, and step back down if you lose them.
Open the bankroll calculator for NL5 to plug in your own bankroll, or read our full poker bankroll management guide.