Playing poker at online poker rooms and casinos is hard enough as it is without having to worry about chiseling away at your bankroll.  The whole concept of defending your bankroll employs tactics that limit the risk that you take involving putting your money on the table at risk for other players to win away from you if you should choose to play poorly.  The strength of your bankroll has a lot to do with how well you do in online poker room and casino play, as a weak player can do very well with a strong bankroll, providing that he follows the rules and defends the bankroll with his life since it is indeed the source of his livelihood.  Keeping the bankroll separate from all other expenditures and necessary funds, such as everyday bill money and other mundane essential items, consider how much you actually have left to put towards the online poker room available bankroll.

You should never be playing more than 1% to 2% of your bankroll at any one time whether playing online poker at sites like Fulltiltpoker.com or at a Las Vegas casino or Costa Rica for that matter.  In this manner you insulate yourself from the possibility that you can overspend and overbid and wager too much and put yourself at risk.  These risky wagers and strategies can leave you in a world of hurt if you are not extremely careful.  Limiting what you put into play at any one time can protect you from going too far in the hole.  It is important to remember that a scared player is a weak player, and working from a minimal bankroll can be terrifying.  The point being that whatever the size of your bankroll is, you should never spend more than 1% to 2% of it at any one given time on wagering.

If the player was playing at Fulltiltpoker.com and had $500 in the bankroll, then it would be best to wager no more than $5-$10 at a time, ensuring that the pot does not grow beyond a manageable investment for the individual player.  It is critical to follow this rule of thumb, as betting too much can put a definite strain on the entire bankroll for the online poker room player.

In the example of the losing player, should the bankroll dwidle down to $400 from the original $500, it would be necessary to reduce the amount wagered from $5 and $10 bets to 4$ and 8$ bets.  This is just common sense, as your bankroll becomes smaller you should naturally reduce the amount that you wager.  If for some reason your bankroll should be reduced so much that you are no longer in possession of a bankroll than you are likely doing something wrong.