# What Is ABI in Poker and How to Calculate It ABI (average buy-in) is one of the key metrics for any tournament player. It shows the average buy-in level at which you play, and it helps you assess whether your bankroll matches the stakes you've chosen. ## How to Calculate ABI The formula is simple: add up the buy-ins of all the tournaments you've played and divide that sum by the total number of tournaments. **ABI = (sum of all buy-ins) / (number of tournaments)** For example, if over a session you played: - 10 tournaments with a $5 buy-in - 5 tournaments with a $10 buy-in - 5 tournaments with a $20 buy-in Then your calculation looks like this: - (10 × $5) + (5 × $10) + (5 × $20) = $50 + $50 + $100 = $200 - Total number of tournaments: 10 + 5 + 5 = 20 - ABI = $200 / 20 = $10 So your average buy-in is $10. ## Why ABI Matters ABI helps you: - **Manage your bankroll.** Knowing your ABI, you can determine how many buy-ins you have in your bankroll and whether you're playing within proper bankroll management limits. - **Track your progress.** A rising ABI over the long run shows that you're moving up in stakes. - **Analyze your results.** ABI is needed to correctly calculate ROI and other key metrics. Keep an eye on your ABI and make sure it matches your bankroll and your skill level — that's the foundation of a stable game over the long run.

In tournament poker, results almost never reflect the true quality of play over a short distance. Even with correct decisions, a player can run into a prolonged downstreak*, lose part of their bankroll*, and start making increasingly risky decisions.

Often the problem doesn't lie in the strategy of playing hands, but on a more basic level — in tournament selection. A player may be a winner, yet regularly enter events with an inflated buy-in, which increases variance and destroys the consistency of results.

That's exactly why understanding ABI is a step toward a more disciplined and stable model of play.

*A downstreak is a period when a player loses for a long time or shows worse-than-expected results.

*Bankroll is the amount of money a player has set aside specifically for playing poker.

What ABI is in poker

ABI (Average Buy-In) is a metric that reflects the average cost of the tournaments a player participates in over the long run.

Unlike the standard buy-in, which shows the cost of a single event, ABI describes the entire tournament schedule. This is fundamentally important, because most MTT players play dozens of tournaments with different entries at the same time.

Thus, a single expensive tournament does not by itself determine the level of play. Its influence only shows up through a change in the average value.

Amateurs more often focus on individual tournaments and their payouts, whereas a professional works with the long run. For them, what matters is not which tournament was played, but how it affects the overall load and risk.

In this sense, ABI becomes a tool that turns play from a set of scattered decisions into a systematic process.

The ABI formula and calculation examples

Formally, ABI is calculated with a simple formula:

ABI = Sum of all buy-ins ÷ Number of tournaments played

However, the formula itself is only the beginning. What's more important is to understand how it reflects the structure of play.

A simple example

A player played 5 tournaments with the following buy-ins: 

$5 + $11 + $11 + $22 + $11 = $60

ABI = $60 / 5 = $12

This example shows that even a single more expensive tournament affects the final value. If instead of the $22 there had been another $11 tournament, the ABI would have dropped.

This means that every deviation from the base limit increases the overall level of risk.

An example over the long run

In a month, a player played:

— 50 tournaments at $10
— 20 tournaments at $15
— 5 tournaments at $30

Total amount: 50×10 + 20×15 + 5×30 = $950

Number of tournaments: 75

ABI = 950 / 75 ≈ $11.9

Here you can clearly see how the balance works. Despite the presence of expensive tournaments, the overall level stays close to the base.

This is exactly what allows poker professionals to add more expensive events without destroying their bankroll.

Why ABI is needed

The main function of ABI is managing risk over the long run.

In MTTs, variance*  is significantly higher than in cash games. Even a strong player can go a long time without cashing, and if the buy-in level is chosen incorrectly, the bankroll can't withstand such swings.

*Variance is the deviation of actual results from expected ones due to randomness. Simply put, it's the influence of luck over a short distance.

You can read more about what variance in poker is in our article. 

ABI lets you stabilize the situation through several effects:

• it smooths out the impact of individual expensive tournaments

• it limits the average level of load

• it makes results more predictable

In addition, ABI serves a psychological function.

A player who focuses on their average buy-in* makes emotional decisions less often. They don't raise their stakes after a good run and don't try to win back losses in expensive tournaments after setbacks. 

*A buy-in in poker is the amount of money a player pays to enter the game, i.e. the cost of participating in a tournament. 

How many buy-ins you need for a stable bankroll

The standard rule for tournament players is to keep a reserve of 100 to 200 buy-ins. However, this is only a basic guideline that needs to be adapted to specific conditions.

Several approaches can be distinguished:

• Conservative style: 200–300 ABI — minimal risk, slow growth.

• Moderate style: 100–150 ABI — a balance between growth and stability.

• Aggressive style: 50–100 ABI — fast growth, high variance

Examples: 

1. Bankroll $300 → ABI of about $1–1.5

2. Bankroll $3,000 → ABI of up to $20

Such values let you withstand standard swings and keep control over your play.

However, in practice the bankroll is affected by additional factors, for example, the tournament format.

Turbo and hyper-turbo tournaments increase variance, knockout tournaments create additional variability because of the bounty, and large fields lower the probability of cashing. 

In all these cases, a larger bankroll reserve is required.

How to build a tournament schedule with ABI in mind

Building a tournament schedule is the practical application of ABI in real play.

A player almost never has the option to play only one limit. The schedule of poker rooms is set up so that events with the same buy-in are distributed unevenly, which means that to get a full load you have to combine tournaments with different entry costs.

In this situation, the key task is not just to fill tables, but to maintain a structure in which the average buy-in stays within the target ABI. This is exactly what distinguishes systematic play from a random choice of tournaments. What should you pay attention to? 

1. The basic logic of building a schedule

Any tournament schedule starts with three parameters:

1. Current bankroll

2. Target ABI

3. Acceptable range of buy-ins

After that, a schedule is formed where:

• the bulk of the tournaments is around the target ABI

• more expensive events are offset by cheaper ones

• the resulting average value does not go out of bounds

For example, at an ABI of $5 a player can include tournaments from $1 to $15, but the structure must be skewed toward cheaper and mid-range events, so that rare expensive entries do not increase overall risk.

2. Balancing expensive and cheap tournaments

A mistake many players make is treating expensive tournaments as the most important events and shifting their focus to them, playing cheaper tournaments carelessly. 

In practice, each such entry increases the average buy-in. If they are not offset by cheaper tournaments, ABI starts to rise, and variance rises along with it.

The right approach is to view each event as part of an overall system.

If a tournament above the range appears in the schedule, it must be balanced out by several cheaper entries. Only in this case is control over the bankroll maintained.

3. The impact of tournament structure

When building a schedule, it's important to take into account not only the buy-in, but also the characteristics of the tournaments themselves.

• Number of participants (AFS)
  The larger the field, the lower the probability of cashing and the higher the variance. Tournaments with a large number of players require a more cautious approach, even if their buy-in matches the ABI.

• Tournament type
  Knockout tournaments and bounty events increase the variability of results. In such formats, part of the EV is distributed differently, so their share in the schedule should be limited, especially in the upper part of the range.

• Blind structure
  Turbo and hyper-turbo tournaments speed up play and increase the impact of short stacks. This leads to higher variance, so such events require a deeper bankroll and cautious inclusion in the schedule.

4. The role of winrate and skill level

When building a schedule, it's important to take into account not only ABI, but also the player's actual skill level.

The EVbb/100 metric lets you assess how effectively decisions are made. If the winrate is consistently high, the player can gradually add more expensive tournaments.

If, however, results are unstable, raising the ABI will only intensify downswings.

Thus, a tournament schedule should be built not only from the bankroll, but also from the quality of play.

How to calculate your ABI

Above, we've already explained how to calculate your ABI by hand. This approach works well over a small distance or for one-off checks. However, in real play a regular deals with hundreds and thousands of tournaments, where manual calculation becomes inefficient and easily leads to errors.

That's exactly why, in practice, ABI is almost always tracked with the help of specialized software.

1. Holdem Manager and PokerTracker are the main tools for collecting and analyzing poker statistics.

The Holdem Manager 3 interface 

The PokerTracker 4 interface

They automatically import the history of hands and tournaments played, building a database on the basis of which key metrics, including ABI, are calculated.

In the context of ABI, these programs let you:

• see the average buy-in (Avg Buy-In / Avg Total Buy-In) for any period

• track the dynamics of how ABI changes

• analyze results at different stakes

• compare ABI with ROI, EVbb/100, and other metrics

This provides an important advantage: the player begins to see not individual tournaments, but the structure of their play.

For example, you can discover that the ABI rose unconsciously — because of adding a few expensive tournaments. Or, conversely, that the average buy-in is too low relative to your current level of play.

Thus, trackers turn ABI from a formula into a tool for control and analysis.

2. SharkScope is an online service that collects statistics on tournament players.

The SharkScope interface

Unlike trackers, it doesn't require installation and can be used to analyze both your own play and that of your opponents.

In the context of ABI, SharkScope shows:

• the player's average buy-in

• ROI and profit over the long run

• the dynamics of results

• the distribution of tournaments across stakes

This is especially useful in two cases:

• Self-analysis. You can quickly assess whether your current ABI matches your results and bankroll.

• Assessing opponents. An opponent's ABI gives an idea of their level and experience. A player with a high ABI usually plays a stronger field and has a more stable strategy.

Conclusion

Calculating ABI in poker is the foundation of a systematic approach to tournament play. It's the ability to control the level of risk, build stable play over the long run, and make decisions that don't destroy the bankroll.

Over the long run, it's precisely this approach that ensures steady growth and allows you to move up to higher stakes without critical downswings.

If you want to work on your game within a system and earn over the long run, apply to FunFarm. 

FAQ

What ABI is considered normal with a bankroll of $1,000?

Usually the comfortable range is between $5–10. This corresponds to a reserve of 100–200 buy-ins and lets you withstand standard tournament variance without serious downswings.

Can you play tournaments above your ABI?

Yes, but only within a controlled strategy. One-off entries into more expensive tournaments are acceptable if they don't distort the average buy-in over the long run.

The problem begins when such tournaments become regular and imperceptibly increase the ABI. In that case variance rises, and the bankroll stops matching the level of play.

The right approach is to view such tournaments as part of an overall system and offset them with cheaper events.

How often should you recalculate ABI?

It makes sense to track ABI regularly. For example, once a week or once a month. Over a short distance the metric can fluctuate greatly due to random factors, so it's important to analyze it over a sample of dozens or hundreds of tournaments.

Regular recalculation lets you spot deviations in time and adjust the tournament schedule before it affects the bankroll. 

Does the number of tables played affect ABI?

Directly — no, but there is an indirect effect. When increasing the number of tables, a player more often adds tournaments of different levels to fill out their load. This can lead to a rise in the average buy-in if you don't control the structure of the schedule. In addition, it can lower the quality of decisions, which is especially critical at a higher ABI.

Do you need to take the tournament format into account when calculating ABI?

Formally — no, only the buy-in cost is included in the calculation. However, in practice the format directly affects variance. Turbo, hyper-turbo, and knockout tournaments create higher swings in results than classic freezeouts. So with the same ABI, the actual load on the bankroll can differ. This is important to take into account when building a schedule.

How do you know if the ABI is chosen correctly?

The main guideline is the stability of results over the long run. If the bankroll withstands downstreaks, and the player keeps control over their play and isn't forced to lower stakes after every bad run, then the ABI is set correctly.

If, however, downswings become critical, and pressure and a desire to win back losses appear, this is a signal that the average buy-in is too high and needs to be reviewed.