Bankroll
Short stackers don’t need as big a bankroll as other players because they are risking less chips. Those chips do go in the middle quite often, so a healthy bankroll is at least 30 short buy-ins. Many of the best short stackers say that they prefer 60 buy-ins in order to avoid the stress of losing a big percentage of their bankroll on a run of bad cards. If you are just getting started at the micro-stakes, just drop a few bucks in your account and go for it. You can also check out ShortSharks which has some links to get set up with a free micro bankroll.
When the amount of money involved is not a big deal to you, and can easily be replaced from another poker site or from a paycheck, bankroll management is not important. When you move up a few levels, you should start keeping at least 15 buy-ins in your roll to avoid the inevitable swings, and once you get serious about short stacking and start to rely on it for a portion of your income, we recommend at least 30 short buy-ins or 600 big blinds.
For some bankroll and income calculators, you can go to Bankrolltools.com. They don’t have any short stack numbers up yet, but if you bug them maybe they’ll add some short stack calculators too!