A Ben's Life

2020-10-31T08:47:00.002-07:00

Building and Managing a Poker Bankroll

It’s been about 17 years now since I played my first hand of No-Limit Hold Em. I started playing back in 2003 shortly after Chris Moneymaker’ WSOP Main Event win. His victory sparked a poker boom and brought it into the mainstream. He got in on a $40 online satellite to take down poker’s biggest prize which helped create the online poker industry.

The first site I joined in late 2003 was called Poker Room. I knew relatively little about how to play, and nothing at all about bankrolls. I deposited $600 and it was gone in a matter of weeks. I quickly realized I had a lot to learn so I bought a bunch of poker books at Barnes & Noble and got to work. The first book I read was called Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein. It gave me a basic understanding of how to play and gave a brief description of poker’s culture as well as the mentality of the professional players. It wasn’t until 2006 that I learned about bankrolls.

In 2006 I joined Full Tilt Poker, an online website represented by a large number of well-known pros. It was one of 3 major websites in operation at the time, the other two being PokerStars, and Ultimate Bet. I played exclusively on Full Tilt for a number of years until the government shutdown of online poker on April 15^th, 2011, otherwise known as Black Friday. My introduction to bankroll management was sparked by Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, one of Full Tilt’s co-founders. One of the things that made him so popular, other than his multiple WSOP wins, was his 0 to hero online poker challenge. Its purpose was to turn $0 into $10,000. Ferguson believed that by adhering to strict bankroll management rules he could achieve this feat. Full Tilt ran a few tournaments each day called freerolls which is where Ferguson started his challenge. There was no buy-in and you could win money by placing in the top 27 spots. There were typically 2,700 entries and the tournaments would fill up in just 90 seconds. It took Ferguson many weeks to make his first $2. Overall, he made $22 from the freerolls. It took him 9 months to make his first $100. One of the big moments in the challenge was placing 2^nd in a $1 tournament for $104. Nine months after that Ferguson had amassed over $28,000 but failed to hold it eventually dropping back below $10,000. His rules were simple. He would invest no more than 2% of his bankroll on MTTs (multi-table tournaments). If he was under $50 however, he could play $1 tourneys since that was the lowest buy in at the time. For cash games, he could invest no more than 5%, and if his winnings exceeded 10% of his overall bankroll, he would be forced to leave the table when the blinds reached him. His challenge inspired me to manage my bankroll the same way. Things were going well until Black Friday shut it all down.

After Black Friday, I didn’t play online poker for a long time. I had a pretty firm grip on how to play many forms of poker and had finally figured out the importance of bankroll management, but never got the chance to really put it into practice. I had over $1,300 on Full Tilt at the time of the shutdown and was sticking firmly to Ferguson’s rules. There was no doubt his theory worked, but I needed a site to play on so I could start over. On May 2^nd, 2017, I discovered Global Poker, an online site that treated each hand as a sweepstakes. This sweepsatkes model made it possible for them to bypass the online poker ban. They gave you $2 for signing up. I took the $2 and jumped into a .02/.04 cash game and ran it up to $8. The next day I played with $2 again and built the roll up to $17. Global had tournaments running once a day for $0.11 that payed out around $80 for 1^st place so I quit the cash games and started playing those. A few months later I won one and the bankroll shot up to over $120.

Ferguson’s theory works. There is no doubt about that, but how effective is it in the long-term, and is it the right way to build a bankroll? Sure, the 2% and 5% rules work when you actually have a bankroll to manage, but what about if you are building one? Bankrolls go up and down because of variance, and since luck is streaky by nature, you could play perfectly for long stretches of time and still lose. Your bankroll has to be able to withstand these “swings”, but what if you didn’t have to worry about swings? Is there a way to build a bankroll without having it go up and down like an elevator all the time? Remember, Ferguson actually got to $28,000, but then dipped below $10,000 not long after. I decided to make my own rules to find out if there was a better way.

I didn’t abandon Ferguson’s system altogether, but I did some modifications. First, I needed to figure out my goal. Global’s most costly MTT buy-in is $218. If you multiply that by 50, (remember the 2% rule), you come up with $10,900. That means you need at least that much to be able to play the most expensive tournament. I made that my goal. I decided not to incorporate cash games, as that is not my preferred medium when it comes to online poker. Plus, the swings in NLHE cash games can be enormous. I don’t like the idea of losing 5% of my bankroll in one hand, especially when trying to build from scratch. Next, I needed a starting point. I still had some money left on Global after withdrawing $200 in June. I figured $55 was a good starting point since $1.10 was Global’s cheapest buy-in other than the $0.11 tourneys. They also run a handful of freebuys throughout the night. Freebuys are basically freerolls that you can pay to re-enter if you go broke during the re-buy period. You can also pay to add on chips at the end of the rebuy period. I chose to treat them as freerolls and not invest any money in them. Another thing Global does, is they give you money to play each day. The first 4 days they give you $0.25, days 5 and 6 $0.55, and day 7 it’s $1, then it starts over. That means you can make $3.10 every week as long as you remember to claim it. If you subtract $0.77 from that assuming you play the $0.11 tournament every day, you will make $2.33 every week even if you cash in nothing. Following this method ensures your bankroll will never actually come down even if you run bad.

So basically, I am trying to make $55 into $10,900. Now that can seem pretty overwhelming when you look at it like that, so I broke it down into 9 levels. Each level starts at 50x the buy-in of that tournament. For example, Level 1 starts at $55 (50 x $1.10) and goes to $110 (50 x $2.20). Each level is made up of steps. So, level 1 has 11 steps of $5 each. Once I go up a step, the rule is not to let the bankroll dip below that. My goal each week is to go up one step. For example, if my bankroll is $62.50 to start Monday, I want to break $65 by Sunday. Remember, I’m profiting $2.33 that week no matter what happens, so all I really need to do is make at least $0.17 from my tournaments and I hit my goal that week. If my bankroll is above the minimum amount for a step, but the $2.33 profit isn’t enough to get to the next step, I will use whatever I have above the minimum to play. So, let’s say I’m in the $300-$325 step, and I have $318. That means I have $18 I can spend on tournaments that week to bump up to $325 or more. The buy-ins still have to be 2% or less of my bankroll, but I’m guaranteed to still be above $300 at the end of the week even if I strike out on every single tournament.

I think Ferguson’s rules work well if you have a bankroll to manage, but if you are trying to build, you want to avoid having those up and down swings. Look at it like building a house. You don’t want to get halfway done, and then start taking it apart. A bankroll is no different. My motto is “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”. That means no cash games during the build phase, and no dropping a step once you reach it. On July 20^th, I had $55 in my account and as of this post, I am sitting at $513 and climbing just by sticking to these rules.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KEkTtLm4HNB3HdP1UHq7fsmNgdaTLR-d/view?usp=sharing

Weekly Bankroll Update 3/8 - 3/14

2020-03-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

Another up week despite a slow start. It wasn’t huge, but that’s seven weeks in a row of profit thanks to a fortunate cash in the Daily Hundo for $10. I just missed getting the $100 because I finished 4th (again), but I’m always happy just to make the money in that tourney. Here are some figures:

Play Money: 71,964,000 Up 1,817,000

Online: $380.74

Live: $2,242.63

Total: $2,623.37 Up $3.23

MGM Springfield has announced it is closing its poker room indefinitely due to Coronavirus concerns so it’s more important than ever that I protect and manage my online roll. Things are going to get a little more difficult in the next couple of weeks. I’m lucky that I can work from home, but my daughter is out of school for at least two weeks, and I have to figure out how I’m going to make my hours each day. This might require me having to work at night after she goes to bed which means I might have to adjust my poker schedule a bit. I’m not sure how this week is going to go so I’m not going to commit to a schedule. There are a lot more important things going on right now and I hope everyone reading this stays strong and healthy. Be sure to be kind to one another and don’t hoard toilet paper! Take care everyone.

Weekly Bankroll Update 3/1 - 3/7

2020-03-08T08:22:00.001-07:00

Poker is fun when you run well, and infuriating when you don’t. Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Poker’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing and getting different results. You can play your best game night after night and constantly get different results which can slowly drive a weak-minded player insane. Ironically, the goal in poker should be to get as close as possible to Einstein’s insanity definition. You want consistency. Play your A-game and profit over time, even though playing your A-game can result in losses in the short-term. You almost need to be insane to play this game, and this game can make you insane at the same time. For me, I break it down into one-week sessions. If I’m profitable over seven days, I’m good. If I can string a bunch of those profitable one-week sessions together I keep myself from going insane. It’s important not to look at poker in terms of short-term results, but also not to look too far ahead. For me, one week is comfortable. For others it might be every two weeks, or every month that they evaluate their results. In any case, pick a time period in which to evaluate your play to keep from going insane. Here are my standings after last week:

Play Money: 70,147,000 Down 695,000

Online: $377.51

Live: $2,242.63

Total: $2,620.14 Up $19.55

It was a good week that saw several cashes including the Weekly Bonanza and the Daily Hundo. The week goes much better when I hit on the Weekly Bonanza. It’s more of the same this week as I slowly approach $400 online with the goal of breaking $500. Just gotta keep from going insane until then.

Weekly Bankroll Update 2/23 - 2/29

2020-03-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

Made some deep runs last week, but payouts were small. This is what happens when I don’t cash in the Weekly Bonanza or the Daily Hundo. It’s hard to profit on these micro stakes tourneys, but an up week is an up week. That’s five in a row now, and I’m feeling like I’m in the groove right now. I missed the cutoff to buy in to the freeroll a couple times last week, so it could have been a little better than it was. They cap the number of entries at 800 so you have to buy in shortly after the registration period begins or you miss your opportunity. Anyway, here are my totals as of the start of today:

Play Money: 70,842,000 Down 75,000

Online: $358.32

Live: $2,242.27

Total: $2,600.59 Up $2.72

My goal this week is simply to not forget to reg the freeroll. That’s a potentially costly mistake as I tend to run extremely well in that tournament, and hell, it’s free so no excuses. Even though I’m only inching forward, I’m very happy to be up for five consecutive weeks even through the Grizzly Games. My confidence is high going into this week, and I’m due for a big score so let’s see what happens!

Weekly Bankroll Update 2/16 - 2/22

2020-02-23T07:14:00.000-08:00

Just one day left of Grizzly Games and no trophies, but I did come close finishing 2nd to my best friend Matti_s73, aka Matt Sinico. He had a huge chip lead when we got heads up and we battled for a while, but in the end, the trophy went to Matt, and I got a bunch of meaningless Gold Coins for my effort. Hopefully I can pull something out here at the end, but if not, my snake will have to wait a little longer for a friend. All in all it was a good week though. Here are my numeros:

Play Money: 70,917,000 Up 69,000

Online: $355.60

Live: $2,242.27

Total: $2,597.87 Up $17.82

This week things go back to normal. I’ll be playing the Daily Bonanza, Daily Hundo and Daily Freeroll to try and grind my online roll to $500 for my short term goal. Spring will be here soon and I’m hoping to get in some casino runs. In order to get this thing moving, I’m going to have to take some shots in live games. The next main goal is to get my total to $4,000, and let’s face it, that ain’t gonna happen playing micro stakes online. At least not in this decade. I have some possibilities to make a bit with my fantasy teams too. I’m drafting two baseball teams this year, and I’m entered into a season long office pool at my work that could generate some income, but my hopes lie at MGM. I gotta be able to have a good session there in order to gain some traction. Planning is already underway...

Weekly Bankroll Update 2/9 - 2/15

2020-02-16T05:58:00.000-08:00

Hard to call an up week a bad one, but the river beats have been almost too hard to take lately. I made some decent runs in the Grizzlies only to get the rug pulled out from under me at the last minute. It just feels like my opponents can’t miss. Players must be super excited to see me show up at their table. Thankfully I ran well in the Weekly Bonanza cashing for $8.50 and setting up a profitable week. Without further adieu...

Play Money: 70,848,000 Up 722,000

Online: $337.88

Live: $2,242.27

Total: $2,580.05 Up $5.08

It wasn’t a huge week, but it continues with the upward trend and that’s really all that matters. There is one week left to get that trophy and I’m determined to succeed. Once the Grizzly Games are over it’s back to the normal tourneys and I’m confident the roll will grow a little faster than it has these past couple of weeks.

Weekly Bankroll Update 2/2 - 2/8

2020-02-09T07:04:00.001-08:00

Well, we are just about one week into the Grizzly Games, and although I have no trophy yet, I ran pretty deep in a few this week with 4 top 20 finishes, including a 3rd place. Here’s where I am:

Play Money: 70,126,000 Up 362,000

Online: $332.80

Live: $2,242.27

Total: $2,575.07 Up $6.23

We’ll keep grinding for a trophy this week as well as mixing in real money tourneys. It’s been two consecutive up weeks after a terrible start to the year so I’m feeling confident going into the week. These Grizzly tourneys are real tough to win, but I have no doubt I’ll at least get close as long as I continue to play my A-game.

Weekly Bankroll Update 1/26 - 2/1

2020-02-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to break my slump last week with a 4th place finish in the Daily Bonanza Tuesday night. The $36 cash was the only real highlight, but it was enough to raise my confidence going into the start of the Grizzly Games on Global Poker this week. Here’s where I ended up:

Play Money: 69,764,000 Up 2,675,000

Online: $326.57

Live: $2,242.27

Total: $2,568.84 Up $32.89

The Grizzly Games begin this week, and I really want to win one of these tourneys. I’ll be playing both play money ones each night along with the Daily Hundo and Bonanza so as to keep the online bankroll moving forward. There is no doubt this is going to be a very slow uphill climb, but the next couple of weeks are going to be really fun. I wish Global would bring back the leaderboards for these games. It gives people an added incentive to play their A-games and move up the ladder. I also want to take this opportunity to call on Global to add more games like HORSE and other mixed game formats. Also, we need some more $2.20 buy ins between 8 and 10pm. Some of us have bankrolls that make the $2.20 buy ins ideal to build our rolls with minimal risk but can’t play at 1:00 in the afternoon or 2:00 in the morning. Let’s get us a Grizzly this week!

Weekly Bankroll Update 1/19 - 1/25

2020-01-26T11:11:00.000-08:00

Brutal week readers. Brutal. Cashed in 3/22 all for under $1. It seems like even when I build up a stack, I lose it a few hands later. I think I need to be even more conservative with my play, if that’s even possible. I kept my buy ins low again and will continue to do so until I break out of this slump. I feel like I have a bulls-eye on my back every time I enter a pot. Thankfully, I’ve been through many slumps before and am familiar with the mindset needed to overcome the bad runs. Here’s where I am going into this week:

Play Money: 67,089,000 Up 239,000

Online: $293.68

Live: $2,242.27

Total: $2,535.95 Down $6.36

This week needs to be a break-out one. The Grizzly Games are starting back up Feb. 3rd and I need to be ready to win a trophy. It’ll be more of the same as far as buy ins go, but I might try a $10 cash game later in the week if things aren’t going well. Let’s see what happens.

Weekly Bankroll Update 1/13 - 1/19

2020-01-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

Man, poker is tough when you run bad. I lost coin flips in key situations that would’ve decided whether or not I made the money and this happened consistently all week. Thankfully, I kept my buy ins low and didn’t take much of a hit. Here are my standings:

Play Money: 66,876,000 Up 476,000

Online: $300.04 Down $4.26

Live: $2,242.27

Total: $2,542.31

Part of managing a bankroll is to not press when you know you’re running bad. There’s a tendency to want to “chase the losses” and it’s important to resist that temptation. Walk away, do something else, distract yourself. That’s why I love video games so much. They are a great way to escape from the frustration of losing at poker. This week I’ll try and get back to my winning ways by keeping the buy ins to a minimum until I feel like I’ve broken out of my slump.

Weekly Bankroll Update 1/6 - 1/12

2020-01-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

Not much to report this week as I pretty much broke even. I played 5/7 nights and started well but fizzled at the end. I don’t feel like I played my best getting impatient at times and just not feeling super motivated. I get that way sometimes and try not to play too much when I’m in that mindset. After all, poker is a grind for those looking to do it full time. Despite my lackluster play no damage was done. This is why managing your bankroll is so important. Here are my numbers:

Play Money: 66,400,000 Down 1,500,000

Online: $304.30

Live: $2,242.27

Total: $2,546.57 Up $1.99

This week my goal is simply to play better than last week. I sat out a couple of nights including the $3.30 tourneys. It probably saved me some money doing that. I need to make sure I don’t let my game descend into making bad decisions so this week I will get back on track.

Weekly Bankroll Update as of 1/5

2020-01-05T12:44:00.002-08:00

Hello again readers! After a little 6-month hiatus, I’ve decided to start the blog back up. New year, new decade and new goals. 2019 was a busy year for the family and I. My daughter started Kindergarden, I got my MBA, we renewed our lease on one of our cars, and bought another, re-financed our mortgage, started renovating our bathroom, my brother got married and moved to Virginia Beach, Jackie got a new boss, and I now can work from home. Phew! See why I needed a break? I have been playing poker over the past 6 months despite all the craziness in my life, but mostly online. I was making weekly trips for a while to MGM and managed to break even over 7 sessions. The format this year will be a bit different since I’m technically managing two bankrolls (online and live), but I will be combining them when talking about my overall total. It’s winter here in New England and not ideal for traveling to the casino, but I do plan on playing live again in the spring so I’ll be posting my live total as well as my online total. I cashed out all but $60 of my Global roll back in June so I could bank it for live play and have run it back up to over $300 since then. I was actually hoping to start this new year on a positive note by making $100 in the Daily Hundo last night, but instead was blessed with my third 4th place finish in that tourney. I had to settle for $10 instead, but broke even on the week. Here’s where I’m at to start 2020:

Play Money: 67,900,000

Online: $303.58

Live: $2,241.00

Total: $2,544.58

My live roll might be a little higher, but I haven’t been to the bank to see my balance in a while. Should be more accurate next week. The plan this week is to play MTTs on Global Poker. I’ll play the Weekly Bonanza today, the Newsletter freeroll on Tuesday, and the nightly Bonanza, nightly Freeroll, Daily Hundo, and the nightly $3.30 Turbo (no rebuy or add on) for a total of 30 tournaments and $30.98 in buy ins. My rule of thumb this year is to invest no more than 10% of the total online roll in MTTs each week while playing as many tourneys as possible. SnGs and cash games online will take a backseat until I can build the roll a little more. The main goal right now is to get the total bankroll over $4,000 so I can comfortably play $200 cash games at the casino. For online, I’d just like to break $500 in the short-term. Let’s see how this week goes. It’s nice to be back and thanks for reading!

Weekly Bankroll Update 6/15 - 6/29

2019-06-30T14:04:00.001-07:00

Hello all, and sorry for the no-post last week. I've had a lot going on as summer begins to ramp up. I actually took last week off from the virtual felt after going 0/15 the week before so there really wasn't much to report last week anyway. I think it's important to take a break from time to time so your brain can re-charge. When you're playing every day it's easy to just kind of go through the motions and not play your best game. I probably won't play this week either since I will be on vacation from Wed-Sun. Here's where I'm perched for now:

Play Money: 38,851,00 Down 1,422,000

Real Money: $2,209.32 Down $11.07

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

Target for next SnG level: $4,360 ($218)

I have been using this time to formulate a plan for when I come back. Cash games and SnGs will be part of the mix, and a more aggressive approach will be necessary. $2,000 of the roll is locked up in a bank account right now and there are no plans to touch any of it. Once the money goes in the bank, it stays there. I will use the $209.32 to try and build through a careful mix of MTTs, SnGs and cash games. The games I play will be dependent on how I'm feeling that night. Staying conservative is great, but ultimately you need to take some shots especially when you feel like you're playing your best game. In the meantime I'm going to enjoy my vacation this week and spending some quality time with the family.

Weekly Bankroll Update 6/8 - 6/14

2019-06-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

The plan seems to be working. I've been playing small-ball the last couple of weeks to try and build some insurance above the $2,200 marker and, so far, it's been effective. I played seven Bonanzas, and seven Daily Hundos, plus the Newsletter freeroll and had four cashes, including a final table last night in the Bonanza finishing 9th. It was a bit of a disappointment to finish 9th however. I came in running 7th, but the small stacks kept doubling up and I eventually ran AQ into J9 and was beaten by a 9 on the turn. Still took a decent profit though. Here's where I stand:

Play Money: 40,273,000 Down 965,000

Real Money: $2,220.39 Up $10.63

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

Target for next SnG level: $4,360 ($218)

This week will be more of the same. All the Bonanza and Hundo tourneys, and at the end of the week, if I'm down, I'll take a shot in a $3 SnG to try and take a profit for the week. If I'm ahead, I won't bother though. I like this system because even if I have a terrible week and don't cash, I don't take much of a hit. It's more fun to play when you have no pressure on you, and I don't feel that burnt out at the end of the week.

Weekly Bankroll Update 6/2 - 6/7

2019-06-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

Last week was a pretty laid back one for me as I just played the bonanzas. I cashed 4/8 times and took in a small profit. Here's where I'm at:

Play Money: 41,238,000 Up 2,941,000

Real Money: $2,209.76 Up $4.51

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

Target for next SnG level: $4,360 ($218)

This week I will play just the bonanzas and the daily Hundo. I'm staying conservative to try and stay above the $2,200 level. It's going to be a bit of a slow summer as family engagements take precedence. It's important to try and have balance. We all play for different reasons, but regardless of those reasons, you need to put family first.

Weekly Bankroll Update 5/26 - 6/1

2019-06-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well, so much for my break from poker. Monday night I finished 2nd in the Daily Hundo tournament on Global Poker for $100. It was my first triple-digit cash on the site, and it was only $1 to buy in. It was also the last tournament I registered for before I was going to take a break from poker for a few days. I hadn't been playing well, and I felt like my game was on the decline due to burnout. That cash rejuvenated my confidence and got me fired up to play again. So, here we are still playing every night as the bankroll hits another plateau. Here are some numbers:

Play Money: 38,297,000 Up 8,038,000

Real Money: $2,205.25 Up $107.20

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

Target for next SnG level: $4,360 ($218)

So even though my break has been delayed a bit, this week will be relatively laid back from a poker standpoint. I have only planned to play the Bonanzas and the Monday night Newsletter freeroll. I will be making sure my bankroll never goes below $2,200 at any point. That means I view my available funds to be $5.25, not $2,205.25. The plan is to slow down a bit to keep burnout from rearing its ugly head, and to play with no pressure on me. If I can get to at least $2,207.88 by the end of this week, I'll play the Bonanzas and the Daily Hundos every night next week. If I make it to $2,242.88, I'll add in the Daily Five Hundo tournament each night as well. My goal is to have enough insurance above $2,200 to play the tournaments I want each night without any possibility of the bankroll dipping below that amount. It may take a while for this to be effective, but I'm not rushing things. I just want to get back to enjoying the game and not worrying so much about results.

Weekly Bankroll Update 5/12 - 5/25

2019-05-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hello again readers! Long time, no write. I wish I had some big news to report given that it's been two weeks since my last post, but unfortunately not much has transpired from a poker standpoint. My MBA graduation was last weekend and it feels really good to be done with school. I've been on vacation from work since the 17th, and it's back to reality on Tuesday. I was able to make a couple of trips to MGM Springfield to play a little $1/$2 NLHE, but I got trounced. Everything that could have gone wrong did. The first session I lost $288 in about three and a half hours of play. Twice I lost w QQ to two pairs on the flop. First one, guy had 10-5 off, second one guy had 3-5 off. Then I got up and left after my AQ lost to A9 after we both flopped an Ace and he rivered a 9. I'd had enough. My second trip wasn't much better. I lost $200 in just under three hours of play. First I lost a small pot with KK when the flop came all hearts (I didn't have the King of hearts). Folded on the flop and a heart hit the river and I would have been beat there. Then I lost with AK on a JJ669 board. Guy had flopped quad Jacks. Finally, I met my demise when I came over the top with AK pre-flop to a guy who re-raised and happened to be holding AA. These kinds of things happen and I'm not too discouraged, although I will be taking a short break from poker after Monday night. The Rattlesnake tournaments have been quite a grind, and I've been feeling a little tilted lately. Here's where I'm at:

Play Money: 30,261,000 Up 1,492,000

Real Money: $2,098.05 Down $5.58

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

I've been going pretty strong here for the past two years trying to build my bankroll, but I think I'm overdue for a hiatus from poker. I'm not playing my best game and I've punted a couple of tournaments I may have had a shot at winning. That's one of the main reasons why my roll is only down $5 the past two weeks. I tend to not play real money games when my confidence is shot or I'm not playing my A-game. Either way, my break will be short. Maybe a week or so. I was hoping these casino trips would give me a chance to add some profit, but I'll just have to wait until I save up enough to go again. I'll have to build it online for now. I will be opening things up a bit when I come back. Maybe play some bigger MTTs and SnGs, plus put some time in at the cash tables. I'll post again next week because who knows? I could always change my mind.

Weekly Bankroll Update 5/5 - 5/11

2019-05-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

The Rattlesnake tourneys are officially underway and although I've been running very well, I have no trophies to my credit. Of the 12 tournaments I've played, I have seven cashes and three final tables. 5th place is the closest I've come. Luckily, there will still be plenty of chances left for me to score a snake. Here's where I stand:

Play Money: 28,769,000 Up 2,559,000

Real Money: $2,103.63 Up $7.40

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

This will be my last blog post without an MBA. Graduation is Saturday and the anticipation is starting to mount, My vacation also starts on that day and I have at least a couple of those days reserved for MGM trips to play some $1/$2 No-Limit. I'm hoping for some success to boost the bankroll a little and give me some insurance above $2,000. If that happens, I have a game plan for what to play which will be unveiled in the next couple of weeks, assuming I'm able to win a little. Until then, it's going to be a grind in order to win my 2nd snake trophy.

Weekly Bankroll Update 4/28 - 5/4

2019-05-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

My two-year anniversary on Global Poker has come and gone as we struggled a bit last week with bad beats in key spots. I played well but just couldn't close things out when I needed to. I had several 4th and 5th place finishes in SnGs, while making some deep runs in the Daily Bonanza and Daily Hundos, but struggled mightily in the $3 rebuy. Here's where I ended up:

Play Money: 26,210,000 Down 116,000

Real Money: $2,096.23 Down $18.42

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

I'm super excited for this week as Global begins it's second Rattlesnake games tournament series. It runs May 6th - 26th. I won a trophy the last time, and would love another snake trophy to add to my collection. There will be real and play money tourneys and I'm hoping to take a shot at a couple of the $3 ones. Maybe a $5 here and there depending on how I'm running, but I'll mainly focus on the two play money ones that run each night. Can't wait!

Weekly Bankroll Update 4/21 - 4/27

2019-04-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

It's so funny how sometimes you can go from feeling like the unluckiest poker player to the luckiest almost overnight. Last week started out well enough with me cashing in some Daily Bonanzas and SnGs as well as profiting in cash games, but then I went on a terrible SnG run going 0/8 with five 4th place finishes. There is nothing more infuriating then finishing 4th when three get paid. Especially when it happens five out of eight times. Going into Saturday I was feeling a little punch-drunk as I began by finishing 4th yet again, but then I got a win. Right after that, I won a raffle for 5% of The Golden Blazer's action in the $10,000 guarantee (by the way, if you're not watching his stream on Twitch, you should. You might even be "lucky" enough to see him do Sharkhead Karaoke) in which he finished 10th for $175. $8.75 went to me. I also went on a nice run in TGB's "home game" that night nearly knocking him out to score a T-shirt, but he runs too damn good for me to beat him in a flip. And now, some numbers:

Play Money: 26,326,000 Down 702,000

Real Money: $2,114.65 Up $46.36

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Casg Game level: $4,000 ($200)

This week I expect life events to slow down a little bit. Saturday was my last day of school, and graduation is just three weeks away. It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm done, but I imagine as May 18th gets closer it will. I might take a few more shots in some MTTs going forward, and upping my SnG buy ins a bit. I've soured a little in cash games though. It's feeling a lot more difficult to make money in them lately. Plus, SnGs and MTTs are much more fun to play. We'll see how it goes. Thanks everyone for reading! See ya next week!

Weekly Bankroll Update 4/14 - 4/20

2019-04-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

Last week went pretty well as I continued to stay conservative and build up the roll a little more. I actually profited 6 out of 7 days lifting the bankroll to an all-time high. With just one week of school to go, I think it's best to focus on finishing that up, so Daily Bonanzas, $3 SnGs, and $10 cash games will be in the repertoire. Here's where I ended last week:

Play Money: 27,028,000 Up 4,041,000

Real Money: $2,068.29 Up $54.26

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

The two year mark of this project is approaching (May 2nd) and I never thought I'd be this far along at this point. I've had some luck along the way, but I really feel like my past failures have contributed a lot to my success. Losing bankrolls actually taught me the importance of managing them well. A lot of players that have early success fail to learn that variance plays a huge roll in poker, and managing your bankroll through it is more important than playing well. You can make correct decisions and still lose. The old adage "luck is streaky by nature" is what I try to remind myself of whether I'm running bad or good. I put in for a week of vacation the week after I graduate, and I will most definitely be going to the casino at least three or four of those days. In the meantime, I will be playing low stakes to protect the roll. Thank you to everyone for reading, and Happy Easter!

Weekly Bankroll Update 4/7 - 4/13

2019-04-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

The bankroll continues to grow as I took the conservative route last week playing primarily Daily Bonanzas and a $3.30 SnG win to finish things off. Schoolwork dominated most of my free time so I took the focus off playing the big stuff and went small-ball. It worked as I took a small profit. Here's where I'm at:

Play Money: 22,987,000 Up 587,000

Real Money: $2,014.03 Up $12.61

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

School will probably take up a chunk of my time again this week so I think I'll stick to the same strategy. The good news is I can buy in for $10 at a cash game and still remain above $2,000. Some insurance would be nice. Each time you go up a level it's like starting over again. A lot of people don't realize that as they move up in limits. They think they can just go hog wild and immediately start playing the limit they got to, not realizing that if you lose right away, you have to drop back down. It takes some time to get traction at new limits so it's important to play sparingly at first. The higher up you get the more shots you can take. I've lost many bankrolls in my time and I wish I understood this concept earlier in my career. Anyhoo, it's another week folks. Let's see what happens!

Weekly Bankroll Update 3/31 - 4/6

2019-04-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

It wasn't a great week last week as I had a lot of ups and downs. The week started of well as I finished 25th in the $7,500 guarantee on Global Poker cashing for $44 and change, but then it kind of went downhill from there. I had some bad beats in cash games at one point losing to quads and a straight flush in back-to-back hands. Here are my digits:

Play Money: 22,400,000 Down 1,268,000

Real Money: $2,001.42 Down $23.47

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

I'm anticipating a bit of a poker slowdown in the next few weeks. My final project for my MBA is due on the 27th, and I'll have to be putting in a lot of work in order to complete it. Only six more weeks till graduation! The MTTs seem to be working well for me right now and I'm going to be putting my focus there if and when I do play. Cash games can bleed you dry quickly when you're not running well, and being so close to dipping under $2,000, I don't really want to risk it.

Weekly Bankroll Update 3/24 - 3/30

2019-03-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

As March winds down, I find myself looking forward to a Spring season that brings many fun events including my birthday and graduation. I write this post as I sit looking out the window of my 10th floor room at The Tower Square Hotel in Springfield, MA. I'm here not for poker, but to see Disney On Ice with my family. Admittedly, I've been reflecting on my success, and its meaning, a lot over the past few days. It's been a pretty big week for the bankroll as it passed $2,000 for the first time, and it's a huge milestone. I am bankrolled to play $100 cash games now. I had a pretty good week on the tables even making a final table in the $1,000 guarantee on Thursday. Here's where I'm at:

Play Money: 23,668,000 Up 2,781,000

Real Money: $2,024.89 Up $81.38

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

Target for next Cash Game level: $4,000 ($200)

It feels good to finally get past that $2,000 number. Still a lot of work left to be done though. I will be formulating my strategy week to week as I go. I expect it to be a mix of everything at all different stakes. I'm going to try just going with my instincts and play whatever I feel comfortable with on that day. I can play many different levels now, and I just need to make sure I keep the roll above 2K. Success really is just what you perceive it to be. We all strive for it, but how do you know when you've reached it? These past few days, I feel like no matter what happens going forward, I've succeeded, and that's really all that matters.

Weekly Bankroll Update 3/17-3/23

2019-03-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

I had some struggles last week as bad beats reared their ugly heads, but a nice deep run in Saturday's $500 guarantee helped recoup most of my losses. I took $32 and change for my 5th place finish. I was all over the map as far as what games I played with no real strategy as far as game selection. That could have been part of my problem. Here are some numbers:

Play Money: 20,887,000 Up 747,000

Real Money: $1,943.51 Down $10.20

Target for next Cash Game level: $2,000 ($100)

Target for next SnG level: $2,200 ($110)

Target for next MTT level: $2,750 ($55)

It would appear as though the envelope promo funds have dried up as Global has not credited my account from the last batch I sent, so it looks like I'm gonna end up just shy of $2,000 and will need to formulate a strategy moving forward. I should be playing $50 cash games regularly now so that will have to be part of the plan. I'd like to try and use any profits from the cash games to start playing some of the bigger MTTs in the hopes that I can put together some sort of deep run. As far as SnGs, I think it's time to make the $6.60 level 1 and do the steps from there. I'll only play the $3.30s if I need to make a "day-saver". The main goal right now is to break that $2,000 marker and start building to get to the $100 cash games. It's been tough to schedule a casino run with school and the weather not being cooperative, but I'm hoping next month offers me an opportunity. Until then, I'll continue my online grind at Global Poker.