3rd in Nightly 100k!

Bankroll: $13,237.31

This was my first final table in an MTT! I had a shot at winning it, but 3-handed my AK lost to 33 and I was lost after that. Great run - really proves how valuable push/fold mode is and the importance of patience.

Almost...

Hi, all. Big apologies for the lack of updates last month. I hardly played at all due to the return of exam season. All I will say for now - the poker cards matched the winter weather! BURRRR! Terrible beats abound. However after this tournament I rebounded from most of it, I think. February zapped my confidence but I think I got it back.

First, note that this tournament is independent of my challenge. I was staked for it, so all winnings were withdrawn.

I went (sorta) deep in a tough field and was oh, so close to making it big. I was the average stack, 18/37 people and was in the SB with A K. It came to the dealer who had just been going CRAZY for the past three or four hands. He snapped a shove on our blinds. And what could I do here, fold AK? Well, let me tell you - I was close. Instincts that were hardened by February were very negative here. I thought for a good 30 seconds. His stack was the same as mine, so losing this ends all hope; winning makes me a chip leader with some promising chances at my first big pay day. Folding leaves me where I am - in it. I put him at best on a pocket pair but began to believe I had him seriously dominated and decided to call. I knew he wouldn't snap an all in THAT fast with AA or KK. He flipped A 10 and, let's keep it non-dramatic, the turn brought him a 10 (as I half-expected after a terrible month of bad beats) and out the door I go. Damn! I am still feeling it's the right call to make..but if I fold, can I still make a run at shipping it? I still don't know. Might try it next time but in the long run, I'm a big winner today.

Regardless, it was pretty well played. This field had many sharks in it so I was happy with even making the money.

Anyways, I'll enjoy this small tourney success & I'll post the frigid Feb. update later this week.

First Major Milestone Reached!

Bankroll: $1,010.38

Woo hoo! After 77 days, I have converted 10$ into 1000$. What a good feeling! I'm 5% of the way to 20k. The next major milestone is set to be 4,000$. At that point, I will be able to play the $0.50 / 1$ ring games as well as some pretty high stakes tournaments of up to 100$.

Update #5: Bankroll Progress for January '10

Bankroll: $908.99
Profit for the Month: $828.38

At the beginning of the month, the goal was to reach 200$. As you can see by the screenshot and graph, I achieved that goal EARLY in the month and went incredibly far beyond my expectations. So I am overwhelmed with how much progress I made this month - it is very exciting. I have essentially made up for HALF my deficits that I had before beginning the challenge. However, along the ride, I also made disappointing decisions. This update will highlight the ride of this month; the ups, the downs, advice, and plans for the next month.

It is amazing to me that at the beginning of this month I had 80$. If I were to go back to January 1, I wouldn't even think it PLAUSIBLE that I could be within a week's distance of the 1,000$ mark. At this point, I am allowing myself to play 20$ sit and go's - a long shot from the $0.25 sit and go's I started with. I am also playing alot of $.10 / $.25 cash games, with the occassional $.25 / $.50 game. Finally, I have played lots of MTTs around 10$, but taking shots as high as the 50$ daily eighty grand.

However, I have found myself in some very disappointing situations along this month that essentially nearly ruined the challenge. I was starting to find myself returning to my old habits and sitting at cash games that exceeded my comfort. I sat down at 1$ / 2$ tables and even a $5 / $10 table once! These were 100% AGAINST my principles of bankroll management. To me, they effectively may have ruined this challenge, because I can no longer say that I have fully followed bankroll management along the entire way. These instances, which at times nearly costed me my entire bankroll, allowed for me to earn about 500$. I found this to be very disheartening and against the spirit of this challenge, and decided to resolve it so that I would never do something stupid like that again. I could just as easily be broke.

In my reflecting on how I can avoid regressing to bad habits, I found a decent solution: I developed a mathematical equation that would foster bankroll growth AND bankroll management. I will not go into depth of what it is here, but you may find my post in the TwoPlusTwo forums here: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/15/poker-theory/resource-building-bankroll-supplemental-function-692803/. So, after I developed the equation, I implemented it into excel (directions on how to do that are in the post) and made it the trendline to the graph that I've been using (top of this post).

This equation basically gives a sample "success line" bankroll on a daily basis. It is designed so that I complete this challenge in 550 days from the start date. So, for example, on day 45 into the challenge, it suggests I should have a bankroll $286.61, and on day 46, $293.60 (a change of 7$). This is a rather conservative increase for such a bankroll, but the reason for this is to allow you to overcome days where you LOSE money. This trendline is a gradual growth in bankroll that does not clearly show any slumps or fast rises, but the median of them, which is profitable. When designing the equation, I decided that any time I finished the day with more money than this success bankroll, I could either

A) Cashout
B) "Take a shot" in a MTT (e.g., play a 55$ tournament).

Already I have cashed out once, and I have taken some shots (with positive results) in such tourneys as the Daily 80 grand. Right now, the equation suggests I should be at $522. Therefore, I am able to cashout nearly 400$! I have not decided how I am going to use this extra cash, but I may not cash out or spend it on a higher stake MTT, but just continue the challenge and try finishing about a month faster. Since the equation is designed to force me to endure the learning curve of climbing stakes, I really should cashout. If I run a bit badly, I will cash it all out and stick to the success trendline. In summary it has been extremely useful so far and cured my regression - recommended for anyone going such a challenge. If you are, let me know and I will make it custom to meet your goals.

This next month should prove interesting. It is hard to say where I will be at the end of the month. If I follow the success line, adjusted to my current bankroll, then a reasonable goal for the end of the month is $1,300, where I can play up to 30$ Sit and Go's (note my goal for the end of this month was to reach 3$ Sit and Go's!!). This is much a net gain much less than this month, but I have to keep in mind that this month was perhaps a bit of a heater, seeing I could survive some terrible decisions. I think it goes without saying that my challenge for this next month is to have the discipline to stick to good management and patiently climb these stakes. January was enough of a wild ride!

1,000$ has been the first long term goal of this project; I am hoping to be there very soon. The next long term goal is ~$4,200. At this point, I will be able to play at the $.50 / 1$ - this is the beginning of the tables where I have lost my bankroll many, many times! I will also have access to tournaments and Sit and Go's with buyins as high as 100$! In my opinion, a starting bankroll of $4,200 gives you great potential to make a decent enough profit. As a college student, I could consider myself a part-time poker player at that point, but we'll see. This point in project may take until the end of the year.

February - a month with returning stability? Hopefully.

By the way, in the WBCOOP, it should be noted I played only 1 event (preliminary #1), and earned an 11$ ticket to the SCOOP. A few other random comments to be noted:

-Cashout #1: -$26.77
-Transfered money: -$10
-Donation to Haiti: -$10
-Achieved Silver Star VIP level (hoping to simply maintain)
-Either using FPPs for the pokerstars store, or as satellites

Pokerstars Blogger Participation

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code:
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724989

WBCOOP EVENT #1: Placed 96 - Won 11$ ticket.

WBCOOP EVENT #2: Did Not Play

Bankroll Screenshot 1

I just figured out the art of taking screen-shots on my laptop.

I guess I could have done this when I started the project with 10$ but hopefully you can just take my word for it. If not, I'm really only trying to prove something to myself here.

As for the FPPs, I have spent them primarily as satellite entries.

Session 61

$5.50 Single Table Sit & Go

2nd Place

Profit: +$8.00

Bankroll: $316.01


Last night, I placed third in a $4.40 180-player tournament for a gain of 85$; lately I have been on fire and my bankroll has quadrupled in a week. This was a very good tournament for me. In fact I may have won it if my pocket fives hadn't been thwarted by pocket 3s, but that's just poker.

I posted this session (for today's only game) just to show the progress. In sessions 1-40 I was playing $0.25 90 Player Sit & Go's, making maybe 1$ or 2$ per session, and now I am earning 8$ in ONE game with a TENTH of the players. The heater lately has largely been responsible for this; but I would not be at this point without good bankroll management. In fact this is the highest my bankroll has ever been at a given point, and I have made deposits of 200$ before, only to lose it all.

I am WAY ahead of progress expectations (e.g., to be close to 200$ at the end of the month!). Next update will be at the end of the month to readjust the planning. Til then I will mainly play these Sit & Go's and a few MTTs to continue building as efficiently as possible.