Growing A Bankroll

So I've been trying pretty hard to crack into the short-handed NL tables online, since about July of last year. My poker history up to this point (especially online) had been up, down, and sideways, like I imagine a lot of players start out doing. I played single-table sit-and-gos exclusively for a while... I bonus whored like mad... I played way beyond my bankroll at times... I dabbled here and there and could never settle down and find a home, or show much of a profit for that matter. I withdrew all my funds early last summer from the various sites, and went outside.

So as I said, in July I got the itch again, and decided to set about this thing with a plan: Take a $50 buy in to PokerStars (known somewhat as one of the "tougher" places to play online), and hit the .01/.02 NLHE tables.

As an aside, for-what-it's-worth, I'm going to detail a little basic bankroll strategy here for a second. Feel free to skip ahead.

I think everyone understands that even the biggest donk can sometimes win big pots against a disciplined experienced player, just like how 20% of the time pocket deuces can suck out on Aces. This is generally called "variance"... essentially when the expected outcome of a hand or situation doesn't pair up with what actually ends up happening. In poker, you play your edge knowing full well that there's a chance you'll lose. If you're good, you'll be getting your money in when there's a greater chance that you'll win. But you can still lose. Even as a favorite to win. Over and Over.

To withstand the possibility of this variance, you have to have enough money. In NLHE, you can drop a buy-in (the amount you're allowed to sit down at a table with, usually 100 times the big blind), with just one suckout, or one good hand that doesn't hold up to a miracle river card. What this means, is that to seriously set about maintaining and growing a bankroll, you have to start with enough money for the stakes you plan to play at. Take $50 and try and tackle the quarter/half NL tables, and you might find yourself at zero pretty quick, through no bad play of your own. It happens. Worse yet, now you're probably angry and frustrated and half-depressed that poker has again proven that the world is against you. Some may deposit another $50 and tilt it away overplaying hands trying to make up for the first $50, or worse: up the stakes.

The generally accepted rule, is to put no more than 5% of your bankroll at stake in a day, or something close to this. So you want to play quarter/half? That's a $50 buy in, so really, you should have $1000 in your bankroll. Twenty buy-ins.

On the other side of this, is the "I only have x to play with", which is much more common among the (financially) poor players I know. You have $100? Great. Play .01/.02 where you're properly bankrolled, and grow it until you can play where you want to. Far, far too many people feel that micro stakes games are beneath them (I was one for a long time), and wonder why they can't make it work at higher stakes. I also found a lot of leaks and *a ton* of growth down here, and really can't say enough positive things about the experience.

With a little discipline and growth as a player, you should gradually over time see your overall bankroll increasing, with virtually no chance of ever going broke and losing it all.

If you play well enough and long enough to reach a point where you're properly bankrolled for the next higher stakes, move up and see what happens. If it goes bad, move back down for a bit. There are no shortcuts. Just grind it out.

I've been working hard to turn my original $50 (only half of what you really should have for .01/.02) into $500. There's been a lot of bumps along the way, but I got there. You don't really believe or understand that the system works... until you prove it to yourself.

Then I moved up to dime/quarter and proceeded to blow about $100 in one admittedly tilt-fueled exercise in futility. First, I was playing at a time when I had other things to be doing... when I felt that my time was limited... and I was in a hurry. Bad move #1. Then things got ugly. Kings cracked by A2o (all in preflop). Aces cracked by KJs. Flopping flushes and losing to higher flushes, flopping straights and losing to flushes, flopping sets and folding when the board put up a higher two pair (and thus a boat, for sure). Wonderful hands that couldn't finish. Yet I kept playing. Bad move #2. On top of all of this, I was coming off of a brilliant run of luck and cards, which after two hard falls immediately proceeding, I now realize I need to be very careful with success. Sudden runs of good luck for a few days or a week can shift your perception of reality in a very dangerous way.

Ok. Take a few day break due to other things going on. And I try again, even though I really should just move back down to nickel/dime for a while. Things again go horribly wrong, although this time at least, it's just bad beats. Most of the tilt is in check. I say most, because I still can't seem to just walk away. I tend to think "ok bad beat big deal" but the subconscious "OMGWTF DIE DONKEY" emotion is perhaps more influential than I realize. I really need to start walking away (even if it's just for a half-hour to do something else) when I drop a buy in or at most two.

Then thankfully PartyPoker came to the rescue with one of those free $50 that they drop into your inactive account from time to time. I had to clear 500 raked hands. No problem. Party's lowest stakes is dime/quarter, so off I went, playing "bonus clearing" tight... only to watch $50 whittled into around $20 through hands I don't even remember. Great. $20. I can't even cash that out. I'm also struck by how tight Party seemed compared to PokerStars, and especially compared with the last time I played there.

Eventually, Party's play returned to what I remembered, and $20 is now a healthy $140, still putting me down since the move to dime/quarter, but feeling much better about it. It's also a good feeling to know that I'm certainly good enough to be beating these stakes (something I was confident about before) and that if somehow I can avoid the variance monster for a few good sessions, I'll be in the clear for working towards $1000.