I am not dead...

I am, however, consumed with finding employment, and that has to be a priority.

I have been playing poker, with some small amount of success:

Late in January, I read Daniel Negraneau's blog entry about bankroll building, and decided to try the formula myself. Considering my rolls at FullTilt and PokerStars were bith down into low double-digits, it seemed like a good time.

I have tried roll-management in the past, somewhat unsuccessfully. Mostly because I like to play in the occasional tournament. These would usually be outside my 'percentage of bankroll' limitations, and would put me back to square one.

I've stuck to this plan so far, and here's how I'm doing it:

I won't move up in limits unless I have 500 big blinds for that limit.

When possible, my buy in amount will allow me 5 buy ins at that limit.

I will play only NL cash games. I'll try to play full ring games as much as possible.

If I double my bankroll in a session I'll quit on my blind to help avoid risking too high a percentage of my bankroll in any one hand.

When the amount needed to reach the goal is less than the 1/5th of the bankroll buy in, the buy in will be equal to the amount needed to reach the goal. Example: If 1/5th of the bankroll is $4.50 but you only need $2.50 to reach the goal, the buy in for the next session will be $2.50.

So far, I've doubled my roll at PokerStars and moved from $.02/$.05 up to $.05/$.10 and I'm finding the experience invaluable. The play is extremely varied, and I'm finding myself shifting gears a LOT. I think this is good, because it means that A) I'm more aware of the table dynamic (and it changing) than I ever have been and B) I'm getting better at changing up my game as I need to.

I'm having a little more trouble a FullTilt, mostly because the smallest cash NL game is $.05/$.10, which means I'm always buying in short. That said, I've struggled with a couple of bad beats, but I'm not complaining and I will make progress. I have decided that if 1/5 of my Tilt roll is less than $2, I will switch to $1.25 SnGs, as I don't want to buy in at a cash table for less than 20 BBs. That's just TOO short for my comfort.

I've also made a few adjustments at the cash tables: Mostly in the areas of aggression and hand selection. While I'll withhold the details in the interest of self-preservation, I will say that when the table dynamic allows for it, I'm definitely not coming across as most of you would know me from my tournament play!

I have a lot of reading to catch up on, but I will try to post more regularly as this plan progresses.


~DrewFours
"Have Fun, Be Gracious, Keep Learning, Play Your Best and
Manage Your Finances. You will find Success in Poker and in Life!"