Hey guys this is my 3rd PG&C. My 1st one was somewhat of a fail as the limits I was playing were too low. The second one I am still updating every now and then and is still active. However, I have noticed something in both of these threads and in my play this year and that is my lack of proper bankroll management.

I have been wanting to move up in stakes too quickly and this has caused me to go through multiple downswings, probably due to the variance in playing against multiple player pools. Well I figured since I have really studied the technical game and currently working on my mental game (reading the Mental Game of Poker, attempting to play 1hr "A" game sessions, etc) I figured next up is to try and work on my bankroll management. This aspect of poker is a skill in and of itself and should be studied and worked on just as much as the technical side of poker.

Therefore I will attempt Chris Ferguson's bankroll challenge where he turned $0 into $10,000. I'm sure most of you know of this challenge but for those that do not a simple google search will turn up various web pages detailing it.

Here is a quick rundown:

• I'll never buy into a cash game or a Sit & Go with more than 5 percent of my total bankroll (there is an exception for the lowest limits: I'm allowed to buy into any game with a buy-in of $2.50 or less).
• I won't buy into a multi-table tournament for more than 2 percent of my total bankroll and I'm allowed to buy into any multi-table tournament that costs $1.
• If at any time during a No-Limit or Pot-Limit cash-game session the money on the table represents more than 10 percent of my total bankroll, I must leave the game when the blinds reach me.

Some slight differences:
I won't start entirely from $0. Most of my bankroll is on carbon (unfortunately lol) so I'll set aside $60 for this purpose and I have about $25 on Bovada from when I was practicing my stud hi game so this should be perfect for the challenge.

As for the end goal I'm not sure if it will be $10k. I'd say anything over $5k would be pretty sweet. I'm not really focusing on a number as I'll still be playing poker for a long time to come . This is more for the practice than it is to complete a challenge. It's also to help me become a better poker player and to have the motivation to keep improving my bankroll management skills.

The games I will be playing will mostly be Razz, LHE, Stud and SNGs. Updates will be posted once a week.


Starting BR:
Bovada - $25
Carbon - $60

Weekly Review #2 (missed a couple days of actions)

Will be focusing solely on Bovada. I don't want to spend so much effort building up my BR and not be able to cash-out regularly. I still really enjoy playing on carbon but I have to think about the future.

Also, I purchased HEM. Will have to purchase that ace solutions converter next so i can use Bovada and HEM together. Then I can start posting graphs as well.

Week 2:
Ending BR - $48

Mini Update:
The beginning of the 3rd week was a complete disaster!
I played three sessions and each one I lost the about 90% of the buyin/BBs (big bets)

I veered off the bankrolls limitations in a state of tilt/desperation. I proceeded to play a quick session at $0.25/0.50 (my normal stakes are $0.10/0.25) and lost the buyin for that session. After this I was completely tilted.

I fired up a a PLO table and began to lose more and more. Towards the end of the day I bought in for my last stack playing HUPLO. Luckily I wasn't as tilted and played pretty well. Although i was still desperate and wasn't trying to rebuild in a cautious manner. It was busto or robusto. Luckily i ran into a complete fish at a HUPLO table. He was a static player and very easy to exploit. I stacked him 3 times ($0.02/0.05) and left the session up $20

I then bough in for $20 at a $0.25/$0.50 HUPLO table. After a few hands I got it in with a flush draw against a made straight and hit my flush on the river! It was a foolish move but again it was all or nothing.

After that i was up $48 (I made a bit more before that final allin..I think i forgot to mention I did play a bit of 6 max PLO and 6max NLHE and profited a bit but nothing major)

The next day I felt much better that i was back to a healthy bankroll and I'm back on the grind. Right now I am $69.61

So, while it's great that my roll is back to how it was before that tilt/downswing (and then some) I know I still have some huge mental leaks that I need to work on.

This can happen again any day and I need to fix this, or at least work on improving my mental game before I act up like this again.

I have Jared Tendlers book The Mental Game of Poker so I'll be trying to finish it asap. I've read a few chapters but I haven't really embraced it. So tonight I'll start reading it and see if I can plug some leaks, or at least recognize what's going on in my damn head! So now that I am back on the grind and doing well, I'm going to adjust my bankroll guidelines and try to implement a stop/loss so I don't go off the deep end like I did a couple days ago. We'll see what I come up with.

i used to have this problem soooo often mate losing a few buy ins and then a few more due to tilted decisions and next thing you know im playing at the highest stakes my bankroll would allow me into. more in control of it now mainly due to understanding poker more and taking it seriously with studying and getting the volume in. GL with your goals. will follow along.

Thanks man! It's an everyday struggle that's for sure. I'm just trying my best to take it one day at time!

Week 3:
Ending BR: $61.70

Been having a small breakeven period this week. Currently at $61 (after going back and fourth between 60-69)

Really trying to break through to $100 so i can move up to $0.25/$0.50!