$4000 to $16000

As stated in my first blog, I have about $7200 in various online poker accounts. Most it is with FullTilt Poker ($4000). My goal is to take this account to $16000 by the end of the year. I had about $750 at the beginning of 2007 and had $4200 at the end. So I know I can make it grow at the micro levels of online poker, but my goal is to play 5-10NLHE at some point in time. If I make it to $16000 by the end of this year, I should be playing 1-2NLHE and 2-4NLHE.

Most of you may ask, why not go ahead and play the higher limit. Good bankroll management is the easy answer, but let me explain it a little better. At whatever level I play, I want to have 50+ buyins for that game. So in the 5-10NLHE game, the maximum buyin is $1000, which means I only have 4 buyins for that game. Just a little bad luck, and I bust all my bankroll and start from scratch. 50+ buyins would be an unprotected bankroll, which means I am not adding money from my day job toward my poker bankroll. If I was doing that I would probably use a 20-25 buyin rule.

Here is an example of a bad luck hand...


FullTiltPoker Game #4672093531: Table Posse (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:57:14 ET - 2007/12/30
Seat 1: crazysculler ($52.50)
Seat 2: birdiemachine ($47.25)
Seat 3: flop it 1_time ($60.35)
Seat 4: Epic Monolith ($51.70)
Seat 5: jfk729 ($77.85)
Seat 6: quanjinmei ($11)
birdiemachine posts the small blind of $0.25
flop it 1_time posts the big blind of $0.50
5 seconds left to act
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to birdiemachine [Js Ad]
Epic Monolith folds
jfk729 folds
crazysculler folds
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine raises to $1.50
flop it 1_time calls $1
*** FLOP *** [Qd 4d 2d]
birdiemachine checks
flop it 1_time checks
*** TURN *** [Qd 4d 2d] [3d]
birdiemachine bets $2
flop it 1_time calls $2
*** RIVER *** [Qd 4d 2d 3d] [9s]
birdiemachine bets $5
flop it 1_time raises to $22
birdiemachine has 15 seconds left to act
birdiemachine raises to $43.75, and is all in
flop it 1_time calls $21.75
*** SHOW DOWN ***
birdiemachine shows [Js Ad] a flush, Ace high
flop it 1_time shows [6d 5d] a straight flush, Six high
flop it 1_time wins the pot ($91.50) with a straight flush, Six high
birdiemachine is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $94.50 Rake $3
Board: [Qd 4d 2d 3d 9s]
Seat 1: crazysculler (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: birdiemachine (small blind) showed [Js Ad] and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 3: flop it 1_time (big blind) showed [6d 5d] and won ($91.50) with a straight flush, Six high
Seat 4: Epic Monolith didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: jfk729 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: quanjinmei is sitting out

I had the nut (best) flush, but lost to a hand that is very difficult to put someone on, a straight flush.


So with $4000 to work with, I have 40 buyins at the $.50/1 NLHE level and 80 buyins for $.25/.50 level. My slight downswing in profits has kept me in the .25/.50 game until I get closer to $5000.

Actually winning money while playing is where most of your profits are derived, but there is another avenue that can provide some other revenue. It is called Rakeback. If you are not using it, and especially while playing cash games, then you are missing a great source of income. Each poker site rakes a portion of each pot (usually 3% up to $3) At the micro levels this can be significant in relation to stakes being played. At FullTilt I get back 27% of the rake I create for them. Which means about $200 for me every month. A third party site gets a portion of the rake you create when you register for online poker sites thru their website. They in turn pay you a percentage of what they receive. I have a link to the rakeback I use if you plan registering to play online poker. Email or comment any questions you my have about the subject! I will be glad to answer.

I played for about 2.5 hours today getting in 980 hands playing 4 tables at 50nl (.25/.50NLHE) on Fulltilt. Never got much going and won $31.85 for bb/100 of 3.25. bb= 2 x big blind. 4 bb/100 is my longterm target for my play. At 50nl I would win $480 if I play my normal 12k hands each month. Rakeback would equal about $200 for a profit $680 for the month. 12k hands usually takes about 12-15 hours of play if I 4-6 table my play. Yes you can play more than one table at a time.

Monday January 7, 2007 results: +$31.85 Project bankroll: $4031.85


I may get to play some more tonight...but I will probably watch the NCAA football game...geaux tigers!!!