Introduction

I have been playing poker for a little over a year now, mainly MTTs but a few STTs and Ring Games thrown in for good measure. I read a fair bit for the first half of the year: Slansky, Harrington etc and in 2007 I show a profit of around $2500. Since the summer I had been playing large MTTs at Pokerstars with buy-ins typically between $20-50 and the occasional Sunday Warm Up, qualifying through satellites. I found the high variance in these large games hard work, a significant win every month or so with long lean spells, meant I had a hard time maintaining interest. I used no form of bankroll management and I do not think that helped either. I have brought myself a nice camera and had a lovely holiday with my poker winnings but started the New Year with any bankroll to speak of.

So, some New Year’s resolutions:

I will play strictly to a bankroll management strategy

I will never multi-table

I will read and re-read quality poker strategy books

I will master ring games and STTs

I will not cash out until the end of the year

My bankroll management strategy is quite simple: I will not invest more than 5% of my bankroll in any single ring game or STT and 1% of my bankroll in any single MTT. I have started from the very bottom of the poker pile with a $40 bankroll on Pokerstars. The idea is to build this up, stepping up through the levels and see where I end up in a year’s time. Will I make more money than I did last year and how high up the poker ladder will I climb? I guess the real question is how much can I turn my $40 investment into?