My Plan For 2011 (The $5K Bankroll)

Bankroll & Limits
The great thing about being an amateur poker player is that I don't have to play the game to pay my bills; my fairly well paid job is more than sufficient to take care of those. As such, I can go down a few limits whenever I want and without worry. At the start of the new year, I intend to start gently and slowly; just how I finished the old one - by one-tabling the $25nl-$50nl tables. I'll make an initial deposit that will put me on a $2000 bankroll on 1st January 2011.

I think I'll chug along like this for a short while before 2-tabling the $50nl games but I know I'll get the itch to play higher very soon. When the time is right, I'll deposit another $3K, effectively making my starting bankroll $5K for the year, and will then move up to the $100nl game. Soon I'll be 2-tabling the $100nl game leading onto sessions of single-tabling the $200nl game. When, or if, my bankroll hits $6K, or if I just think I'm playing good, I'll think about 2-tabling the $200nl tables. There is also the option of 4-tabling the $100nl on my beautiful PC. If I get up to around $7K-$8K, I'll  be considering the option of taking shots at 400nl.

If my bankroll drops to $4K, I may allow myself the luxury of a $1K top-up but this will depend on my mood. If this occurs then 2-tabling the $100nl game or just single-tabling the $200nl game will be in order for a short time until I get my confidence back. If I go down to $3K AFTER the $1K top-up I'll need to consider taking a long break or, at worst, pulling the plug on the whole project. Of course, it all depends on my state of mind and how well I think I'm playing at the time.

What I really want to avoid is the endless cycle of depositing and withdrawing, withdrawing and depositing depending on what mood I'm in. I did this a lot in 2010 and it's not really a good idea. Ideally, I just want a starting bankroll of $5000 and play with that and see what happens for the year, for better or for worse for richer or for poorer! Actually, in my next post, I might just sum up the above in a chart; it may help me keep my focus and keep my self-discipline.

SnGs & MTTs
Trips to these games will need to be rare. Any MTT that is below a $33 entry is usually a donkfest in my book. My SnG days are virtually over while the occasional dip into MTTs will only be made when I need a change of scene. However, I'll ALWAYS enter the $5K ADDED for Gold Members whenever I can as it is excellent value. I'll, no doubt, play the odd $33 6-seater in the evening and I'll maybe even do the odd $55 Grand Prix.

Satellites
I may allow myself more pops at satellites but, truth be told, I'm sick of slogging through the early stage ones. I'd rather have a go at the later stage ones for the more meaningful MTTs like The Masters, The Prestige and the higher stakes MTTs. For PKR Live, I'll do what I did last time; have 5 or 6 goes at Stage 1 and 2 then if I fail that, have a crack at a final stage one.

Other Sites And Playing Live
For convenience sake (and the sheer fun of it) I plan to play exclusively on PKR. This, I know, will prove very difficult but if I do go over to the 2D sites I'll blog about it but keep the results totally separate from my PKR tally. Similarly, with live play I'll keep accurate records through the year but, once again, I'll keep the live tally separate from the other results.

Results & Graphs
I will be 100% truthful about my results. I know this is a very risky game to play but life is full of risks and this is one I'm prepared to take. There are much more stupid risks to take in life than showing everyone your year's poker results and I reckon I could do a LOT worse.