A New Challenge

This week has seen some pivotal things happen to the way that I am thinking about my poker. I am railing the high-stakes NLHE games more than I used to as I am writing reports on them for Poker News. But I have had some bad results lately in the $25-$50, so much that it has actually put me down for the last quarter.

But my poker playing is now starting to come second best to my writing and the balance that I craved a couple of years ago is now an imbalance again but this time too far the other way. To be on top of your game then you need to be playing constantly and at a level like $25-$50 then I really dont think that you can just dip in and out when you feel like it.

But as my circumstances have changed then it has become apparent that my concentration levels have dropped substantially and I really need to correct this flaw. Some of my friends who know me well think that I dont have the patience or the discipline anymore to beat lower stakes NLHE games.

So I intend to prove them wrong, you know that I have been looking to do this bankroll challenge on Cake Poker for quite some time. Well starting on the 1st September I will be starting with a bankroll of $5000 and playing 200NL and try to be playing highstakes poker within 12 months using Kelly Criterion.

I will start with 25 buy-ins and whenever I have 25 buys in for the next level which is 400NL then I will move up so I will move up at $10,000 and likewise move down at $2500. To speed this process up then I will be looking to add to my bankroll by way of rakeback payments and other gambling income but I will only do this if I am being successful.

What I want to do is to be playing hopefully 600NL within a very short space of time and 1000NL by early in the new year. But I am going to have to remain disciplined and focused at the early levels. If I try and do a Chris Ferguson and start with nothing or with a very small amount of money then it isnt going to work.I just know that I will implode at some stage through boredom.

Also playing too low will do my head in and is why I will be adding money to the bankroll in careful increments. I have had some sick beats lately despite playing well but I have been playing in a couple of games that were far higher than my bankroll allows for. This is the cardinal sin and I was duly punished and to be honest…..I am not sorry now because you need to learn lessons in poker.

But poker is about human beings and we humans are not perfect and when we fall from grace while playing poker then our bankroll falls with it. Without going into details, I have been taking shots in games that my bankroll had no right being in. I got sucked out on with a crippling river card twice which was absolutely gut wrenching but this within the confines of my bankroll would have been a mere annoyance.

But when you are stretched then the impact of flukey river cards magnifies in importance. But with Project Pokerquest being dead in the water then I am about to rekindle it……..ON MYSELF!! I was thinking about doing this on limit hold’em but I dont think that I have the stomach for low stakes limit holdem anymore to be quite frank.

Anyway I will keep you informed.

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