I have a Mission

Good luck with building your bankroll, Imredee!

Already your progress is looking good!

these are becoming very popular

way to go bring that bankroll up

The bad news is today was not a day for growing my bankroll. I actually spent more than I made and got knockout of two tourneys before making back my buy-in. -$5 for the day.

The GOOD NEWS is today I qualified for two money tournaments this weekend and yesterday I qualifed for a 3rd:

A WSOP Final Freeroll - Total Payout $15K - Players Only
The Sunday Grand - Total Payout $1k - Doyles Room
The SBR Bodog Series Final - Total Payout $5k - 25 Players Total

The odds are good that my bankroll will grow this weekend. Stay tuned?

OK kids here is an update on my bankroll Quest. My poker activities are focused and centered on building that bankroll from nothing into $10K before Aug 1st. I have a good start, with over $650 in cash and entries into bigger purse tournaments accrued in the month of March alone. Here are the March highlights:

Place
Event
Winnings
Card Room
Starting Field
Misc
1st
Daily $500 FR
$120
Bodog
3500
YES!
3rd
SBR 4 Event Invitational
$45
Bodog
450
Qualified for a 25 player
final event $4000 purse
Top 40 players
$500 FR and Qualifier
$20
Ultimate Bet
5500
Qualified for a 1500 player
$1000 Guaranteed tourney
Top 50 players
WSOP Qualifier
$0
Players
4000
Guaranteed with a $15,000 purse
3rd
Gold Coin FR
$20
Players
4000

1st
WSOP Qualifier
$15
Timeless

1000
Entry into a $7500 Purse Tourney
4th
WSOP Qualifier
$0
Timel
1000
Entry into a $7500 Purse Qualifier
4
Private FR
$14
Cake
200

3
Bugsy Invitational
$21
Pokerstars
2900


Total
$255.00


Overall value of these and other tournaments $650. With the ground-work that I have already laid (and a little luck) my bankroll can begin to grow exponentially. I also have a potential bankroll sponsor. More to follow.

That last post is a bit all over the place.

Just wanted to wish you luck.

All the best m8.

wow so from freerolls and what not you have made $600 that is really well you will have a good shot at making 10 grand but it's gunna be tough and hard. But i wish you goodluck on it

come on do it man you ll do it i know

600$ u doing well man

April 9th

The first thing I want to do is thank all the people that have commented. Everyone has been encouraging. A common thread to the comments is that I have set a goal and I’m going for it. We all need goals. They help us focus and put our best foot forward. When I am doing well in a tournament I always remind myself of two things; you can lose all your chips to one or two bad decisions and 2nd; cash 1st, get in the top 50, 40, 30, 20, 15 and THEN the final table. Set goals and have them as part of your game strategy.

On a related poker thought, we all need to strive for “Excellence”. I prefer this word to the “P” word, Perfection. Poker is like life. There are no Perfect poker hands or games, perfection is unattainable. After all we are human, and no one is perfect. Seek excellence in your Poker game. Last weekend was full of Poker but I only cashed once. You know how you go card dead some times. You see a lot of flops and never see a pair. That's how it was. I did manage to cash Monday night. I also won entries into a $1000 purse tournament at Doyle’s and the $13K WSOP Prize event Saturday at Players.

Lot's of more Poker planned for this weekend. Good luck to you all!

April 13th

The Cards got hot Friday and Saturday! Poker is a kick when that happens. I cashed in 2 tournaments at Full Tilt and qualified for 3 more big purse tournaments, 1 for $15K, the other 2 for $1K. Now the trick will be to make the final table in one of these tournaments. Last but not least I found a sign-up deal where you can get a bankroll of up to $500 and free tournaments 4 times a month to boot!
Awe……………..Life is Good.

April 16th


I hope you all had a great Easter and Spring break.

Here it is April 16th and time for an update on the week and what the weekend holds. I didn't play as much over the weekend and this week due to Easter and work commitments but I had a significant number of deep runs in tournaments. I cashed in 3 and missed some bigger payouts in 2 others. Aggression got the best of me in those two instances. I cashed just over $150 in cash and tournament entries. I think some of my success was the result of playing less and focusing more. Something to remember for the immediate future, quality not quantity. In my case that means 3 to 6 hours of play instead of 8 to 10.

The weekend line-up is full of Poker. I have the good fotune to play in an event that features 24 invitational-only tournaments in 24-hours. Yes folks, 1 an hour for 24!! About 66% are freerolls. I am also entered in the Online Forum Challenge Event with a $1,000 purse Saturday, two other $1,000 purse tournaments all on Saturday and a WSOP Prize Package tournament with a total purse of $17,000 Sunday. I qualified for all of the events except the OFC through Freerolls.

Even though it will be a Marathon of Poker I look forward to the weekend and the opportunities that it presents. Stay tuned!

you have inspired me to make my own challenge

April 21, 2009

What do I say about a weekend so full of Poker I wanted to pull out of some tournaments late on Sunday. Now I have a glimpse of what the big live tournaments are like. Grueling is a good word. While I went deep in a number of these 40+ tournaments I only cashed 2 times until late on Sunday night. I was really starting to lose my confidence. Then I went on a run and finished 12th, 10th, 6th 4th and last but not least a 2nd. I believe if I was fresher I would have had one or two 1st finishes but fatigue became a factor.

No big cashes but it definitely was a humbling and character building experience. I finally found a zone where I made solid decisions, stayed patient and found my places to make large chip gains and fold when I really wanted to push all in with marginal hands. Now if I can just recreate that mind-set EVERY time I start a tournament I might become a very good player and succeed at my Quest.

Congratulations for all your winnings in the tourney. I hope you will achieve your goal to win $10K by August 1st and that will be the day to celebrate it with a big bang. Good Luck and may the force be with you.

10k is alot, you'll have to beat like 100nl or 200nl or something, which arent freerolls, and probly impossible to master by aug 1st
if you're playing sng's you have no shot imo, cash a tiny tiny shot, mtt's maybe you could hit a big score?

First I want to thank everyone for the advice and input both the supports and the skeptics.

I have gotten a lot of comments to my blog centered on Chris Ferguson’s accomplishment in comparison to what I am trying to do. I want to address this subject today.

Do I think I'm as good or compare my game to his? Absolutely not. He is an elite player and legend in the Game. Just know that if you read the details of HOW he accomplished what he did you would see it is like comparing Apples to Oranges. His results took much long because of the limitations he put on how he would do it. First, he only played at Full Tilt. What took the most time was making his initial cash stake. Here's why. Full Tilt has between 6 and 10 Freerolls per day where you can win money. First place pays $15…..that’s right $15. Most are turbo tourneys so you HAVE to get in with coin flips. It would be really difficult to play every freeroll every day there because they are spread over 16 to 18 hours. Last but not least, the number of players per game is 2,700.

Once he final won a meager bankroll he never risked more than 1% in any cash game or tournament. If he lost his 1% in a cash game, he was done for the day. I am using bankroll management but nothing nearly so limiting. To give you an idea I won a $120 on a freeroll the other day going against 1900 and $36 in another freeroll with a field of 96. Big differences. Since this is about building a poker bankroll one of the things I am also doing is cashing out and moving my winnings to other rooms to take advantage of bonus offers.

So, hat’s off to Chris. He certainly took a purist’s approach. I just have a different plan. I’m more the average Joe who wants to jump-start a part-time career in poker and, do it as quickly and efficiently as I possibly can.

As some of you have pointed out, the clock is ticking and I have my work cut out for me. So, back to Poker. With some luck and solid play I just might make my Goal. Keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you post!

very cool!! I'm a little confused about all these freerolls your playing. I've never heard of half of these freerolls Can you maybe elaborate on how you entered into all of these freerolls that you made $120 from just one of them? ...anyway good luck to you!! I would like to try this challenge also after I learn of the freeroll details! lol

congrats on your winnings so far and gl with the ones to come...i myself have plenty to learn before i take on such a task lol

congrats thats a good start your on the way..gl go go go

What? A $0 to $10K in x number of months challenge? Never heard of that before.

Good luck in your mission. You have made a good satrt and I hope you achieve your goal. Good luck.

this is a really inpiring one!! hope i can make a challenge on myself too... may be a 5year goal perhaps! LOL! im not that good as a poker player like you...

Goodluck!!!

Someone asked about where I have found all the best freerolls and tournaments. They are everywhere. Read my post about U.S. Poker Rooms 101A. It tells where I play the most. I hate to give away my gems but take a look at Bodog Poker. If you sign-up do it through Cardschat!!

They have 2 $500 purse Freerolls every day.

LOL All!!

Do you multi table mtt's online?

That is great. I hope you do it and inspire us all to keep trying.

My games of choice are MTT's online. I am just starting to play cash games again after about 2 months sharping my Poker skills!

Ive been following ur blog for a while now and its very cool that u keep updating us. I like to see other players approach and the goals they set.
best of luck as ur journy continues and I look forward to it.
take care,
M

Great Post



Good Luck





Please keep me up to date on your progress.

I am surprised at the many posts asking where to find the freeroll and low cost entry tournaments I play. They are indeed out there. Again, read my post on U.S. Poker rooms.

Now I am going to tease you. There is going to be a Special Kentucky Derby Freeroll with the $5,000 Purse on Sunday. It is password protected but it's out there. Let's see who can find it beside me!

Just so you know, my poker isn't always win, win and win. Today I took one on the chin. I went from 25,000 chips and 10th in a tournament with 100 players left to the rail in 3 hands.

1st hand, holding J9 suited. Flop comes JJ9. I smooth call and two other players stay in. Turn comes A. I raise and get re-raised big time. The other player turns over AJ and beats my full house with his.

2nd Hand, K10 suited and the flop comes J74 of spades. I have the flush. I push and 1 player stays in. Turn is nothing but the river is another spade. The other player pushes in and beats me with A3 holding the Ace of Spades, Ouch.

3rd hand, all in with pocket KK, and get beat by an A6 off.

That is the way of Poker. I walked away shacking my head.........but it is all good because "Tomorrow is another Day" and there will be more Poker.

Good to see you are still making progress. So what is your BR @ this point? Had any really bad hits lately?

Many of you have asked where I play and find so many freerolls and tournaments that lead to bigger payout games and can’t seem to find my earlier post on the subject. At the risk of being asked not to post the same subjects more than once I bring you the new, improved and more advance version of U.S. Poker Rooms 101. Here is U.S. Poker Rooms 202B.

So you know where I am coming from, I have a background in computer software and systems. I was partners in a computer software company for 10 years before I sold my interest in 2002. This knowledge and background has given me a health respect and fascination for online poker rooms. Just to be sure I wasn’t missing something, I thoroughly “Road Tested” some 100 plus sites both approved for USA players and some that aren’t. As some of you know there are only a dozen or so distinct software packages for U.S.A sites and many of the rooms have the same games/tournaments which they share in common.

That said, there are differences and variations that make some standout over others. I enjoy and play a lot at the Cake Family of Poker of rooms including Doyle’s Room, Players Poker and 10 or 12 others. Most recently a medium size room that I have enjoyed, PokerWorld moved to the Cake Platform. Lock Poker is also a new room on the Cake network and The Greek Sports Book has added The Greek Poker through Cake. I happen to like Players and Doyle’s the best of this group for their Tournaments. Players has a 5 or 6 freeroll tournaments that qualify you to play in a weekend tournament and win a $13,000 all expenses paid trip to the WSOP. The total purse is about $17,000. Hurry, time is running down. Doyle’s and Cake have daily tournament that qualify you for a weekend $1,000 freeroll. Pretty good stuff.

I play a fair amount at Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet (which I prefer over its twin Absolute Poker), Timeless/Minted poker along with Carbon/Wass/PDC Poker rooms. They are all very good. For some reason I put Bodog Poker at or near the top of my list. It has its quirks and you either like it or hate it but I like the way the tables are displayed. The configuration allows you to play multiple tournaments (which I am doing most of the time now) and know right where you are at a quick glance. Bodog is easy to use, is well supported and has good cash games and tournament for all levels.

With all that said I don’t have just one favorite. All the sites I mentioned have great incentives and freerolls so I often go where the best Games are being played.

Unlike the some of the problems experienced in the sports book industry, Poker Rooms are well equipped to handle cash-outs in a variety of ways and there are new and easier methods coming along everyday. Obviously they have some small print you have to read if you have received bonuses and freebies, but getting your money to and from the online Poker rooms is typically pretty painless.

So what’s stopping you; get out and play somewhere new. It will do you and your game a world of good!

Thanks to a late evening 19th place finish my net backroll at this point is just over $1,000.

In keeping with the pattern that was emerged it is Wednesday and time for the mid-week update on “The Mission”.

First a few announcements. I have been trying to keep blogs up-to-date in about 7 different places and it wasn’t working. This weekend I figured out how I was going to go forward from here on. I have established the primary blog for the Bankroll Mission on Google. That web address is:


http://crazybear007-pokerbankroll.blogspot.com/


No advertising or anything like that, just the facts. Thanks to the internet and the fantastic tools that are available I will be able to write it using Windows Live Writer. If you don’t have it get it! It is a tool included when you sign-up for a hotmail account, or Windows Live account which has replaced Hotmail. It is like word and it allows you to connect and publish to multiple accounts with one click; amazing stuff. I am also putting together a website for another business enterprise so once that is up the blog will most likely be posted there.

Part II of my announcement is that besides the auto-post locations I am only going to keep posting manually here at Cardschat and one other site. There has been such good response here that I want to keep that energy going!

Now on too Poker. For about the last week the cards have been running cold until last night. Over the weekend I played in some pretty big payout tournaments; 1 that totaled $17,000, another for $5000 and 2 or $1000 and $500 respectively. I went deep in two but was only able to cash less than $10 each time. The dry spell continued until last night when I final got some cards and finished 9th in a tournament that paid me just under $50.
I am trying to pick one or two sites having WSOP qualifiers to see if I can win my way in. If any of you have found good qualifying tournaments please let me know.

The weekend will be full of Poker and Websites, so that is it for now. LOL to all at the tables and in Life!