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Sometimes when you play poker, everything seems stacked against you. On the flip side, when things are going right, do they ever go right. When I started playing poker, I would get excited when I took down a $50 pot. Soon, I only got excited if I won a $100 pot. I still remember when I won a $329 pot in a 50 cent/$1 NL game at Partypoker. I just had to call my wife to tell her that I just won more in one pot than I could make in a day of working.

As I worked up the limits, the pots obviously grew larger and larger. My threshold for pain rose as the limits increased. Today, I do not bat an eye if the pot is under $500, and I certainly do not get excited unless the pot is over $1000. I played at the Venetian in Las Vegas in March 2007 and lost a $1900 pot to a terrible beat.

When my wife asked how I felt, my reaction was, “I got my money in as a 95% favorite. There was nothing else that I could do.” She could not understand how I could not be phased by losing a mortgage payment on one hand. “They are just chips”, I tried to explain. Still, the thought of losing even $100, makes her stomach churn. (She does give me credit for keeping a separate poker bankroll so I do not ACTUALLY lose the mortgage payment.)

Through my progression, my mind has numbed to the devastating beats that invariably happen in poker. You have to. It is part of the game that happens to everybody. If you do not think that the pros suck out every now and then, you need to watch this video:

Likewise, when I win a large pot, my mind is usually numb as well. In Doyle Brunson’s Super System book, he says that you have to think of the pot in terms of chips. If you assign them a dollar value, then you are probably playing in a game that is too large for your bankroll. This advice is so true. On the largest pot that I ever won (which was $1986), I had a numb mind. I viewed the pile of chips and contemplated the “work” I had to do to get them all stacked. Of course I was excited, but the excitement was gone when the next hand was in the air. I had more chips to win.

Sometimes when I play poker, I get to hear some priceless comments. One such comment came while I was playing at the Colorado Station in Blackhawk, CO, on July 15, 2007.

I was in Colorado to pitch an idea for a web application to a company for which I used to work (I write PHP code for a living). After the presentation, my friend wanted me to show him how to play poker. I had already given Scott some initial lessons on how to play, but he wanted to play in a live casino. Colorado has small-stakes gambling. Any wager cannot be more than $5, so this was a good opportunity for him to learn in a low-stakes environment.

We went to the parking garage at of The Isle of Capri Casino. Since they did not have a poker room, we went down the street to the next casino - The Colorado Station. We made our way up to the poker room where I inquired about the limits. The had 2-5 limit, 3-5 limit, and 5-5 limit. In the 2-5 limit game, there was only one blind of $2. Any player is permitted to bet anywhere from $2 to $5. In the 3-5 limit game, there are two blinds - $3 and $5. After the flop, you had to bet at $5. The same thing goes for the 5-5 limit game, except the two blinds are $5 and $5.

There was a small list for the $2-$5 game, and there were no 3-5 or 5-5 games in progress. There was a list of interest for the “Big Game”, as the floorperson put it (which was the 3-5 game). So, I put my name on both lists. They decided to start a 3-5 table before I was called for the 2-5 game.

I bought $300 in chips from the cashier and sat down at the table. I was by far the chip leader. It seemed like everybody bought in for $100. I sat down and got Scott situated behind me so he could watch.

The first hour went fairly well. I was getting some decent starting hands and they were holding up. Before too long, I had $400 in chips in front of me. Scott finally decided that he watched enough. He went off and played at a 2-5 game.

That is when things started to change. I continued to get decent hands, but I got drawn out on like you would not believe. People were chasing and hitting their 2 outters on the river. It was quite frustrating. I lost eight pots on the river to two or three outters. Oh well - it happens, and that is all part of the game.

During one hand, I heard a gem of a comment from a guy who was in seat #4. This particular hand occurred between him and an Asian guy seating next to me in seat #9. The Asian guy is fairly knowledgeable, and the guy in seat #4 was kind of a beginning player. The board was:

The guy in the #4 seat had been betting the whole way. When the fourth club fell on the river, he checked to the Asian guy. Seat #9 immediately throws out a $5 bet. Seat #4 pauses, and thinks and thinks.

The Asian guy says, “I have the nuts.”

Now, I know what you are thinking. How can you ever trust a poker player? As it turns out, Seat #9 had been doing this a lot. He had never lied, and always showed his cards even when the opponent folded. There was no reason to NOT believe him. At this point, I know the Asian guy has the King of Clubs.

Seat #4 looks at Seat #9 and in all seriousness and says,”I have the nuts too, but I think you might have me outkicked”.

Seat #4 calls and shows:

This comment brings up a commercial that we are all familiar with:

Gas money to get to Blackhawk, CO: $20

Losing eight pots on the river to two-outters: $800

Having somebody say, “I have the nuts too, but I think you have me outkicked”: Priceless

I was playing 5/10 NL at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Garden, CA about two months ago. The table was pretty competent. It was what I would expect at a 5/10 NL table. The buy-in at this game is uncapped. I had about $2,800 in chips in front of me when this hand came up.

UTG straddles before the cards are dealt. The UTG player is a decent player. He is aggressive, but folds when he thinks he is beat.

Everybody folds to the cutoff, who looks at his hand and announces “all-in”. Now, the player in the Cutoff position has been doing this all evening. He has been making $1,000 raises into a $70 pot. I knew it was just a matter of time before he got caught. At this moment in time, Mr. Cutoff had $3,400 in chips in front of him. Why somebody would bet $3,400 into a $40 pot it beyond me, but hey, it was his money.

The button and blinds fold. Mr. Straddler peeks down then gets a sorrowful look in his face. He says to Mr. Cutoff, “I have to call you”.

One of the players at the table shouted over to a friend who was playing 5/5 NL at another table, “Hey, we have a $3,400 all-in called. We have a $7,000 pot over here.”

Mr. Cutoff had a resigned look in his face. “You have me. “, he said. I was trying to make a move.”

He flips over

Mr. Straddler confidently shows:

By this time, the word has spread around the high stakes area about this hand. There must have been what felt like 100 people around the table watching this hand. The dealer shakes his head, grins and delivers the flop:

Immediately, the room goes silent. Everybody ponders the consequences of this flop. The T4s has a chance to crack the Aces. Mr Dealer hams up the situation. He looks around, takes his time, and enjoys the attention that he is getting. Just when it seems like the tension is going to explode, he taps the table and delivers the turn:

The room goes ballistic! People are screaming and yelling. Nobody can believe what they just saw. The T4s, against all odds, is going to suck out to win a $7,000 pot that he had no business being in. People are high-fiving each other everywhere.

I take a moment to look at Mr. Straddler. He is slumped over in his chair like somebody just stabbed him in the stomach with a knife. He really looks like he is going to be sick.

I then glance at Mr. Dealer.  He has a grin from ear to ear.

Lastly, I look at the people standing around the table.  Anybody who is in the high stakes area, and who is NOT currently in a hand, has now made their way over to the table to witness how bad these Aces are going to crash and burn.

You can literally feel the electricity in the air. It feels like the last game of the world championships (World Series / Stanley Cup / Super Bowl / World Cup, or whatever your favorite sport is) with your team down to its last possession with time running out. The people are looking for an excuse to let the pressure out. Again, the Mr. Dealer hams up the situation. After what seems like 10 minutes, he finally taps the table and delivers the river:

At the sight of this unbelievable card, everybody again goes bonkers. People were jumping up and down, people were screaming, people were giving each other High-Fives. I have never been part of anything like this. For a minute, I thought there was going to be a riot. It was SO cool.

Mr. Cutoff picked up his chair and threw it (luckily nobody was behind him). He stormed off. The $7,000 pot was property of the Pocket Aces.

Five minutes later, Mr. Cutoff came back and bought in for another $5,000. You could see the smoke coming out of his ears. He was on major tilt. I knew I could bust him if I had enough cash and could get into a hand with him. But, that my friend, is the subject of another story. . . someday.

As many of you know, the pros at Full Tilt Poker write tips that are published and sent out via email. One tip in particular (Tip #100) intrigued me to no end.

In that tip, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson discusses how he started with literally ZERO dollars and is in the process of turning that into a $10,000 bankroll. Chris gives some pretty good advice and insight into bankroll management. In a nutshell the requirements are:

1. You can never buy into a Cash Game or Single Table Tournament with more than 5% of your total bankroll, except you are permitted to buy in with at least $2.50 at any time
2. You can never buy into a Multi Table Tournament with more than 2% of your bankroll, except, you are permitted to buy into any Multi Table Tournament for $1.00 or less.
3. If at any time, the money you have on the table is 10% or more of your total bankroll, you must leave the table when the blinds get to you.

These guidelines are pretty good. For the cash games, they allow you to have 20 buy-ins at a level. Twenty buy-ins will allow you to ride out the ups and downs that we all get as poker players. Secondly, this advice is pretty close to what the World Poker Tour Ca$h Boot Camp recommends too.

I began to think about this. If Chris Ferguson can build a $10,000 bankroll from nothing, then there is absolutely NO reason why I cannot do it either. I am a decent poker player, capable of playing the mid-level games (5/10 NL, 30/60 Limit) without being over my head. The problem is that I really despise Full Tilt Poker. My worst beats have been on Full Tilt. With the new gaming legislation in the USA, I am pretty much limited to playing on Poker Stars or Full Tilt. Since I have a bankroll on PokerStars, that pretty much leaves me with Full Tilt.

I wanted to give this experiment my best shot. I did not want to cheat, add more money, or do anything outside the guidelines. Hesitantly, I talked myself into doing this project at Full Tilt. Afterall, if you play correct poker, it does not matter how many bad beats you get. As long as you make the correct decisions, and you get your money in the pot with the best hand, you MUST be a winner over the long-term. That is why you have a 20 buy-in cushion.

I logged into my Full Tilt account to somewhat of a surprise. I had $12 sitting there. Well, I guess I do not have to start from ZERO. I get to start with some cash.

In the first days, I decided to play $1 HORSE tournaments. I quickly figured out that the variance in tournaments is too high. I decided to play my strongest game - Holdem. One anomaly that I found with Chris’ guidelines goes like this: Assume you have a $10 bankroll. You buy into a 5/10 cent no limit game for the allowed $2.50. You are already risking 25% of your bankroll right there. According to Rule #3, you must leave the game. It was apparent that some modifications are needed in the lowest limits. My strategy has been to buy into the 5/10 cent no limit tables with $2.00. If I double up, I think about leaving. If I get to $6, then I absolutely MUST leave and bank my profit. $6 on the table is way too much of a percentage of your bankroll to expose to a bad beat.

My Full Tilt bankroll now stands at $31.03. This experiment is going to be FUN indeed. I will of course keep posting updates as I (hopefully) progress up the ranks.

You can see Chris’ entire tip here