Bankroll Managament and Pokerstars 2008 WCOOP
Since coming back from the WSOP, I have decided to put myself in a self-directed “Bankroll Management Class”. It is not that I lost a lot of money - I just feel that if I want to make a run at playing high-stakes poker, I need to manage my bankroll a little better. I am not bad at cash management by any means, but like every other poker player on the face of the earth, I fall victim to the dreaded bad run of cards.
Players go into the inevitable valley where no matter what they do, they get beat by every donkey who catches runner-runner for the 87th time this session. Usually the player wants to move up a level. Poker players KNOW that they can beat the next level - and make up the losses quicker. This train of thought is common to poker players who are in a slump - and I am guilty of it too.
I REALLY wanted to play in the 2008 Pokerstars WCOOP, but my bankroll would not allow it (I deposited $200 and have built it up to $800). Stardard bankroll management advice says that you must have at least 20-25 buyins for the level of cash games &/or SNGs you want to play, and at least 50 buy-ins for the level of MTTs you want to play.
I could be undiciplined and say, “I have a ‘free’ $600 in my account, I should buy into a $530 event and see what happens”.
While a lot of people would go this route, I maintained my discipline and did not buy in. With a current bankroll of $800, I could only play SNGs for about $30 and MTTs for about $16. I decided that I was going to take the challenge of the WCOOP Steps.
I started every time at step 1 for $7.50. After about 3 weeks of playing, and buying into about 35 step 1 SNGs, I had won the following entries:
Event 1 - $215 NL holdem 6-Max
Event 6 - $530 deepstack NL Holdem
Event 27 - $530 Triple Shooutout (this was actually won in a MTT rebuy tournament, not the steps).
My bankroll was down to about $550. I am not a big fan of triple shootout tournaments, so I unregistered from Event 27 and took the 530 W$, which I sold to one of the many sites what will buy them. That replenished my bankroll back to approximately the same amount I had before I enbarked on the Step Frenzy.
Playing prudently within the limits set by my self-imposed “Bankroll Management Class”, I was still able to play in the WCOOP. I am tempted to unregsiter from both events and sell the resulting W$ to boost my bankroll even more, but who knows - if I can cash in either of these events, the reward would be so much greater.