Project Criteria Post

Project Criteria

Project Goal:

To turn an initial $500 bankroll into a $25,000+ bankroll following proper bankroll management guidelines.

This project will be broken down into two main phases and loosely based on components of the three most popular Bankroll Guideline methods on the internet:

* The ever-popular and basic "100 buy-ins" Rule

* Chris Ferguson's "Two Percent" Rule

* Fox's classic "Basic Bankroll Management" article on Pocketfives

Following the main principles of these guidelines I will be able to turn a very modest $500 starting bankroll into a $25,000+ roll (playing tourneys only) without any chance of going broke. I believe bankroll management is the single most important aspect of being a winning poker player and that's why I'm stressing the fundamentals of it throughout this project.

Project History:

When Boku87 famously turned $100 into $10,000 in March playing only small stakes SNGs I was captivated. It reminded me of Chris "Jesus" Ferguson's successful experiment of turning $0 into $10K a while back. It also reminded me of what I did with MTTs on Full Tilt. I had been playing midstakes tourneys on Full Tilt for six months with a lot of success. I started out last year with a modest bankroll on Full Tilt and grinded it up playing small stakes 45-mans and small stakes MTTs.

In mid-April I was presented with an opportunity to conduct a bankroll building project of my own. I decided I could "mix" my MTT success with Boku87's mass SNG success. I had $500 on Pokerstars and decided I was going to grind it up to a $4,000 bankroll playing only the same small stakes SNGs Boku87 played. Once I accomplished that I felt pretty good but decided to take it further.

Phase One: Turning $500 into $5,000

Getting from $500 to $5,000 must be done playing small stakes SNGs only. I can't play any buy-in higher than $16. This is exactly the same criteria as the Boku87 challenge; nothing too complex just a ton of grinding. Its a safe, reliable, and uncomplicated method of building a realistic bankroll to play MTTs with. Once the roll is at $5,000 I will move on to Phase Two.

Phase Two: Turning $5,000 into $25,000+

From here things get quite a bit more dynamic and interesting. Using proper bankroll guidelines (but being reasonably flexible) I will start playing scheduled daily MTTs in addition to grinding SNGs. Because there is so much variance in MTTs I like to grind SNGs on the side for a little consistency and bankroll boost.

I'll start out playing nothing higher than $55 buy-ins for freezeouts and nothing higher than $10 buy-ins for rebuys (except the $22 1r1a). As my bankroll grows or shrinks I will adjust my buy-ins accordingly to ensure there is absolutely zero risk of ruin.

Summary:

Being a successful MTT player requires a great deal of patience, discipline, and sound judgment. This is NOT a "speed" project. It won't be done overnight (though it will be done in a reasonable time frame). The goal is to turn $500 into $25,000 by following proper guidelines, not by taking shots.