As I think about it, though, this probably applies only to average players, rather than top-level professionals. I recall a situation recently when I was cashing in my chips and saw a high-limit professional, the kind you see playing at the $300-$600 table, putting several rolls of $100 bills into his safe-deposit box. It's likely that there was more than $100,000 in the box. Now, that's what I call a bankroll!

Even though I am a player with average playing skills, I think I have benefited in several ways by developing and following some strict guidelines regarding my bankroll, and I would like to share them with you.

Let's look at exactly how I maintain my bankroll. My method may not be the best for you, but it works well for me, and you may want to review it and then develop something similar for your own purposes.

• The bankroll is kept in cash, specifically, $100 bills. Having it in cold, hard cash makes is seem very real and very important, and this gives me a comfortable, secure feeling.

• The cash is kept in my safe-deposit box at the bank. How could you get more secure than this? OK, maybe you're thinking the money should be earning interest. If you are looking at it from a purely economic point of view, that might be the best approach. In my case, though, I don't think of it as an economic venture; I want to have the cash totally isolated from anything else. This keeps me focused on how exclusive and important these funds are.

• The bankroll is used only for poker - no exceptions. I view this money in the same way that a carpenter looks at his tools; it is a necessary part of my trade, and is to be used for no other purpose.

• All winnings are put back into the safe-deposit box so that the bankroll will grow. My bankroll has taken a hit a few times when I was running bad, and I'm glad I didn't give in to temptation and spend some of it prior to those occasions.

That is how I handle my bankroll. Now, let's review some of the benefits of maintaining a bankroll.

• It helps keep me focused on my objective, which is winning in the long run, and the importance of protecting my bankroll provides one more very important reason to win.

• With a bankroll, I can afford to lose. That may sound a little contradictory, because I hate to lose. But, when I do lose, it's nice to know that I'm not blowing money that was meant to pay the mortgage.

• The fact that I have a bankroll raises my self-image. Although I admit to having average playing skills, I believe that doing as many things as I can in the same way that top level pros do leads me that much closer to joining their ranks.

• Having a bankroll forces me to be very objective about my level of progress. If I see that my bankroll is diminishing, it is impossible to deny that I am on a losing streak, and that forces me to analyze what's wrong in order to make necessary changes.

For those players who are ready to commit to maintaining a bankroll, you may be wondering how to get one started in the first place. I used the "found money" principle. That is, take money that you weren't expecting, and instead of blowing it on whatever, stash it away. Examples are an income tax refund, someone repaying a loan, winning a bet, and so on. If you make the commitment at this moment to take all of the funds that you will receive in the next year from sources such as these and put them into a bankroll, you will be surprised at the results.

If you think that a lot of what I have covered in this article is obsessive, you are right. I have noticed, however, that those who win in the long run are obsessed with winning, and that's just fine with me.