Bankroll Management for the New Year

Chris Ferguson won more than $20,000 on Full Tilt Poker. I hear you saying, "So what? Players win 10 times that every day." The amazing thing about his feat is that he did it by starting from nothing. That's right, from zero. He did it by following simple rules for managing his bankroll. Well, OK, being a great player didn't hurt, either.



It is hard to imagine a Card Player reader who isn't familiar with Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Among his many accomplishments are winning five World Series of Poker bracelets, including the main event in 2000. He also has won several WSOP Tournament Circuit events. His academic background is in computer science (Ph.D.) and game theory. He is also an expert card thrower (cutting fruit and vegetables in half from across the room) and ballroom dancer.



His Christ-like appearance earned him the nickname Jesus, and enabled me to come up with a great comment at the final table of the 2004 deuce-to-seven championship. As we all sat down at the final table, Lyle Berman glanced at the players with short stacks. Seeing Wil Wilkinson's miniscule stack, Lyle said, "He's crippled." Almost immediately, Wil got all in against Chris. Wil won the pot, nearly tripling up. I commented, "Jesus heals another cripple!" That comment was my only bright spot at the final table, as I blundered away a monster pot to Barry Greenstein, the eventual winner. Chris hung on to finish second.



As an intellectual challenge, Chris, who is certainly in very good financial shape, decided to see if he could turn zero into $10,000 on Full Tilt. (I never listed normalcy among his many accomplishments.) In my opinion, Full Tilt is one of the two best Internet poker sites. Tilt and PokerStars have the best software. Stars has a few more games, especially if you prefer limit hold'em, but Tilt is far and away the best site for newer players wishing to improve their poker skills. Their pros, of whom I'm one, play all the time, and often chat with the observers. The big tournaments and the high-limit H.O.R.S.E., no-limit hold'em, and pot-limit Omaha cash games often feature the world's strongest players, playing for hundreds of thousands of dollars; yes, real money, and anyone can watch! There is also an excellent series of tips from the pros, and some forums are available.



Back to the story of Chris' quest; he took advantage of miniscule freeroll tournaments offered by the site. As they say about many things, the first step is the hardest. It took him more than six months to get from zero to $6.50. He then won a $1 buy-in tournament for more than $100. Over the next three months, he passed his initial goal of $10,000. Within 11 months of starting, he was approaching $30,000. (Sadly, he has been drifting back down toward $10,000 since then.) One thing is clear, however: It is possible to start from very humble beginnings and build it into a significant bankroll. He obviously could have shaved six months off the process by starting with $5 or $10 instead of nothing. Go to ChrisFerguson.com to see an up-to-the-minute graph of how Chris is doing in this challenge.



Now, here's the moment you've all been waiting for: Chris' guidelines for building a bankroll:



• He never buys into a cash game or a sit-and-go with more than 5 percent of his total bankroll (there is an exception for the lowest limits: he is allowed to buy into any game with a buy-in of $2.50 or less).



• He doesn't buy into a multitable tournament for more than 2 percent of his total bankroll, but he's allowed to buy into any multitable tournament that costs $1.



• If at any time during a no-limit or pot-limit cash-game session the money on the table represents more than 10 percent of his total bankroll, he must leave the game when the blinds reach him.



What do I think of these rules? If you went broke or even if you had one or two sessions in which you lost a significant portion of your poker bankroll during 2007, try following his guidelines in 2008. Yes, they are conservative, but they certainly will keep you safe from disaster. The third one seems the most questionable to me. You have risked 5 percent or less of your bankroll in a cash game. You are winning. Even though you now have more than 10 percent of your bankroll on the table, I would recommend continuing as long as you think the game is very good, and you are playing well. If there is ever a time to try for a big score, this is it. (Another solution is to play in games with a cap. The cap will keep you safe from the disaster of losing your entire stack in one hand.) In any case, I hope your new year is a happy and healthy one, and I hope that my advice helps you along the path to it being a winning one.



Steve "Zee" Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on Full Tilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A – Nice Guy Eddie's on Houston and Doc Holliday's on 9th Street – in New York City.