Bankroll thoughts

Congrats to Rosie on outlasting 430 others to win a Laddys mtt for $125.Hope you'll be doing some strategy posts soon!

Only played a little poker last night after watching Scotland get beaten by the Swiss ( who were on a roll) 3-1 at Hampden.

Watched a bit of The Apprentice after that and couldn't believe how inept these so called high fliers are.One girl making her sales pitch made me cringe she was so bad.I'm sure she can talk the talk just fine at job interviews and knows all the right corporate bullshit speak but when it comes to walking the walk she couldn't even crawl let alone walk.The boys team were just as bad.

Won $12 for my efforts last night.I also won $6 at Party and lost $6 in a Pokerroom $5.50 turbo sng.Managed to get a fish all in with his Q9 v my AQ but he spiked a 9 and my stack never recovered.

I was amazed I made any money last night as my play and decision making was as poor as its been in a while.

The trigger may have been when I folded QcJc post flop to two all in's and watched Mr Flopped straight take out Mr AA.I would have hit my runner runner flush to scoop that one and there's almost nothing in poker I find more frustrating.

Cc asked what my thoughts are on my current bankroll and where I'm headed.The answer is I really don't know.I play mostly $25 and $50 nl with some $100 nl thrown in and make enough to make this game a worthwhile hobby.Already though it does sometimes feel like a part time job I'm almost obliged to do because I'll miss out on $$ if I don't play.

I'm also lazy and scared of blowing my roll.Its over a year since I blew $700 on tilt at Pokerroom and it was an experience that will live with me for a long long time.I pulled it back and was even able to cash out by April however the fear of moving to $200 nl and somehow losing my whole roll seems a valid one even though I've never repeated my all out tilt nightmare of last Feb.

I'm also well aware that the competition at the low stakes nl I play at is for the most part incredibly poor and that my so called skills would probably be ripped apart at much higher levels.Sure I've held my own during long overnight sessions at $2-$5 nl 6 max on the odd occasion but I do question whether its worth trying to eke out 2 bb per hour at that level when I'm making roughly the same hourly profit at the lower fishier easier levels.

I mentioned having a $5k roll before moving up to $200 nl 6 max but that in itself is another issue as in my opinion 6 max is the real test of a players skill and I may be better off trying to bide my time learning at full ring $200 nl.

I would also like to take a shot at some point.I'd love a $7k roll.$5 k for my usual games and $2k or at least $1k to sit with at a 6 max nl table and see how quickly I bust or double/treble through.

I also need to toughen up mentally aswell if I want to move to higher stakes.I won around $1600 in Nov/Dec seeking out crazy games and making a killing but when variance kicked my butt over a few days at Xmas it seemed to take me weeks to regain my poker confidence and self belief when I should accepted that if your going to win $500 in a night then you have to be prepared to lose it and deal with it when one bad night become a bad run.

I don't know if I could handle a really bad run at say $200 or $400 nl whereas in the little old 70 buyin comfort zone ( $50nl) I'm in just now even a nightmare run of bad variance wouldn't cripple my roll.

I want to keep my credit card balance near zero and with this year proving expensive so far another cashout of $1 k or so may just ease that situation.

On balance I think I will try and aim for $5k and higher stakes.Hell I may even actually be able to hold my own over time at $200/$400 or $600 nl but I'm not kidding myself that I could do that without making huge strides in my game.

I suppose I'll never know until I try.I'm also slightly cautious by nature which can sometimes be a useful trait in cash games but may also stop me pushing myself out of my comfort zone to try out new experiences.

OK Enough is enough!

All my usual well thought out ramblings...

Don't expect me to stick to any of it.I'll probably change my mind tomorrow....

As reward for reading/skimming through the above here's a couple of funnies.Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment on any of the above nonsense!

Down to earth: A Glasgow couple on holiday in New York were impressed by the legendary world-weariness of a New Yorker when they were in the lift in their hotel. As a local joined them in the elevator, a member of the hotel staff at the controls brightly asked: "Going down?" only to be told: "Well, we ain't gonna go sideways."

Head start: Nashville veteran Don Williams, bringing his farewell tour to Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall next month, once revealed to Saga 105.2fm country music expert Bill Black what he did with any new stetson hat that he bought."I like 'em comfortable," drawled Don, "so I give each new one to my dog to play with first."