Bank Roll Update: 6/15

Super, Thanks for asking.. - Big Gay Al, South Park

My Bank Roll has improved, I've been playing .25/.50 NLHE on FTP and I feel pretty comfortable at that level. On PokerStars, I took a bit of a hit and I'm back down to .05/.10 NLHE. You have to play a bit different on Pokerstars versus FTP. There are four times the players on Pokerstars than Full Tilt Poker, so you have to expect the variance in players to be different as well.

The New York Times published an article in it's Sunday Magazine entitled The Hold-'Em Holdup. Their whole magazine was about debt and this article was about how college kids are playing high stakes poker with borrowed money instead of attending classes. There was even a honor roll kid who stuck up a bank to get some money to paid for his gambling debts. The same can be said for those cheap credit card offer every student receives. I'm sure there are cases of sophomore shopaholics who have done the similar things.

Debt is a big problem in this country, whether it be from the Federal Government's huge deficit to retail 'Check into Cash' stores. American's love their debt.

Poker really should be called Patience.
- Mike 'the Mouth' Matusow on The Circuit.

I think of this as an opportunity. Money and Time Management should be part of any college education . I propose a Poker 101 class for all beginning poker players. The first few sessions would not even talk about the cards.

The first lesson would be about the self-psychology of poker. The importance of Discipline and Patience to your game. The extreme highs and lows of gambling. Going on Tilt. Walking away when you are bested. Knowing when you are addicted and programs like Gambler's Anonymous.

The second lesson would be about Expected Value. You have to expect to lose. The game is about making the correct decisions, even though you might lose that hand. The Fundamental Theory of Poker, making more correct decisions than your opponent.

The third lesson would be about Bank Roll management. Keep your normal money separate from your bank roll. Never risk more than 5% of your bankroll. Never put all your bank roll on the table. Build slowly.

After this base is established, then you can start teaching about the fact that there are cards involved in some way in poker.

Current bank roll
Full Tilt Poker: $473.65 + 1/$26 satellite token
Pokerstars: $103.19
Live: $300.00