Resolution!

Overall, it's been a great poker year for me. I've fallen madly IN love with the game, and I've managed to come out of it about $400 ahead. That's the good news.

The bad news, is that I'm probably not just in love, but almost unhealthily obsessed with the game. So I'd like to resolve the following:

I resolve to continue to play poker and love it, and maybe even play more poker than last year; BUT - I resolve to set firm guidelines that should help me achieve this in a sane and responsible manner, insuring that I keep my family and work as the top priorities.

I'm not a problem gambler yet, (at least I don't think I am) but by setting hard and fast limits; I feel I can stay well ahead of this danger. If I look back mid-year 2008 and find I am in violation of these very reasonable tenets, it will be clearly time to hang it up.

Still, I'm a bit giddy at the prospect of having and maintaining an actual poker bank roll. Here's what I plan.

Using Chris "Jesus" Ferguson's guidelines on maintaining a bank roll, I know I can keep my poker money completely separate from the money I work for and earn for my family.

That's step number one. KEEP MY POKER MONEY COMPLETELY SEPERATE FROM ALL OF THE MONEY I MAKE FROM WORK.

To do this:

I plan to open my own checking account, and to deposit the $300+ I won in my online poker league this year. Plus about another $100 that I've been keeping track of since my cash win in Vegas and my recent cash win at home.

This account is my poker money, and it will be used for:

1) Playing online. This includes my poker league and possibly (if I can figure out how to do it safe and legally) a real money account on Full Tilt.

Online play will be restricted to two sessions a week, one will be my weekly Tuesday night league tournament and the other will be up to 3 hours on Sunday nights. This may SOUND LIKE A LOT, but actually - I have been playing for play chips ALMOST EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK for a few months. The wife is over it, and I am to. I can see that it's been a bit of a problem. I have currently stopped doing this - though it has been difficult, I feel keeping myself down to two nights max a week, under 5 hours total, is very reasonable.

2) Live home games. Including my monthly home game, and possibly others I am invited to.

Live home game play will be restricted to two games per month max; one at my place and one entirely optional home game elsewhere (if I am invited, last year I didn't go to many outside games).

For all of this play (which seems like a lot, but actually is many fewer hours than I've played in 2007) I will be restricted by Chris "Jesus" Ferguson's guide to bankroll management.

-I'll never buy into a cash game or a Sit & Go with more than 5 percent of my total bankroll (there is an exception for the lowest limits: I'm allowed to buy into any game with a buy-in of $2.50 or less).

-I won't buy into a multi-table tournament for more than 2 percent of my total bankroll and I'm allowed to buy into any multi-table 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 my total bankroll, I must leave the game when the blinds reach me.

This should keep me financially in good shape, especially when I limit ALL of my poker money to my poker account only.

I'm keeping in mind that the buy-ins for my home game, my online league tournaments any and all home games I've ever been to fall WELL WITHIN Ferguson's guidelines with my current bankroll of $400+. Hopefully when I get a real money Full Tilt account, following these guidelines and playing micro-stakes, will keep me in good shape as well.

I am confident that I will continue to show profit, as I have at home games for the past 6 years and online for the past 8 months. But if my bankroll begins to drop, I am prepared to return to free play and instructional software until my game improves enough to warrant a return to real money play.

Now, having resolved all of this there will of course be a couple of "fun" and "gambling" exceptions:

1). My schedule and family life permitting, I plan to play once a month in the HPC Sunday 10K guaranteed multi-tourney. The buy in, with multi-rebuys, should average around $60. I plan to cap it at $120 max, though I am unlikely to spend this amount. This tournament I will treat as a once a month fun trip, and entertainment and yes - gambling. Hopefully, I'll be able to cash at some point - but if I don't, I'm there to have fun and gain live experience. My usual budget for purchasing DVD's and other "fun" items, will have to be curtailed to make room for this expenditure.

2). I will also allow myself 2 trips to Vegas this year. One is a planned trip with my online league buddies. The other one is as yet unplanned, but I know I will find myself in Vegas with my family at some point (maybe multiple points) during the year.
On only ONE of these family trips will I allow myself to "gamble".

For the planned trip my budget will be $200 a day. This sounds like a lot, but I doubt very much it will reach that point. I play low stakes cash limit, and low entry fee tournaments. I do want to have a cap though, if for some reason it seems that I can't control myself. Thankfully up to this point, the most I've ever lost on a Vegas poker day was just over $100; and I got a lot of play value on that trip.

For the inevitable unplanned trip, my budget will be $100 a day. I plan to hopefully play just a single low entry tournament, and possible low stakes cash if I get to go to the casino more than once.

All in all, I look forward to the New Year, and taking my poker cash and my family commitments a little more seriously. After playing the game for a couple of years at a semi-serious level, I've come to realize that limits are VERY important, and downright necessary for a productive and less stressful amateur poker career.

I feel it is also important, more so than the money even; to resolve to stick to limiting myself to online and live play; so that family and work remain my absolute priorities in that order.

-I will only play in the Flatline league once per week, Tuesday nights at 930pm. (We have been talking about a regular cash game, I will have to skip it if I plan to play in the tournaments).

-I will only play online poker for money once a week for less than 3 hours.

OR

-Failing that, I will allow myself the same session playing for play chips online, or using instructional software for the same designated time frame.

-I will not exceed my once a month live tournament play allowance at Hollywood Park Casino. I type this out, because I could easily see myself sneaking off for a weeknight tourney at Hollywood Park Casino (close to my work with LOW buy-ins. Very seductive and dangerous).

-I will only play in friendly home games that meet my bankroll requirements. (Currently less than $20 buy in). I will limit myself to hosting a home game only once a month; and give myself the option of also attending a single outside home game once a month as well.

I am very confident that with these simple yet reasonable guidelines, I can not only safely play more this next year - but play more sensibly, and win more, and be less stressed about squeezing poker into my schedule. I plan to give my wife the gist of this, and believe it or not it should provide actually a lot more time for family and grown up responsibilities.

Most of all, I must resolve that if my bankroll fails to meet these requirements, or if I violate my playing time allotment - that I will take a break from the game for the rest of the year. If this happens from September on, I resolve to break from the game until the following June.

I am confident that this will not be necessary. I have become aware of my wife's annoyance at me playing online free poker almost every night - I have already stopped doing this. I feel with hard fast guidelines that still allow for quality poker time, I can achieve my bankroll goals. I have done the same thing in my life with my weight and health, and this poker thing is very, very, doable. Especially since, I don't really have too much of a "problem" to begin with, yet.

I can do it!

Happy New Year!