In the long run, I expect to win money when I play poker. It’s not because I’m a great poker player, but because I’m somewhere above the halfway mark in the poker food chain. Since June, I’ve been eking out a decent 3BB/100 hands. That only represents a little under 4,000 hands, but I like the trendline.

In the short run, I expect to run into bouts of terrible runs that push me to and over the brink of tiltdom. This is why having a bankroll capable of handling the beats and bad runs is so important. Play within your limits!

Now as a student I don’t really have the extra cash lying around to fund a bankroll adequately, so I am running a higher risk by playing with a bankroll of 50-100BB, but thus far I’ve been fortunate in being able to run up the bankroll after each initial deposit and withdraw the money to the safety of my bank account. After that, it’s OPM, and while I’d be sad to see it go, it doesn’t become a problem.

Of course, my ultimate goal is to build up that 300BB bankroll, and then push it even higher to fund excursions into the higher limits. I’m not a patient person, but I’m trying. It’s frustrating because I’ve gone through periods of huge run-ups only to see it all dissipate in a flurry of suck outs and cold decks. It’s a heartbreaking cycle, and it keeps me scraping around at 1/2. After all, one of the primary reasons I play poker is to beat other people and take their money as proof of my abilities. But if the game slaps you around like a mean girlfriend, you really start to question your manhood.

Well, maybe not quite that.

Anyway, I hope you’re not reading this blog for any poker advice, because I’m not the one to give it. I do have a favor to ask you, though: bet and raise at every opportunity. Someone has to teach those fish a lesson, and if not you, then who?