[Smurph64]

I hear what you are saying Point Blank and as before I commend you on that attitude.

That approach doesn't work for me. I know that, I have done it twice before thinking that only to get screwed up at 5/10 or 3/6. I have cashed out about 2k in poker winnings so far. I could justify playing to myself without long term management skills playing 3/6 right now and end up not looking back. Or I can play 3/6 go on a simple 300 bb drop and lose 2 years of work. Its only money but its time invested. If I lost my poker winnings playing at my max bankroll today, I don't have 2k to rebuy. And frankly I only have 1600 hands at 3/6 with a 1.84 bb/100 avg so I have no idea if I am a winning player there.


At that point I may be at my level of experience where I may not win.

I don't know yet. The short term situations have always hit me there. Bad luck, karma, Murphy's Law. I have no idea.

This money management posting is basically a contract with myself.

I am saying that if my bankroll drops below $1000 dollars I stop playing at the 2-4 lvl leaving me with 500bb at the lower lvl.

If I go below $450 then I drop down again.

With this I know I can handle some really bad swings.

Right now I am on a huge upswing having won 150 bb in 400 hands and 680 bb in 14k hands for a 4.49 bb/100 avg. It's easy to get cocky and euphoric for me at this time and think, "I am playing well right now, I played $1 limit before for no trouble, what are the odds I lose 100 bb straight? Not much...hrmm take a 15bb challenge...see what happens...."

You can see to where this type of moronic thinking can lead. Well historically for me it leads to cashing out after playing 5k hands of seat of the pants poker pushing edges and playing like an idiot, getting hot and bothered at the screen, being in a bad mood, obsessions with the cards and the bad luck which isn't really bad luck at all.

This is the 3rd time and finally I know that without money management skills keeping me in check at all times I am going to make some stupid moves in the future.

By managing myself for the first time with long term goals, by giving myself permission to acclimatizing myself to making sure I am pyschologically able to handle 1200 dollar swings before I move up, When I get to the 2/4 play balance level of $1k and start playing 2/4 with 15 bb's. I will know that I have already cashed out this risk from my poker account. I know I can essentially handle a 600 bb swing here and be break even. But I would rather be in the boat where I cash out a few more times and bump that number up even more. I help myself not only for the long term of limit poker but also to being able to handle and learn to play NL poker as well.

This is my contract to make sure I am not letting myself play emotional poker ever again.