Why and how

The primary purpose of this blog is to force me to analyze my play and document my progress as I try to build my bankroll from virtually nothing. If others happen to learn from my mistakes, that's great too.

The game I will be playing most is No Limit Texas Hold'em (surprise, surprise). I do believe that it's important to become proficient in multiple variations of poker (and I certainly dabble on the side), but I'll be using this calendar year to find out what kind of progress (i.e. $$$) I can make by focusing primarily on No Limit Hold'em. However, I will be playing both cash games and tournaments.

I'll be starting with an 'unprotected' bankroll of $500. I'll play within my bankroll for the most part, but since it's an amount that I can afford to lose a couple of times over, I'll admittedly be taking occasional stabs at games which are a just a little beyond those means. Once I hit the $2000 mark, I will adhere strictly to the guidelines of a 'protected' bankroll. If you are brand new to the game or are playing with a bankroll that you cannot afford to replenish, I recommend that you not deviate from your chosen bankroll guidelines AT ALL.

In addition to playing both cash games and tournaments, I'll be playing in both live and online environments as well. For the live games, I've developed a few spreadsheets that will allow me to track my hourly rate. For the online games, I'll be using the venerable PokerTracker software to log my sessions. I'll also be using Microsoft Money to keep track of my balances at the various online sites.