A while back I wrote about Chris Ferguson, a well known poker professional that makes a living off Full Tilt Poker, one of the top Texas Holdem sites online today. That entry skimmed upon the fact that he once went from a $0 bankroll to a $10k bankroll. This accomplishment is notable as there are a lot of people out there that are not willing to wager any of their own money playing a card game. The Chris Ferguson Challenge proves that anyone can go from zero to hero on money poker sites with a lot of work and dedication.
The steps of the Chris Ferguson Challenge were straightforward: get the Fulltiltpoker download, begin with $0, and one day achieve $10,000. Ferguson decided that he would donate this bankroll to the Save the Children Foundation once it was all over.
It is very important to know that to succeed on the best US poker sites, a player must adhere to strict bankroll management guidelines. In order to protect his bankroll, Ferguson made the following rules:
1) Enter freerolls until a bankroll accumulates.
2) Do not enter a Sit & Go on the Full Tilt Poker download for more than 5% of the total bankroll. The one exception is for $2.50 buy-ins.
3) Never enter a multi-table tourney for greater than 2% of the total bankroll. The one exception is for $1 buy-ins.
This challenge took a long time from start to finish because winning freerolls on the best Mac poker sites usually means beating massive fields. You might even be shocked to know that it was over 7 months before Ferguson had a steady bankroll of $6.50! Ferguson fought through this bad variance like a pro, of course. He finally boosted the bankroll in a significant way when he placed 2/683 in a $1 tournament and won $104 in prize money.
This relatively large increase in the bankroll did not mean the end was close by, however. To make a lot of money fast you must be incredibly lucky, even on US friendly poker sites. In fact, another 9 months went by before he finally had $10,000 and brought the challenge to an end.
The key lesson to take away from the Chris Ferguson Challenge is that it is highly unlikely to succeed at such a challenge with poor bankroll management. If you want to learn a couple things about bankroll management, go ahead and search for some free poker training on the Internet. If you have been in the game for a while, you probably know that protecting your bankroll is essential for long term success.
11/16/2010
