Building a Bankroll

So you want to be Greg Raymer Minus the socks and sandals I hope. But you don't have tens of thousands of dollars to buy in to big tournaments. Who does, besides Wil Wheaton, James Woods and Ben Affleck'

You might want to buy in to a $500 buy in tournament, but can't bring yourself tp pony up $500 when it's a large part of your bankroll. Fair enough. I have some specific recommendations for you.

1. Play freerolls.

Almost all online sites have frequent player point freeroll tournaments, or new player freerolls. Before you say how those have no money in them, let me interrupt. True, but it is free money, and more importantly, it is valuable tournament experience where you can learn to be patient, change gears, and generally refine your game. Frequent player points, as they are sometimes called, can accumulate quickly on some sites, and you may as well use them.

2. Play satellite tournaments.

These are cheap ways to get into larger tournaments while refining your tournament skills and building experience. On some sites, like PokerStars, for example, you can win a satellite and unregister from the target tournament, using your tournament dollars to play more satellites or other tournaments. You could turn $11 into $215, into thousands.

3. Play small buy in tournaments.

Think you can't win big or build in a $20 buy in tournament' Wrong. Just last night, on PartyPoker a good friend of mine was playing a $20 buy in tournament and I stopped by to chat. Over two thousand people played it and first prize was some $9,700! Also, notice big time players like Gank play $20, $10, $5 and even $1 buy in tournaments. Enough said.

4. Search for and play guaranteed prize pool tournaments.

Check out all the different poker sites. Many sites, from big ones to less popular ones, like EmpirePoker, PokerHost or PacificPoker, have tournaments with guaranteed prize pools. On any given day I find many of these where the buy ins don't meet the guarantee. Suppose, for example, a $10 buy in tournament had a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. One thousand people have to enter to make that prize pool add up. If only 250 people enter, the pool is as big as it would be if you were playing a $40 buy in tournament, but it only cost you $10. The same applies if the tournament is for a seat in a large live tournament. If there isn't the full amount of buy ins to equal the price of the package, it's a good value. I see these everyday, but I have to hunt for them.

Jeff Henry

note by gank: Jeff Henry is an extremely talented online poker pro.