Milestones

A couple big milestones yesterday.  The first one was that I crossed the threshold of doubling up my bankroll, after only about nine weeks of keeping track and about 70 hours of play.  This puts me at a win rate of 1.46 big bets per hour.  This is a great accomplishment but there are a few caveats.

1. This a very small sample size.  The trend is encouraging but it's probably too early to say I'm a winning player.  1.46 is good but it's probably too good.  Variance is probably stepping in and inflating my short term performance.  Once I get above 500 hours, this is a little more reliable sample size.  If I am at or above 1 bbph I'll be a very happy camper.
2. I've been adding in the bonus money I've won from a few high hand jackpots I hit.  It's around $3-400.  I debated whether I should count this money as session winnings or just add it as a deposit to my bankroll.  In the end I decided to count it.  The reason being is that I don't account for rake, jackpot drop and dealer tips in my session tracking.  I figure with these combined it's probably pretty close.

The other bit of good news is a little anecdotal but even more encouraging.  Over the past year or so I've been playing with a fellow I've gotten to know as Bart.  I found out awhile back that he's a retired physician and professor and a pretty good card player.  I didn't know how good until yesterday.  Here's  a link to Dr. Bart's professional player profile.  He has cashed in more than 5 major tournaments, written a couple books on poker and is a columnist for several magazines.  Interestingly, Dr. Bart did a stint at a local casino as a Proposition Poker Player and wrote one of his books about the experience.

Dr. Bart and I ended up cashing in a tournament together and started talking.  I'm planning my first trip to Las Vegas in a couple months and I was asking him about his experiences there.  He mentioned to me that it's getting more and more difficult to find fix limit games and suggested I stick to no-limit.  I told him I wasn't confident enough in my no-limit game to do more than play in small tournaments now and then.  He said, "Nah!  You'll do fine!"

I don't know if I'll take Dr. Bart's advice or not but I took it as a great complement that a very skilled and observant player regarded me as a good prospect.  His comment boosts my confidence more than the early returns on my bankroll and win rate!