Milestone: $500 balance on Juicy Stakes Poker

The balance in my Juicy Stakes Poker account is  $502.08.  Going over $500 is a big deal, giving me twice the amount of the minimum $250 withdrawal.  March has been a pretty good month with just one day left.  I've had a good run over the past few days, cashing five of six times with two $20 cashes.

The results of my last 6 tournaments:

2nd of 58, $20.08
7 of 55, $4.25
23 of 80, no cash
2 of 55, $20.00
5 of 56, $7.25
6 of 81, $5.32

Everything is going well, but more money means more options and some interesting decisions that I have to make.

With a bankroll of $500 I can to play up to $5 tournaments.  In fact, I could take a few shots at going up as high as $10 if I'm careful.  As long as my average buy-in is no more than 1% of my bankroll I'm fine.  I will add a column to my spreadsheet to track my average buy-in.

The wrinkle is that at some point I'll want to take money out.  Let's say that when I hit $600 I decide to withdraw $250.  Then my bankroll would be $350 and my average buy-in at that point would have to be at or below $3.50.  That would allow some shots up to around $6, but certainly not $10.

I want to take money out so that I have some cash in my pocket, but more important, I want my poker business to be self-sustaining.  The way it works now, when I need to spend money for office supplies or a poker book, that comes out of the family budget, which my wife manages.  I subscribe to a poker coaching site (instructional videos and podcasts) that costs $10 a month.  That comes out of my wife's PayPal account.

My wife manages the money very well, and we will soon be completely debt free.  Money is already set aside for our retirement.  I have to make sure that I manage my poker income equally well.

Sometime next year (I'm always thinking at least a year ahead) I want to get some more intensive coaching from Jonathan Little, a World Poker Tour Player of the Year, for $27 a month.  This would be a combination of group coaching online and homework questions about what I would do in different poker situations.  Little would personally read my answers and grade my paper.  One of the best poker players in the world would be grading my papers and giving me advice!  I can't even imagine how much better I would be after a year of that.

I have some good reasons to leave the money alone and keep growing my bankroll, but some equally good reasons to start taking money out.  It's an interesting situation.  I'll get my bankroll up to $600 and probably make some decisions then.  Whatever I decide, growing my bankroll is a very high priority.  A percentage of what I make will always be reinvested in the business.