Withdrawal Considerations

First, the good news: After I make my first withdrawal I will no longer be subject to a complicated set of rules stating what I need to do to withdraw.  After the first one, I can withdraw as often as once a week, with a minimum withdrawal of $100.  That's different than the first withdrawal, which has a $250 minimum amount.

The bad news: There is a $50 fee for every withdrawal, which was a nasty surprise.  $100 plus a $50 fee doesn't make any sense and I will never do that.  I'll wait until I can cash out enough that the fee isn't such a big percentage of what I withdraw.

My original plan for withdrawals was to take out $300 the first time and split it three ways:

1. Open a bank account for poker expenses.
2. Owners capital, money that I can take out for personal use.
3. A starter bankroll for live tournaments.

I was going to divide the $300 equally, $100 for each category, but as I thought about it I decided that $100 really isn't enough to get any of those areas going.

Another issue is that I'm on a downswing so my bankroll is down.  I'm -$112.70 so far this month.  That's not as big a deal as it sounds.  I've said many times that winning in tournaments usually means a lot of tournaments with no cashes or a very small cash, but a few very large cashes that make up for all of the small losses. For example, in June I failed to cash more often than not, but my biggest cash was $162.  That and a couple other decent cashes drove the month.

I can do some things to tighten up my game a little, but I won't make radical changes.  I trust the process.

Given all of the above I decided the following:

1. I will only take out the first-time minimum withdrawal of $250.  That plus the $50 fee will take a big enough chunk out of my bankroll.

2. $250 is not nearly enough to split three ways.   The poker bank account will have to wait.  I'm going to split the money, probably $100 for owners capital and $150 for live tournaments.

If I play the cheapest live tournaments available in the area, which are $25 or $30, that would give me several shots to start building a live bankroll.  $150 would buy me into five $25 tournaments with a some money left for dealer tips.  Of course I could easily play five tournaments without cashing, but with Americas Cardroom no longer an option, I need to start working on my live game again and I have to start somewhere.  If it doesn't work out, I'll use money from a future withdrawal and try again.

A lot of people think that success in poker involves being smart and getting lucky, but it's not that simple.  I'm running a business and I have to make good decisions, not only at the poker table but also in managing the business.

As always, your comments and questions are welcome (see box below.)