March $200 Cash Game Challenge

Starting March 1st, Bluff Magazine is hosting a competition where 20 top online pros will begin with only $200 in special accounts. They will have one month to build the largest bankroll they can by playing in only MTTs and SNGs. If they go broke, they're out. The winner will be featured on a cover of Bluff. You can follow everything here.

I'm going to do my own challenge, but in cash games. I'll start with $200 in one account and see how much I can grow that in one month, starting and ending on the same days as the Bluff challenge. I'll use some basic bankroll management guidelines, such as only taking shots/moving up to a new limit with 15-20 BI's, moving down if I reach 10 BI's.

Each week I'll post up results on my progress and, at the end of the month, we'll see how I did. If the results are good, then maybe this will motivate some micro-stakes players as to what can be accomplished.

Here is my outline (which will be revised each week depending on results):

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Week 1

$200 BR -> 10NL

Goal

• Have $500 (+300) BR to move up to NL25 Week 2

Plan to Achieve

• 20bb/100 hands winrate
• 15,000 hands (avg. 2500 hands/day over 6 days)
  
• That will equal $300, enough to move up.

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Week 2

$500 BR -> 25NL

Goal

• Have $1000 (+500) BR to move up to NL50 Week 3

Plan to Achieve

• 10bb/100 hands winrate
• 20,000 hands (avg. approximately 3400 hands/day)
• That will equal $500, enough to move up.

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Week 3

$1000 BR - 50NL

Goal

• Have $2000 (+1000) BR to move up to NL100 Week 4

Plan to Achieve

• 10bb/100 hands winrate
  
• 20000 hands (avg. approximately 3400 hands/day)
• That will equal $1000, enough to move up.

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Week 4

$2000 BR - 100NL

Goal

• Win at least $1000, to end month with $3000+ BR
  

Plan to Achieve

• 6bb/100 hands winrate
• 17,000 hands (avg. approximately 2900 hands/day)
• That will equal $1000, Goals Reached!
• Celebrate

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Some final notes on this:

• I set goals that were not easy, but at the same time, very achievable.
• I set winrates lower than what I expect. Hopefully, my winrates will be higher and so the number of hands I will need to play will be reduced. Otherwise, they will be increased.
• I reduced my expected winrate as I moved up limits as that will be the realistic outcome.
• I'll be playing mostly 6max.
  
• I'll likely start out playing between 4-8 tables only. As I move up, I will reduce that number, eventually ending with 3-4 at 100NL. That will mean I'll be playing more hours to get in the required hands, unless my winrate is much higher than expected. I expect to run like god, though, so no worries there.

It will be a lot of work, but it will be fun and challenging. I can't wait to get started tomorrow. This is making grinding exciting again!