Poker is a game that requires a great deal of patience, as well as skill, as anyone who has played the game either recreationally or professionally will know. There may be countless sessions in which a player can’t seem to catch a break before out of the blue a flurry of good fortune, or at least an absence of bad luck, sends one’s winnings sky-high.

Bankroll Challenge When I first started playing poker 2 years ago and fell in love with the game, I wanted to learn more so I could improve and thats when I came across the likes of Jonathon Little, Doug Polk, Andrew Neeme, Brad Owen, all great players who were putting out content regularly to help n00bs like myself. Throughout the Poker Bankroll Challenge, you will be playing at No Limit, Texas Holdem Tables. We’ll start on the lower stakes and gradually move up the stake levels as we achieve goals and increase our bankroll. Published on Aug 14, 2018 The latest leg of the $100 to $10,000 bankroll challenge is really starting to take its toll on Doug. He seems resigned to his fate to grind small stakes tournaments.

That also seems to be a fairly good description of Doug Polk’s $100-to-$10,000 Bankroll Challenge, with the 29 year-old pro treading water and experiencing numerous up and downs before a stellar final session saw him almost triple his $3,318 bankroll to steamroll his way past the finishing line. Having the patience and mindset to deal with the slow times can be truly demanding, with the accomplished pro himself finding the path hard going and ultimately throwing caution to the wind by diving into a 500NL cash game to complete the task.

Throwing Caution to the Wind

Needless to say, Polk was taking a big risk by competing at stakes of $25/$50 as this meant he had significantly less than the recommended 5% of bankroll or 20 buy-in rule that is considered good bankroll management, and offers protection from a large down swing. Polk’s relief after having won his challenge was also clearly on display, with the pro stating:

“We did it, guys. We won the challenge. Holy sh*t. We won the challenge. I don’t have to play any more poker on WSOP.”

Polk later added:

“I love poker. I really do. But playing poker is boring to me now. You only live once. I don’t want to spend my time doing things that don’t make me happy. I feel like I’ve done everything (in poker).”

Answering the Critics

Less than a fortnight ago, frustrated detractors were expressing their doubt that Polk, or anyone else for that matter, could overcome the wild west landscape associated with micro and low-stakes games to complete a $10k challenge. On Wednesday, the 29 year-old pro proceeded to answer their doubts in the most dramatic fashion, having tripled his bankroll from $3,318 to $10,100 on his final session to successfully close out his epic quest.

Upswing Poker Bankroll Management

Fortune favors the brave, and Polk had plenty of that during his final session, too. In fact, the cryptocurrency enthusiast’s poker graph looked like the last bull run recorded by the crypto-market at the end of last year. As well as playing a highly skilled game with many well timed bluffs, Polk also got hit in the face with the pack and made numerous monster hands and experienced several suckouts to soar past the winning post at 10 pm local time.

Micro-Stakes Insights

Following his success, Polk said that he intends to put together a module for his Upswing Poker training site in order to share some of the insight he gleaned playing micro-stakes. In the meantime, he decided to share some of the initial observations he has made with his Twitter followers, which includes the following:

1) Bluffing is very strong at smaller stakes. But in general it varies by street.

Upswing Poker Bankroll Challenge Games

Preflop bluffing tends to be good because players dont raise you enough
– Flop bluffing is great because people play too loose vs 3b
– Turn bluffing tends to be dramatically worse
– River is amazing

2) Calling in big pots is much worse. Sort of a necessary evil, particularly as you get ready on players. While streaming, you really cant make big folds because people know what you have. If I hadn’t streamed the challenge, I’d have folded a bit more

3) If you play on a smaller player pool site, Cash > Tourneys

4) You have fold equity in spots you would never have at higher stakes. Dont be afraid to slow play some spots where you think they have to call

5) Micro stakes are still extremely soft, building a roll def possible

6) On sites with no HUD, dont be afraid to go ham on some raise frequencies preflop because no one is even going to know what you are up to Those are just some topics off the top of my head, hope it helps some of you guys Once again thanks to everyone who watched the streams😎

7) Overbet bluffing is completely ridiculously good at micros. Go HAM on those nit regs fearlessly!

Other $10k Challenges

In 2006, Chris Ferguson became the first pro to officially undertake a $10,000 challenge, although in his case he started off with $0 and only managed to initially build a bankroll by playing freerolls. In the end, it took Ferguson 18 months to complete the task playing 10 hours a week, during which time he strictly adhered to his strict bankroll management rules.

Meanwhile, UK player Charlie Carrel has become the latest pro to announce a $10k challenge, and last week deposited $50 on PokerStars with that intention in mind. Like Ferguson, Carrel said he intends to follow strict bankroll management rules, and only increase stakes once he has 20 buy-ins for the next level, or else drop down levels if he falls below 17 buy-ins.