Who am I and Why do you care? Real life challenges and my mistakes Money matters

As a regular player all if not most of you are aware that the biggest challenge to any regular player is "BANKROLL PROTECTION"
I am going to be painfully honest as I want to give a real representation of me and my approach to my goals.

My number one weakness and the number one reason I am still at the 3/6 and 4/8 level is not lack of skill or understanding of the game or my opponents. It is the lack of discipline required to not nickle dime and dig into my own playing funds. Time and time again I find that life gives me opportunity and excuse to take from that precious resource of funds required to survive and grow in this precarious environment. Now I am not saying this is the only reason I am still in the lower limits this is the one I am discussing right now and the one that I have found to be the most difficult to correct and control over long periods of time.

There are times it is and has been an absolute emergency and a requirement to bleed money from my poker savings. An emergency car repair, A trip to the ER for one of my grandchildren or something of this extreme nature. These are not the actual damaging dips I am concerned about and I am grateful that because of poker these funds are, or have been available when I have needed them and I have not actually taken money from my primary savings account.

It is the small 50, and 100 dollar dips that can hit when I am feeling frisky and want to HAVE A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA. Dinner out, some new clothes a new monitor for my computer or a new gadget or gizzmo. Things that should be saved for and planned for in my regular budget. I am guilty of many of these and it never seems to fail that when I do this a couple of times in a month or so I hit a downswing and end up on a short bankroll and playing tighter than I know is optimal or so short I do not play at all and have to wait to build back up again so I can play in a style that I know (or think) is optimal and aggressive. I do not like to even sit at a 3/6 table without at least 200 for the session and a 3 session bankroll (My idea of three strikes to take).

So bankroll protection is key to survival and bankroll building and I have been extremely weak on this area of my game I admit this. In admitting this I can also say that I have taken great steps to correct and control this weakness. Over the last 6 months I have implemented the following criteria for my own management system of funds. I will say that at this point it is working very well for me.

1. The majority of my bankroll is now kept in chip form from the two main casinos I play in so it takes a much greater effort to convert to problematic cash.
2. I treat my poker income as small business income and it is used to build my business or as I say reinvest in my business. allowing me to diversify and explore other business opportunities more regularly. Higher limits now and again meaning more 4/8 games regularly and 8/16 a couple of times just to start my exposure to the game and the players. I am also exploring the possibility of spread limit games the casinos are now offering. as well as supporting my tournament buy ins which have increased in frequency.
3. at the end of each month I do take a tally of all my activities and do allow a 15% percent pay out to myself of all profit above a 200 dollar minimum. This is used to allow other activities and fun from poker away from poker and to help maintain balance in my life with poker and outside interest and release those little demons so they do not go crazy inside and then make bigger problems

So now you have some information on how I manage my assets to hopefully ensure that my ass sets in a game and not on the rail.

Next time and time again: Time management scheduling my poker time with my life time